Forgetfulness can supposedly become a problem with advancing age. I rationalize that this is not a failing I am prone to, rather I have decades of memories stored in my cranium and it is simply getting full. Still, being a Skeptic, I recognize that the brain is quite fallible so I try not to commit unnecessary information to memory; particularly things that don't require a long term memory commitment such as the shopping list or my wife's cell phone number.So I jot down the list of things I need at the grocery store as they come to mind or notice we have run out of that item. One might assume that this is a fairly efficient strategy; and it would be except that I continually arrive at the grocery store absent the list which I have inconveniently left at home.
On this one one occasion I jotted a couple of needed items on a post-it note and stuck it onto the kitchen cabinet. A bit later I another item came to mind which I thus added that to the list.
Later that day I was out running other errands and found myself in the vicinity of the store, so I thought I would just pop in and obtain the three needed items. Of course my short grocery list was still at home stuck to the kitchen cabinet. But no matter, I recalled there were only three items on the list; I should have no problem procuring the needed goods.
I quickly recalled two of the items: "coffee filters" and "coffee" which I grabbed from the shelves. But my memory of the third item was slightly fuzzy. Ah, my cell phone - I tried to call Nancy at home to ask her glance at the list and identify the third item for me... instead: voicemail.
Okay, I thought, I'll just cruise up and down the grocery aisles which will hopefully prompt my memory regarding the missing third item. I wander up one aisle and down the other - No such luck. The third item on the list is now totally alluding me. All attempts to logic out the missing item are to no avail. By now I am getting very frustrated and somewhat angry.
Resigning myself to failure, I pay for my TWO items and drive directly home - I now have no other mission in life - I HAVE to see what third item on the list is so damn obscure that I can't remember what hell it is!!!
I barge into the house, storm into the kitchen, ripping the post-it note from the cabinet. The three items on the list read:
