I don't bother to get my mail very often. Other than my
Walrus magazine which come ten times a year and the odd check from my insurance
company reimbursing me for their share of my dental bills, 95% of my mail is
junk mail and seldom worthy of my attention. However yesterday (Sunday) I did
check my mail. Much to my surprise amongst the silly waste of paper offering me
cheap hamburgers and pizza, there was a "Notice of my impending
conviction" from the City of Peterborough. Apparently I had ignored a
parking ticket from a month ago and either I had to pay $31.00 immediately or
be prepared to go to trial.
My first reaction was that I had probably forgotten to pay a
parking ticket "earned" while parking at the library. I have in the
past ranted about having to pay for parking in the downtown area but I do pay
my, what seems to be my once a year parking ticket, when I get them. I don't
like it, but I am a reasonably law abiding citizens when I get caught. But when I looked at the notice it was for a
street I had never heard of. I was almost completely sure that I had
never been on that street. In fact I had to Goggle it to see where it was. Clearly
someone had made a mistake. But then I started to think about it. I started to
question if it would have been possible that I had been there and just
forgotten it.
My mind, which is generally sound, does occasionally miss a
few things. My argument is that it is so full of information that sometimes I
just don't remember where I have filed something. Because I live alone and on
most days, with the exception of looking at my pill box when I take my morning
medication, it is seldom important what day of the week it is, I can lose track
of day and time. I am not senile - those things are just less important to me
than they use to be. And so it festered there - that niggling little thought
that grew bigger and bigger. Was it possible that I had been there and just not
remembered? Three weeks ago is not a long time but who knows what I was doing
then? I could argue that I was in my apartment playing with wool - which is a
safe bet as that is what I do much of the time - but the very fact that that is
what I do much of the time means that I didn't remember doing it or not doing
it that particular day.
Other than driving to that street to see if seeing it would
refresh my memory, there was nothing I could do. I resisted the temptation to do that. I went
to bed thinking about what I would say to the people at city hall this morning.
I woke up thinking about the same thing.
I called city hall this morning. A charming helpful person
looked up the time of the infraction - it was for 3:20 in the morning. I said
it was not me, she doubled checked and then confirmed with me the kind of car I
drove, told me there had been a mistake as the car in question was clearly not
mine and promised to fix the error. She apologize for the error (sort of), we
wished each other a good day and that was that. Problem solved.
I am not senile. I had not forgotten parking my car on an
unfamiliar street. My mild anxiety had been created because I thought maybe I
was losing it faster than I had previously thought. I think I thought that that was a possibility
because of all the discussion etc about the thousands and thousands of Canadian
seniors who are struggling with memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's. The anxiety caused by being
concerned about the possibility may be worse than actually on occasion
forgetting something important. I suspect for many of us - that anxiety will be
an ongoing issue.
But this time -
thanks to someone who knew how to do her job with grace and efficiency - I
know, at least for today, I am okay. And that is a good thing.
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