Monday, April 13, 2015

In praise of Civil Servants for Protecting Those who are Approaching Senility



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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