out to do some errands this afternoon, i was kind of hungry and kept passing places i meant to stop at. for instance, i had some shirts to tak e into the cleaners and one to pick up, but i drove right past the cleaners. for some reason my mind was stuck on the idea of getting a top dog up in montclair.
then i passed the gas station where i meant to fill up my car. then, when i was in montclair, i drove right past the turnoff for the produce market where i intended to get juice oranges & grapefruits and milk & half ‘n’ half. with top dogs on my mind, i turned right and, looking for a space, went right past the bank where i planned to deposit a check and transfer money to my savings account (saving for a house).
i found parking in the garage at the top of the hill and walked right past the bank without going in to deposit my check, down the hill to top dog. in top dog i ordered a new york dog and a bratwurst (i think). that’s when i looked in my pocket for my wallet and remembered it sitting out in the living room. one other thing i was trying to remember to do on the way out the door.
like an idiot, i mumbled something about needing to get my wallet “from my car” and headed back out into the rain. of course my wallet wasn’t in my car (though i checked the passenger seat when i got back up the hill) – i distinctly could visualize where it was at home. i drove all the way back down park blvd past the freeway and home and spent a while poking around doing this or that before i saddled up and left again.
i didn’t go back to top dog. now i can never go back! but isn’t it weird that if i had stopped at any of those preceding errand places i would have noticed the missing wallet all the sooner? the cleaners is barely two minutes from my driveway.