Memories Are Made Of This: Had one of the essential Warfarin blood tests yesterday, and met a neighbour who was waiting whilst his wife had hers. As we sat there chatting, he apologised and said that he knew it was silly, but he couldn't remember my name. He then chuckled at the lack of memory his senior years had smitten him with, adding that when he was younger he could, if necessary, instantly name every one of the 1,200 employess in the factory where he then worked.
Such is the price of age, but were our younger and mid-life years any better? Whilst many pride themselves upon the power of their recall, or IQ; is it really that good?
The next time you see someone check their wristwatch, when they have, ask them what the time is? It will probably less than 20 seconds since they checked it before, but they will look again and then tell you; and you can smile and rib them at what a bad memory they've got.
And then there's The Weakest Link. I am a big fan of this quiz show, and Ann Robinson is very much a female version of Lemmy Kilmister; and they would either get on very well, or hate one another, and I'm not sure which?
Now and again the BBC repeat a previous programme, and Mrs. B will say: 'This one has been on before,' because she will remember one of the contestants for some reason or another. Yet even though it's a repeat, can we remember the answers to all of the questions? Can we even remember which of the 9 contestants actually won the money?
No, we jolly well can't!
And the TV company's know we all have such bad memories because we watch these films and programmes again and again, often because we can't remember the ending. So is it really old age making us forgetful, or was our psyche just designed that way? If we remembered everything, the TV companies would be in quite a state, as we would be ringing to stop them showing these endless re-runs, as we had become bored with the repitition.
A rather more jovial instance of short-term memory loss was when a former work colleague, who enjoyed a few beers on a Friday, arrived back at home at 01.40 rather the worse for wear, and wondered why his key didn't fit the lock? Knocking on the door to reluctantly get his wife to let him in, when it opened, he wondered who the strange man in his house was? The 'stranger' then reminded him that he had moved from that address 3 year's earlier!