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07-21-2021 07:07 PM
happygal
Going to the hospital to visit a patient isn't always a positive experience and I think my mind just was on the person I was visiting. I also have anxiety in these situations so I wasn't giving the parking area a thought. You weren't dumb, just forgetful and it happens to all of us!!
07-21-2021 07:17 PM
hckynut
That must have been quite a learning experience for you as the brain is such a complex organ. Most people in my age group say the same about long term memory vs. short term memory. Also when we do recall our past, it seems most of what we remember in detail are happy fun times! Maybe we block those dark times and sadness out.
When someone says they miss the good old days I always say if I could relive the good times only that would be fine, but I couldn't deal with all the sadness again.
By the way is there an explanation we recall the past much clearer than the present?
07-21-2021 07:34 PM
Spider - I remember meeting my father's mother, when I was a very young adult. She was my first experience with an older person from that age range, so I knew nothing of memory problems and the like.
What I found very interesting was how she could remember stuff that happened 60 years ago, yet she couldn't recall something that just happened, like 10 minutes ago.
After that, I learned more because it was so compelling. As a young person I just could not imagine that.
There is so much we cannot conceive when we're young. One thing that strikes me is recalling how, when I was young, older people would say things that seemed so ridiculous. All I could think was 'old people say really weird stuff!'. Well, as it turns out, it was all true.
07-21-2021 07:35 PM
I've done it more than once. Some years ago a friend and I went to a luncheon at a downtown hotel. We made it a point to note the floor and section that we were parked in. But when we returned, our car wasn't there.
We walked up and down for maybe 30 minutes, feeling more stupid by the minute (and more desperate). Finally we went back into the hotel to the desk and reported what had happened. Surprise - there were two identical parking garages with the same numbering, etc. We had gone out a different door on the same street and entered the wrong garage. Mystery solved.
BTW I was wearing a brand new pair of Easy Spirit heels. They were so comfortable during all of that frantic walking that I went back and bought the other color, ha ha.
The other time was right after Hurricane Katrina. We had evacuated to Orlando and went to a movie at Downtown Disney to try to get our minds off things. We were pretty distraught at that point and didn't think to pay attention to which row and section in those massive parking lots we had parked in.
We came out of the movie and had absolutely no idea where to begin looking for our car. Had to get a Disney employee to drive us around in his little cart to look for the car. We were embarrassed, but he was really nice and found the car in about 15 minutes of driving us around the lots clicking our remote. He said that he actually spent a lot of time helping people find their cars.
07-21-2021 08:25 PM
It's a horrible feeling. Years ago I was transferred to our headquarters in a downtown location (major city) and parked in a parking garage across the street from the company's building.....didn't think much about it except that I was on the orange level. When I left that evening, I went back to the orange level - no car! I panicked - walked around forever in heels trying to find my car. I finally went back to the bank, found a friend who said she'd help me find my car (I was convinced it was stolen!). Turns out she knew there were 2 identical parking garages side-by-side - I somehow had parked in the second garage, and we found my car.
I learned my lesson after that. I pay attention where I park, wherever I go. At the airport I write down the level and spot where I'm parked. At the grocery store or any large lot, I repeat the aisle number to myself several times. If I have any doubts, I jot down the aisle number for when I leave. My mother consistently forgot where she parked - it's just a horrible feeling, but it is preventable if we just pay a lot of attention. Try to always park in the same general area at the mall, grocery store, etc!
07-21-2021 08:35 PM
Yes many time. I kept getting called for jury duty. After being released from jury duty I would go back to the parking garage and not be able to find my car. Now anytime I'm in a parking garage I take a picture of the area sign where I park.
A few years ago my husband and I were driving out of a mall parking garage and I had noticed an older gentleman who seemed at a loss to where his car was. I had my husband pull over and ask him if he needed help finding his car. Turns out he did. We drove around with him until we found it. In that short time we had a wonderful chat with him. He looked forward to each Saturday night going to dance the Polka and it would air on PBS and how we could watch. We did watch him that night. We no longer live in NEPA so we can no longer watch him.
07-21-2021 08:45 PM
It's happened to me usually when I've been parked in multiple lots in a single day.
I usually try to park near a cart return corral or some other landmark. Then note where I am in relation to the building. Like lined up with the K in Kohl's or the Xs in TJMaxx. Of course I look back as I'm walking to the store.
07-21-2021 10:18 PM
We're usually pretty good at remembering where we parked our car but one day we parked and neither of us paid attention as we were talking about something important.
It was at a Walmart and we had done quite a bit of shopping so we had a full cart. When we came out it was through a different door so we kind of lost our sense of direction.
We wandered around the lot pushing this full shopping cart like a couple of idiots. I was so embarrassed. Finally either my husband, or else it might have been me, finally realized that we were parked at the other end of Walmart. We were so relieved when we finally spotted our car.
Now when we go in to a Walmart we do as another poster does and park by one of the letters in the large Walmart sign. If I remember I also take a picture of our location.
07-21-2021 10:57 PM
Went into grocery story for a few items. Came back out and immediately panicked. I could not remember where I parked the car. I looked around for the usual landmarks and couldn't find a one. That was because I wasn't at the grocery story I thought I was at. I actually was at another one in another town. LOL. No wonder the parking lot looked different. Had to walk around a bit to finally found my car.
07-22-2021 08:10 AM
I did once...parked my car in what I "thought" was my normal area to park when visiting a particular store. Came out to find my car "gone"!!!!! I was just about to report my car stolen when I saw it one row over from where I usually parked. Glad I looked around before calling the police, lol!
Ever since then, before I get out of my car, I eyeball the front of the store and line up where my car is with some part of the store's sign, or a door, or something that will put me back in the right spot.
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