Absent-minded? Share your tales here.

[Bakiryu]

Well, I have a tale too. Something that happened to me on account of being absent minded and near-sighted

I went to my cousin's house for Thanksgiving, they mentioned they had installed a new door like this:
of course I forgot about it.

After a while we all went outside and started talking, I decided to leave, turned around, moved forward and Bam! Smashed my face against the door!

It even left marks where it hit

(perhaps more embarrasing it's that this has happened to me twice!)

[barbara0207]

After a while we all went outside and started talking, I decided to leave, turned around, moved forward and Bam! Smashed my face against the door!

It even left marks where it hit

You're not the only one, Baki, same thing happened to me. Embarrassing!
And when I read all the hilarious stories on this thread, I must admit: that could have been me.

Last week I wanted to go to the doctor's in my car. I had an appointment and was a bit late already. When I got to the car, I noticed that I didn't have my car key. I went back into the house and looked for it at its usual place - it wasn't there. I started a frantic search. At last I looked at my left hand: the key was there. It had been in it all the time I was searching.

[papayahed]

oh, i thought of another one!! It's in the same vain as the first:

I was traveling for work. My flight was at 6 am the following morning so the afternoon before I printed out my boarding pass, the directions, my hotel reservations, and car rental reservation. I know I put all that stuff in my bag plus some paperwork. That night when I was packing I could only find the paperwork. I get up a few minutes early to swing by work to get my boarding pass. I go to work and tear my desk apart and couldn't find the pass. I realize I've spent too much time at work and I'm dangerously close to missing my flight. Luckily, my airport is small and there isn't a line at security. I was a wreck by the time I got to the airport the bagagge guy printed out my boarding pass for me. I made the flight and all was good (Luckily a coworker had all the directions). The day I got back to work I went to get safety glasses for a visitor and there was my boarding pass and the rest of my info sitting on top of the box of safety glasses in the supply closet.

[Virgil]

You're not the only one, Baki, same thing happened to me. Embarrassing!
And when I read all the hilarious stories on this thread, I must admit: that could have been me.

Last week I wanted to go to the doctor's in my car. I had an appointment and was a bit late already. When I got to the car, I noticed that I didn't have my car key. I went back into the house and looked for it at its usual place - it wasn't there. I started a frantic search. At last I looked at my left hand: the key was there. It had been in it all the time I was searching.

I've done similar Barbara, on more than one occaision.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

It is good to laugh at one's self and our own antics!

I agree, and I intended to start this thread long ago, but... I forgot

/Claes

[blackbird_9]

In addition to running into screens and glass doors, I have a multitude of moments like these. A more recent one for example would be something that happened in my english class a few weeks ago. Our professor was dictationg a poem which we were supposed to be copying, and one of the words in the poem was mignificence. For whatever reason, I heard "magnifigence". Because of this, I confused the two words thinking that magnifigence was not only a real word but that it was the word for magnificence (does that make sense?)... Anyway, I spent five minutes trying to figure out why I couldn't spell it right and why it looked funny until I finally gave up and turned the paper in. It wasn't untill half way through class I realized that it was magnificence and not magnifigence... yeah...

There was also a time where I was at a speach and debate tournament doing prose interp. During this one serious part of my speech, I was supposed to be talking about a song by Billy Holiday when I accidently said "Billy Eliot." After that, all I could think about was that picture on the cover of the DVD with him jumping up in the air. It took all my will power to not burst out laughing.

[lugdunum]

This is a funny thread... I'm sooo relieved I'm not the only one being so absent-minded.

In my case I don't know if you can call it absent minded or simply being a complete dork, but here's my (latest) embarassing moment...

I went to my usual breakfast place one sunday morning, (and I swear I didn't have any kind of hang over), I walk to the counter and order a coffee. While they're preparing the coffee, a friend of mine shows up and we start chatting right there at the counter.
After about a couple of minutes, my friend grabs a stool and sits down still talking to me. I still can't explain what happened, I was probably really absorbed in her story and went to sit down as well... except that there wasn't any stool behind me and before I knew it, I was laying down on my back on the floor....

[Taliesin]

My philosophy teacher once, at the middle ofa lecture, put his hands into his jacket pockets, took out two little socks and said.
"Damn, my daughter went into the kindergarten without socks, apparently"

[Pensive]

Well, I have a tale too. Something that happened to me on account of being absent minded and near-sighted

I went to my cousin's house for Thanksgiving, they mentioned they had installed a new door like this:
of course I forgot about it.

After a while we all went outside and started talking, I decided to leave, turned around, moved forward and Bam! Smashed my face against the door!

It even left marks where it hit

(perhaps more embarrasing it's that this has happened to me twice!)

Bumping into doors/walls/people? I have gone through these all myself too.

Remembered another occasion where 'absent-mindedness' is probably to be blamed. Our Biology teacher was not present and luckily we got a lesson's break just after we had our Physics lesson. We were studying fission and fusion reactions then and I couldn't help my mind wandering towards creating a scenereo after a hydrogen-bomb would have been used and imagining all the destruction that would have followed it.

Occupied in my thoughts I couldn't notice a friend coming towards me. She is pretty talkative (heh yes, there are many people in my year who happen to be very chatty, not that they can beat me into it but then we are having no races here to show-off my wonderful talking skills and so I choose to remain quiet often ) and then she started, "Erm, the school function is coming near and I am confused about what to wear."

Hardly getting any of it (after all I was concentrating on my favourite hobby perhaps - imagining), I just hmmmmm-ed.

"Maybe I should wear that green coloured shalwar-qameez I told you about."

Again too busy to notice what I was doing I said, "No"

"Then how about my black skirt?"

"Erm, I don't know," was my response.

"Yes, my skin-colour is darker, black wouldn't suit me the way it suits you so maybe I shouldn't wear it" (she is very much conscious about skin-colour)

"Exactly"

A bit hurt, she left the talk regarding her dress and asked me what I was going to wear.

As if it under some stance, absent-mindedly, I said, "Nothing really"

"Alright" Now I could see her smiling a bit as well.

"Well, you don't have to worry about colours at least. They all suit you," she proceeded.

"Yes, yes, they all suit me," I repeated.

And then suddenly it suddenly came coming to me what the hell I had been saying and I had to face real embarrassment but thankfully my friend realised I was under one of my 'tances' when noticed me get alert like that and probably didn't feel the hurt any longer, especially when I said, "Don't be silly about the skin colour. Black really suits you well too."

[ClaesGefvenberg]

And then suddenly it suddenly came coming to me what the hell I had been saying and I had to face real embarrassment but thankfully my friend realised I was under one of my 'tances' when noticed me get alert like that and probably didn't feel the hurt any longer, especially when I said, "Don't be silly about the skin colour. Black really suits you well too."

Absolutley brilliant

/Claes

[kasie]

Had a phone call from a friend this morning during which I happened to say how much I had been enjoying reading a certain book.

'Oh,' she said, 'have you read that? Only I was going to lend it to you.'

Me, wondering what she was talking about: 'You did. It's your copy I've been reading.'

Friend: 'Really? When did I lend it to you?'

Me: 'Last week. Last time I saw you. You gave me a big bag of books.'

Friend: 'I did? Thank goodness for that. I couldn't find that bag of books anywhere, been searching high and low for it, was getting really worried about it.'

Me, after a moment digesting this: ' It must be our age....You know, if we had a couple more brain cells between us, we'd be really dangerous.'

Friend: 'We would, too.'

As another friend often remarks: 'Truly, they walk among us...'

[Annamariah]

I keep forgetting things all the time: I go to a room to get something and leave without it, because I can't remember what I was looking for; I've left my keys hanging on the lock far too many times (thank goodness no one's ever stolen them); I forget to put the food I just bought into the refrigerator and stuff like that.

Perhaps five years ago I was shopping for Christmas presents, and as usual, all the shops were pretty full of people. I was in a toy shop looking for a plastic model of an airplane for my brother, you know those that you build and paint. I chose one, but since I wasn't in a hurry, I decided to look around for a moment. After a while I realised that I had walked out of that shop, carrying the model kit I hadn't paid...

Well, my conscience would have never left me alone if I just took the model without paying it, and luckily I managed to sneak back into the shop and pay for it without anyone noticing that I'd already accidentally almost stolen it

[Petrarch's Love]

Thanks for starting this thread, Claes. It's made for a really hilarious study break this afternoon. I've had many, many absentminded moments, including finding my wallet in the freezer, loosing inumerable objects on the bus, having to replace several gas caps on my car (after forgetting to screw the thing back on after fueling), and misplacing my ipod by closing it inside a very large book, which I then put back on the shelf. The worst I can think of just now was from one afternoon when I was completely absorbed in reading Ariosto. I had just been cleaning up the apartment and ironing out the skirt I was going to wear to class, with the book propped on the end of the ironing board, when I noticed I had to hurry so I wouldn't be late. I grabbed my coat, got down the elevator and about a block down the street before I realized that, though I had on my blouse and heels and hose, I had neglected to actually put on the skirt I had so carefully ironed! Luckily I was wearing a long enough coat that no one could tell, and I went right back to make myself fully decent. I was a little late to class, but luckily none of the students realized exactly how absentminded a professor was teaching them.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

I was a little late to class, but luckily none of the students realized exactly how absentminded a professor was teaching them.

Well, it could have been far worse: Imagine not realizing something like that in time...

Anyway: Our production manager told me a great one: He had a lot on his mind one evening when it was time to take his dogs for a walk. Off he went, still lost in his thoughts. A mile or so later he noticed the he had brought the leashes. The dogs, however were nowhere to be seen. He had to go back home and face two very bewildered looking dogs and a family literally rolling on the floor laughing their heads off.

/Claes

[Niamh]

I am very absentminded. I do so many really stupid things!
Ever put the butter into the dishwasher? i have. do it all the time. The milk sometimes almost ends up in the crockery press. I've gotten into baths and then realised i forgot to take my socks off! The most frequant things i do are;
Start to walk to a friends house or a certain shop in work, and because i'm away with the faeries most of the time, i've walked past my destination alot!
walk around work not realising my trouser leg is stuck in my sock.
walked around, serving customers, talking to staff or at home talking to my family with out realising that a few of my shirt buttons have opened and my bra is showing!
gone for a shower and realised after i got out that my towel was still sitting on my bed. (bathroom is down stairs!)