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 my car needs washing.
As I start toward the garage,I notice that
there is mail on the porch table that I
brought up from the mailbox earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before
I wash the car. I lay my car keys down 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 checkbook off the table, and see that
there is only one 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 can of Coke that I had been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push
the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
I realize the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should
put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the
counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.
I set the Coke down on the counter, and I 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 I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen
table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will 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 down 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 driveway is flooded
the car isn't washed,
the bills aren't paid,
there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, there is still only
one 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 long, 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, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know,
because I don't remember who I have sent it to.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!