The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1956-03-16
9 L I'M P S e S
TIL E PAST
By CAROLYN LLOYD

ready expressed interest In becom
ing charter members of the group
which might be named the ANA
Absent Mindeds Anonymous. The
only qualification for membership
would be that the applicant be
guilty of habitually or occasion.
ally committing an absent-mindeC
act, which might range from the
plain silly to the dangerous. The
great advantage of membership
would be the knowledge that one
is not alone in this condition. The
members could help each other by
calling at odd hours and asking
such questions as, "Have you for.
gotten anything cooking on the
stove?" or "Were you supposed
to go to the dentists, or the doctor
or the beauty parlor today?", OIL
even, "Are you by any chance en-
pertaining the missionary society
tonight, or "Did you send your
husbands suit to the cleaners p
1t wouldn't be necessary for the
person being called to admit any
thing-a gasp on the other end OF
the line at the right point would
be sufficient to let the caller
know when she had hit home.
l am taking it for granted, you
see, that this would be chiefly a
female organization, since few
men would admit their eligibility.
However, if one were honest
enough to do so, there would be
no reason for keeping him out.
The organization would not prom
Use to affect a cure for absent
mindedness, since that seems we'll
nigh impossible; but it could GER
tainly be of great service to its
My interest in such an organi-
cation stems from an instinct for
self-preservation and the discovery
that there are many others in the
same boat. If asked to state my
for membership,
could start with such harmless acts
as opening the refrigerator and
standing there blankly wondering
what l opened it for to the more
serious one of leaving eggs on the
stove to boil while 1 spent an hour
and half downtown. Now, if any
thing could cure absent-minded-
ness, that should. A kitchen full
of smoke and the lingering smell
of charred egg shells should be a
powerful enough shock to cure
but it can't be counted
on. AS a charter member l may
have to take back seat to GER
tain people | know who. have, re-
spectively, found a pot of burned
cabbage after an absence of four
hours, charred a chicken in the
oven, and boiled a pot of water
until the water disappeared and
the bottom of the pot melted,
leaving only a rim stuck to the
burner. We might take in on pro-
baton those whose lapses are of
the lesser variety, such as for
getting appointments, failing to
show up at a bridge party, mis-
placing belongings, or forgetting
ones names; but if they don't do
better than that, they will have
to resign to make room for the
There are those who maintain
that Observation-Disclosures is simply
a result of, or an accompaniment
to, the passing years; but / am
convinced that it might also be
hereditary. 1 seldom went any,
where with my mother that she
didn't send me home to see if she
had turned off the oil stove in the
kitchen. 1t was nothing for her
to arise and depart from church
hastily in the middle of the serv-
ce. On such occasions someone
would always turn a reproachful
eye upon me, as though to say,
Why don't you follow your
mother? She must be sick" 1
knew all the time that she just
remember whether she had
the stove out. The climax
was capped, however, the day she
came nonchalantly home without
my baby sister, whom she had left
summing in her carriage on the
porch of a friends home while
paying a visit. Those things once
seemed funny or irritating, accord
ng to the degree in which they
affected me personally; but now
Pm beginning to wonder about
hat heredity business.
Anyone interested in ANA may
submit her qualifications to me by
nail or by telephone, but hurry
something tells me that this could
De the biggest organization in
own, and we may have to limit
he membership.