The Life of Me

So, I was talking to my mom the other day about something or other, and somehow we got on the topic of forgetting. I do this a lot. I only ever remember the most unhelpful names--the flavor of Popsicles I got in the hospital when I got stitches when I was 2 (grape and cherry, in that order), the code for chocolate milk in my high school vending machines (E5-E10, and they were $1.25), the name of the person I technically haven't met yet so I really shouldn't know... You get it. But, like everybody, I always always always forget the name of the person in front of me, the answer to the first question on the test, what I was going to write on the shopping list (and every time, without fail, I remember that very-important-object as soon as I get home from the grocery store)...

So, we were talking about forgetting. Specifically, about forgetting what you were about to do when you walk into a room. And my mother informed me that that's actually a legitimate thing. Like, it's not just, "oh, no, I forgot what I was gonna do. How random." It's actually the door doing that  to you. It's (supposedly) a scientific fact. (I say "supposedly" because I just realized that I don't know where she heard this, so I don't want to be all "fact!" and then everybody's all "your mom's lying.") Like, when you walk through a door, your brain does a big dump and leaves all your thoughts from the previous room in that room. Kinda like when you're in school learning some complex stuff and as soon as you leave the classroom and your brain is like "what was s/he lecturing on again?"

So, when you walk into a new room to get, say, the TV remote, your brain's like, "Let's leave the whole remote concept in here." So you walk into new room and you're like "hmmm..." Then you go back into the old room and your brain's like, "Ooh, a memory!" and picks it up and you're like "oh!"

Yeah. Your mind is blown, right?

Now, obviously, this doesn't apply to every situation or to every thought. You don't get totally brainwashed when you walk into a room. It's just that doors screw with your brain, and you lose some stuff. Then you walk back into the original room and remember it (sometimes). Pretty sick, huh?

-Sue Donimm