Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it
needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I
brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys
on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and
notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage
first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out
the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check
left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the
house to my desk where I find the beer I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the beer aside
so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The beer is getting warm, and
I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the beer, a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye--they need water. I put the beer on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water
the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water
and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I
realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the
remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide
to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the
flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the
floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe
up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
- the car isn't washed
- the bills aren't paid
- there is a warm beer sitting on the counter
- the flowers don't have enough water,
- there is still only 1 check in my check book,
- I can't find the remote,
- I can't find my glasses,
- and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for
it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
Do me a favor. Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't
remember whom I've sent it to.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it
needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I
brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys
on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and
notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage
first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out
the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check
left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the
house to my desk where I find the beer I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the beer aside
so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The beer is getting warm, and
I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the beer, a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye--they need water. I put the beer on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water
the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water
and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I
realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the
remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide
to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the
flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the
floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe
up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
- the car isn't washed
- the bills aren't paid
- there is a warm beer sitting on the counter
- the flowers don't have enough water,
- there is still only 1 check in my check book,
- I can't find the remote,
- I can't find my glasses,
- and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really
baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for
it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
Do me a favor. Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't
remember whom I've sent it to.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!
