Right now, I am recovering from my
last trip out of my house. You might think I went on some massive road trip or
something, but I didn’t. No, what I did was go to a doctor’s appointment, then
run a few errands.
I might also point out that the
first three stops I made after the doctor’s appointment were to three different
drive-throughs. As in, I didn’t even get out of my car.
At the fourth stop, I was getting my walker
out of my car when the salesclerk came out and told me I needed to hurry
because the place was closing in five minutes.
I hurried. I did get what I needed,
then I sat in my car for several minutes just catching my breath.
I might add, I told the clerk I hadn’t
realized it was that late, and I was sorry for coming so late.
I am not now, nor have I ever been, one of those who think they keep the store open as long as there are still
customers in the place. That is, by the way, quite rude.
There is only one other time when I
entered a store close to closing time, and neither I nor the friend I was
with realized the store was about to close. When we learned it was about to
close, we rushed to check out, apologizing as we did for coming in so late.
Monday, I did the same thing. I
apologized for coming so late, and I thanked her for letting me get the bread I
needed.
I might add that I knew that the store
closed at 5, so did the third drive-through I’d been to. I just hadn’t looked
at the clock to ascertain how late it was, which is a problem I do have. Most
days, time is irrelevant to me.
I read somewhere recently that a lot
of autistic people see time in terms of now and not now. Yeah, I get that. I
don’t pay close enough attention to the clock and have been known to set an
alarm to alert me when I need to leave the house for appointments.
Having errands I need to accomplish
by a certain date without an exact appointment is difficult, if not downright
impossible. Let’s face it, I have missed appointments because I forgot them.
Actually, I’ve had my doctor’s
office call me, waking me up, saying, “You’re late for your appointment.”
The number of times this past year I’ve
had to reschedule because I slept in or my car wouldn’t start is frightening.
And it is something Konnie doesn’t
have to deal with.
Yeah, she sets alarms for certain
things, but those things are constants, like when she takes her medications. My
alarms, except for the morning one, are all set to remind me I need to get up
and out the door for an appointment.
I honestly once thought I had set an
alarm I needed, but I forgot to click on the save icon. Ergo, it never went off.
I missed that appointment and had to reschedule.
I think the only time Konnie has mentioned
needing to reschedule an appointment at the last minute was once when her husband took
off with their only car and wasn’t back in time for her to make her appointment.
But that’s just it. In Konnie’s house, they have to coordinate when appointments are because they have only one car. They
have a big calendar they use to keep track of who has appointments when, and if
everyone is paying attention, the car is available when needed.
I live alone. My car is always
available when needed. My brain is the issue here. I just have trouble thinking
that far ahead.
I suppose, if I lived with Konnie – well, to
be honest, her daughter, who still lives at home, would be the one keeping me on
schedule, because that’s something she’s capable of.
I can practically hear her right now
saying, “Don’t you have someplace you need to get to?"
I have certainly, when I was
visiting Konnie’s house, heard my niece say more than once, “Have you looked
at the time?” to somebody or other who really needed to get a move on.
Maybe that’s the kind of assistance
I need, an actual human being to point out the time to me regularly.
By the way, I had this issue even
when my husband was still alive. I remember once when we had a meeting to go
to, I was trying to write a scene. I told him more than once to just let me
finish what I was writing.
He eventually went to the meeting
without me.
Anyway, happy writing, everyone!
