How do you forget stuff?

[DCA]

Have you ever gone to pick up shampoo and accidently come home with conditioner? I think I did that about 5 times in a row trying to buy shampoo.

YES! So I make it a point to read the bottle both when I pick it up AND when I go to pay for it to make sure. Luckily for me my preferred brand looks different whether its shampoo or conditioner (I've been using the exact same brand & scent shampoo for several years now...).

 

[BraidedPony]

Now you can give conditioner as Christmas presents...lol

 

[Pats]

YES! So I make it a point to read the bottle both when I pick it up AND when I go to pay for it to make sure. Luckily for me my preferred brand looks different whether its shampoo or conditioner (I've been using the exact same brand & scent shampoo for several years now...).

I try to make sure what I'm getting and look first, then I guess I grab the wrong bottle.

 

[Ylva]

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and advice.

I'm not convinced that the lesson would be lost if the memory of how I learned it disappeared. Still, maybe I can pull a more practical "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" by putting the lessons in a notebook. Then it's there, and the original file might be considered redundant by my subconscious mind. (Pieced together from your replies.)

For the record, I have never bought conditioner instead of shampoo, but I have on occasion accidentally used conditioner when I meant to use shampoo. And I sometimes accidentally buy the non-diet version of a food I wanted the diet version of.

 

[OlLiE]

i forget

 

[CoffeeCat88]

Most of the time I frequently forget what I was told to do just "a few minutes ago."

Sometimes, however, I cannot forget things that happened years, or decades ago.

I remember things that I said to others as a child that could have been seen as strange, rude, or condescending. Perhaps downright mean. The thing is, I had difficulty understanding the value and meaning behind the words, and I thought i was giving the "best" or "technically correct" answer. But the other kids saw the answers I provided as me being spiteful to them. When they retaliated against me, I had no idea why. I wish I could forget these memories, but they are there.

Sorry I cannot answer your question directly, OP. But I guess we can both relate in that we really want to forget some things about life. Maybe we remember things because they are a threat to us, and we want to deal with this threat? I dunno. Maybe you could read a little bit about Evolutionary Psychology to understand a little better.

 

[Ylva]

Maybe we remember things because they are a threat to us, and we want to deal with this threat?

Yeah, maybe our brains hold on to things that confused us because it evolved to figure out the environment and confusion is how it realizes it still has work to do.

Which would mean my only option is to analyze the **** out of my unwanted memories.

 

[GrownupGirl]

Have you ever gone to pick up shampoo and accidently come home with conditioner? I think I did that about 5 times in a row trying to buy shampoo.

I don't think I have. There are so many brands and types of shampoo that it usually takes me a while to choose something. But last week I meant to buy a box of frozen chicken wings with honey garlic sauce, and I accidentally bought the kind with super-hot BBQ sauce instead.