I am currently sitting on the floor in the lobby of a
particular building (because my laptop was running out of power and the heavy
wooden benches are not close enough to the outlets), where I thought I was
supposed to meet a particular person at a particular time. And, of course, they
are not here. Probably because, as I noticed when I re-checked my email just
now, I decided on this meeting time with myself, and not the other person. Yep:
instead of the embarrassing accidental-reply-all, I replied to myself, only. I
vaguely wondered why I hadn’t heard back from this person in several days, but
chalked it up to them being busy and assuming there was no reason to confirm
the appointment. Awesome move.
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| Another good strategy: get your navigation information from a 1-year old |
Let’s review some other ways to put yourself in this kind of
inconvenient situation:
1. Forget to send the email/text message in the first place.
2. Don’t look at the calendar. Sure, it’s Tuesday, but your
meeting is next Tuesday.
3. Rely on your memory for the address. You’ll totally
remember whether it was 9344 Via La Jolla or 9433 La Jolla Village Drive.
4. Assume there will be signs. No need to bring a map if you
are going somewhere major, like Charles De Galle Airport outside Paris—there
are signs! Unfortunately they are also in French, conflict one another, and
don’t tell you which of the three very separate terminals houses your
particular airline.
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| Better yet, let the 1-year old drive you to the incorrect location |
5. Don’t ask for clarification when people are imprecise,
like scheduling a meeting at “lunchtime.”
6. Exchange the address and the meeting time in your head.
7. Write down all of the pertinent information on a small
scrap of paper, and then lose it immediately.
8. Write down all of the pertinent information in a
professional, organized notebook you always have with you. Never glance at it
again.
9. Text yourself the information. Lose your phone.
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| Use your camera to take a photo of a map, but fail to check that the photograph accurately duplicates the pertinent information on said map--say, trails, for instance. |
10. Email yourself the information. Forget that your phone
doesn’t have a data plan, and you can’t find a wireless connection.
11. Make plans over the phone, and recall the information
later from memory. This is a great option if you are talking on the phone while
doing the dishes and handing apple slices to a child, who is yelling “mama mama
apple mama apple…”
12. Don’t write down the full address. For example: 1234 Willowspring.
How likely it is that in one town there would be a Willowspring Drive,
Willowspring Court, and Willowspring Avenues, North and South? (Answer:
unfortunately, very likely in regions where neither willows nor springs exist
anymore, but did occur before tract housing developments were placed on top of
them).
13. Remember only something vague about the street name. For
instance, recalling that the street was named after a tree in Kitsilano or
Fairview, Vancouver will lead you to approximately 17 possible consecutive
blocks. In California, San-something-or-other is similarly completely useless.
So, next time we plan to meet at Andale’s in Los Gatos, and
you don’t see me there? Try the identically-named restaurant across the road.
