Embrace Forgetfulness

Okay, masks again. Let’s do this.

But before we do, I’d like to share two random anecdotes:

For a couple months once, I used my valet key to drive. Why? Because I’d lost my regular car key. Every time I did laundry, I checked every pocket of every pair of pants and every pair of shorts and every hoodie, hoping to unearth it. No such luck. Then, my wife and I went on vacation. The forecast at our destination called for rain, so the morning of our departure, I took my slicker out of my suitcase and put it in my backpack for easier access. As I did, I sensed some extra heft. I checked the pocket. Sure enough, there was my car key. I’d worn the slicker the last big rain storm when I went to run some errands, and left the key in the pocket. Somehow, I didn’t think to check it once.

Another one: walking around the block with my dog recently, a twenty minute journey (it’s a pretty big block), I was about halfway home when a shudder of terror went through my body. I had not grabbed a bag for picking up my dog’s business before leaving the house. This more-or-less guaranteed that Harold would pop a squat in the most inopportune place, as he a) seems to sense these failures of mine on a psychic level, and b) likes to punish me for them. But it turned out to be just fine. The day before, out of extreme caution, I’d loaded my jacket pockets with a few more than necessary. Crisis averted.

Okay, I lied when I said these were random. They’re actually to prove a point: forgetfulness is human nature. And there’s no way to avoid it, at least in my experience. I can designate a place for my keys to go. I can leave a roll of poop bags by the door. I can do checklists. I can do to-do lists. I can write notes on my hand. It won’t matter. The only to way avoid forgetting things is to embrace forgetfulness. And the best way to embrace forgetfulness, as is proven by these two anecdotes, is to have backups for the things you need.

That’s what these masks are. They’re some backups to stash in your car or your bag or your purse or your pocket in the event that you forget your better, reusable one. Plus, they’re individually wrapped so you can also give them to others who’ve forgotten theirs.

Stop trying to stop forgetting things. Get some good disposable masks, and embrace the fact that sometimes you’re just not going to remember what you need.