January 30, 2008

• Don’t forget anything, so take everything.

  Every time that I attempt to leave the house, I find my trip delayed anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, depending on how long I will be leaving.  This additional time can be attributed to the need to “not forget anything”.  Everyone has their basic checks (wallet, watch, keys, etc.), but mine seems to go greatly beyond that.  Even though I will be returning to the apartment in 8 hours, or after a weekend, it’s as though I will greatly inconvenience myself by forgetting something simple.  Usually, I can shorten this by reminding myself that not only will I be coming back soon, but anything I forget can probably be purchased at a store near where I am going.  The only easy decision is whether or not to bring the laptop, and generally, that is decided by whether I will need internet access for information.

  I believe this neurosis comes from my time in the army.  There was always that need not to forget anything, primarily for two reasons.  First off, if you forgot something, someone over you made it a point to ostracize you because of it.  “You don’t have a pen on you?  You’re a complete screw-up.”  Second, normally, when you go somewhere in the army, you will be there for a long time, and there is no way to get something that you need without bothering someone else, and that’s in the best case scenario.  If you forget toothpaste before a week-long field exercise, you will have to bother someone a minimum of 14 times that week.  For me, the thing to always bring was that spare set of glasses.  God forbid that I forgot them, because I would spend a week praying daily that the pair I was wearing didn’t break, proving that someone up high hates me.

  Generally, everywhere I go, there is a bag of some sort with me, and I’ve actually noticed more and more people with backpacks, especially in NYC.  It seems that more and more people have to carry more and more things with them in order to survive, or at least perform all of their daily tasks in an efficient manner.  Also, no one wants to carry a bunch of stuff in their hand (bottle of water, snack, gum, newspaper, pens, glasses, resumes, handgun that you can’t conceal in your current clothing, etc.).  Most of that stuff is in the bag that I carried to work today.  Actually, the chewing gum is in my coat, and my resume is on my thumb drive.

  I have also created the term of the “drop bag”.  The idea came to me when I was leaving NYC with all of my stuff, and heading to Fort Benning.  No one wants to bring two hastily-packed duffel bags into a hotel on a road trip, just to find the basic amounts of clothing.  Therefore, the drop bag contains a preselected amount of clothing, designed to last for whatever time it will be until I am unable to settle in and dump everything on the floor.  If I’m going out for a night and my car is involved, the drop bag includes a toothbrush, contact solution and case, and my glasses, and maybe a book or two.  I’ve been asked if this is because I expect to spend the night somewhere.  I figure that if I get stranded, tired, or end up drinking, at the very least, I don’t have to wake up with dry eyes and bad breath.

  The books are also an interesting point of discussion.  I have come to the point where I will not go anywhere without at least 1 or 2 books, and/or 3 magazines, even if I generally don’t anticipate there being a lot of free time.  The reality of the matter is that there is normally a LOT of time to read, and every once in a while, I have a book that I tear apart like a Kleenex at a snot party, hence the need for the second book to read.

  Does anyone else have this problem?  Is this the new “Did I leave the oven on?”  (which I have found surprisingly easy to do by accident)? 

  Black 6, out.

  • 2:58 am
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