Tuesday, April 22, 2008

If you can't say anything right...

Don't say anything at all!

Shopping with spouse, he comparing the price per square foot of paper towels, me wondering if this outing is materially affecting the length of my remaining life.

Along comes a patient who greets me "Hi Dr. P!"

Argh, dig deep, it's a big leap from towels to names. The details of her last visit come up on the mental screen, but there's a hole where her name lives.

"Uh, hi....Irene." I smile uneasily. She hurries her cart and her partner out of the aisle.

Dang, I realize immediately that's Ilene. Perhaps she thinks she heard me wrong. Perhaps not.

2 comments:

Wendy said...

Oh, I hear ya. Our hubbys must be the same. I used to get sooooo irritated when hubby would check out the price of paper towels, or toilet paper or whatever and "comparison shop". Who has time for that????? Especially if I had really important things to do (like having fun bike riding, going for lunch with friends, hiking, going to a yoga class) Does it really make a difference if we save 5 cents or 5 dollars today?? It just gets spent elsewhere. And I agree - wastes time.
Now, he sits at home and checks out all the circulars and gleefully points out that "yes - Maxi or Super C or whatever has salad dressing on sale1" Yippee - I'll jump into the car and go pick up a dozen bottles.
Sorry - I guess this must be menopause sarcasm.

Oh, the comments you docs get in public. People used to come up to my hubby and say "hey doc, did you get my test results in yet?" As if he could remember every test result that crossed his desk.
I wouldn't worry about the name thing. Who can remember everyone's name?

Dreaming again said...

"hi there!" I never use names any more ..cause I never get them right!!! so it's "hi there!" they it sounds cheerful and inviting and they never know I've forgotten their name ;)