The overtaxed brain

Time was, man had only to remember to put the toilet seat up or down. Now technology has changed that. Many times we don't even have to flush. It's done automatically in bathrooms all over America. Just stand up, and the toilet flushes automatically.

Then we place our hands under the sink faucet and a regulated amount of water automatically sprays on our hands. Paper towels are dispensed by motion sensors when we hold our hands in front of dispensing machines.

All those automations are good, I suppose. But that doesn't help in other areas.

How do I remember the name of someone I should know?

Last week I stopped in Chili's for soup and salad. A couple stopped me and said, "Hello, hello--how are you?"

I stared, then said, "am I supposed to know you?"

They laughed and jogged my memory. I had met them several months ago at my daughter and son-in-law's house in Paragould.

The woman looked different because she was now wearing a knit cap to cover her loss of hair due to chemotherapy. He looked familiar but I couldn't recall his name. After we reintroduced ourselves, we had a nice visit.

Do you ever wander into a room and wonder why you are there? Happens all the time to old timers. You go into the bedroom to get a pair of scissors and return with something else or nothing at all.

I'm thinking our brains are overloaded, just like when a computer gets blocked and malfunctions.

This week I wrestled with a computer problem. I couldn't receive any messages. The computer told me I had 43 messages but I couldn't retrieve them.

After days of worrying, searching, asking, I found that I had too many backed up files that had to be deleted to make space for new ones.

My Internet server also said I may have corrupt files or blocking by too many large emails. Maybe our brains work something like that.

The other evening at a social function I walked over to an acquaintance and chatted. But I could not for the life of me remember her first name. I sometimes jokingly call her Sarah, because she reminds me of Sarah Palin, and that's the only name my brain would bring to mine. Her real name is Synthia. Now you would think I could remember a name like Synthia, but I didn't.

So to find out, I asked, "Sarah, what is your name?" She laughed and told me.

I believe we have so many pin numbers, access numbers, cell and land home phone numbers, codes, passwords and other data to remember that our brains get blocked too.

In past times, we had one simple home phone number to recall. There were no cellular phones or online anything to remember because there were no home computers or online banking or online payments or deductions. We could even fill out our own income tax papers on a single printed form.

Times are more complex in 2010. We are taxed more and so are our brains.

There's more to think about. People are involved in more activities. Moms are pulled in different directions as they perform rolls as parent, housekeeper, cook, volunteer, church or community leader. Many mothers also hold down fulltime jobs, adding to the overload.

Fathers, too, suffer brain overload. Maybe that's why they always forget to put the toilet seat down.

But, men, there may be hope on the horizon. I read that a Colorado man has invented a self-closing toilet seat called the Smart Lid. It is powered by kinetic energy from lifting the lid, requires no electricity and can be installed like any standard toilet seat. The lid weighs about two pounds. It has an adjustable time release and slowly closes in two to five minutes. Inventor Daniel Shannon is looking for investors so that he can put his invention on the market. (Maybe he already has.)

Just think about it. There would be one less thing to remember.

And it could save marriages.