I was just reading through one of our ADDer World Social Network Forum Topics, which has brought a smile to our faces and, maybe a cringe of recognition from time to time: You know you have ADD ADHD when… I almost fell out of my chair when I read about Gary’s struggles with locking his key in his Van and therefore needing to climb through the back hatch! Lucky the back hatch was open. It seems he remembers to keep the back hatch open perhaps for a reason, which has reminded me of the time when I was first dating Joan…
My old Toyota Corolla was an extremely reliable car. I loved my TC, I purchased it when it was just a year old in 1996 and finally turned ‘er in last year and never, in the 12 years we were together (yes, a bit too intimate I know) did she ever break down on me, ever! I loved that car, Betsy I called her, but I didn’t always treat her as well as I should have and often waited until the bright red light came on that the oil was low, before I would give her the oil she so deserved and the light usually came on while driving a stretch of highway with no gas station nearby and, in true ADDer Fashion, I naturally didn’t have any oil reserved in the trunk. No, no matter how many times I was caught with that light flashing I always forgot to buy reserve oil, in all the years we were together, I never did. This is emotional, I know.
Back when I was first dating Joan, you know, in the phase of trying to impress her with my cool, suave demeanor (ha!) we were enjoying a fantastic trip to a theme park with her son and my niece and nephew along, but on a certain stretch of highway (you know the stretch, the one without any gas stations!) that red light came on! Oh that wasn’t cool. So I kind of freaked out thinking I was finally going to blow my engine and it was with great relief that we made it to the nearest town with a gas station. Whew! All was well… so I thought. When we got to the gas station the kids, Joan and I went in to the restaurant part and decided to get a few drinks. Unfortunately, while sitting in our booth a familiar realization came over me: I left the keys in the ignition and wouldn’t you know it, the doors were locked! Oh, I was becoming extremely impressive, so cool, not!
Okay, it wasn’t like I hadn’t been in the old, ‘I locked the keys in the car’ syndrome a hundred times before, trust me the oil light is just the tip of the iceberg, you don’t know the half of it. Betsy and I have been through a lot. Back on track, I knew what to do: I had already devised a plan to open the back window in a manner I only knew about. In the past, I had been stuck so many times that I had created a way to open the back window by reaching through a piece of rubber and turning a certain nut and bolt, but as I stood outside against my car (hiding what I was doing with my jacket) I could not quite get my finger tips around the nut in order to turn it. I had done it so many times in the past and it always worked like a charm, but this time it just wasn’t working. What I didn’t realize is that Joan had a perfectly clear view of me from the restaurant window and I didn’t realize a police car had pulled up behind me! In my effort to be cool and not let Joan and the kids know what I had done gone and done, I guess I must have looked like I was trying to steal the car! Spread ‘em Mr.!
After the cops let me take my hands off the hood of the car, because they had checked my driver’s license and matched up my plates, they were kind enough to call the local highway service, which an hour later showed up and helped me unlock the door. Whew! So, quite embarrassed and realizing I probably had blown my relationship with Joan, I went inside to pay the waitress for the drinks and when I opened my wallet to get out some change, guess what…. My spare key was in the change part of my wallet! No way! Yes, way! Ah well; I had remembered something smart to do with that key, which I eventually forgot!
What an ADDer moment! As if I didn’t have enough ADDer Moments that day. You just can’t make this kind of stuff up!
The good news is that Joan did what she has done so many times since then, she played my antics off with the kids and they never knew what had happened! We went on to the theme park and had a fantastically fun day anyway! I must have really endeared myself with Joan; she eventually married me! There’s more to me than forgetfulness that attracts cops, it seems.
Did I tell you about that time, when Joan and I were in Vegas? Time shares … Maybe next time!
Looking forward to reading about your You Know You Have ADD ADHD when….
~Bryan
As the ADDer World Social Network Turns and Grows, we have some great conversations and camaraderie taking place. With over 1200 members, our ADDer World never has a dull moment and with all the serious conversations that we take part in, we have some wonderful fun as well! ADDer World is a place for ADDers to talk about having ADHD, we discuss the struggles, the treatment options we have tried, the successes and failures and we talk about life in general – ADDer World is a place where we laugh together, cry together – a place where we pick each other up, inspire each other and it seems one of our most prominent sayings has become ‘Keep on keeping on’. Our ADDer World is based on feelings, emotions, experiences and the basic nuts and bolts of our ADDer lives which we experience day to day.
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Thanks for the giggles…I keep a spare key at my boyfriends so HE will remember where I have one. This has, of course, required the kindness of strangers to give him a ride to his house late at night after the fair – and security- closed for the night (actually I only lost them at the fair that time.)
Your tip of the iceberg comment made me think about my iceberg. So I wonder if I’m the only one prone to driving away with the gas pump still attached to my car. I figure I must not be since the hoses have that handy break-away feature (thank god). Unless the manufacturer simply had a lot of forethought I must not have been the first…..and I’ve only done it three times anyway and caused no major or permanent damage.
Cheryl, OMG! Thank goodness for the quick release. I don’t want to mention how many times I had to clean my engine because I forgot to put the oil cap back on! Or, how many times I have needed to purchase a generic gas cap because I left it on the top of my car, much less how many sodas have been lost to the highway because I left them on my roof while driving away after getting into the car! I could go on and on…
I had a very good laugh having read this post. This is so comic, Bryan, like in a scene of a romantic-comedy movie!
And the way you treated Betsy really remind me of the way I treated Peter and Sir Lancelot. The red light of oil and especially gas, made my friends’ heart racing each time they had a ride with. My two ex-cars were also constantly dirty and messy, despite my effort to clean them up. If people looked at it, they would’ve thought that it must be a boy’s car and got surprised when they saw the owner. Now everything made sense about why my car looked like that.
But don’t be mistaken, I always tried to take good care of them. Exhibit A: I bought several books on how to maintain a car. Exhibit B: as the result of reading those books, I almost (I said almost) made a card of maintenance history. But you know how it turned out.
Anyway, back to your post, if one day I ever made a movie, could I put this incident into it? Off course, all names would be disguised and there would be disclaimer that ‘any similarities are purely coincidence’.
Riri, I have some good ones! I am very good at buying books too, with good intentions, of course! Yeah…. lol – it would, quite naturally, have to be a fictional movie because no one would ever believe someone would do that! Unless the audience is filled with fellow ADDers!
You know you’re ADD when you can’t find your keys…and they’re in your hands.
Dear Bryan,
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
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Yeah, ha ha, very funny! Now! lol
Bryan,
Thats a realy funny story(it is now haha). And I have absoluty no doubts about the truth of it, Bro.! As you mentioned, “tip of the iceberg”, is an understatement, when it comes to the “You,I,We…know when….” .
So many funny stories(maybe not so funny at the time) can be told! It’s kinda like “The Lighter Side Of Life” little quips in Mad Magazine(is that still sold or even published?).
This is refreshing for me to see that even the worst things(some things,not all) can bring a smile to our faces!
Scott.
No, Scott, oh gosh, it was most certainly not funny at the time… what if… ah well, ha!
If you want to read more of such experiences, feel free to follow the link in the blog post, or notice in the right column of this blog I give away 3 free ebooks – check out The 10 Things I Hate About ADHD ebook… I think you will enjoy it!
Bryan
One of my sons once said, “ADHD is being able to lose things without moving.”
You would like him.
Kayla, that is so true! On both counts!