Life On A B-I7

Redactions are Cool… So are Dementia and Senility¹

I am taking a neurological psychology exam later this month. I’m not certain why. I think it’s so my neurologist can use the form to help establish a baseline going forward for determining my level of Dementia. Of course, I don’t think I’m suffering from Dementia because if I were, I probably wouldn’t be talking about it. Nevertheless, I suppose establishing a baseline is a good idea, at least that’s what I’m telling myself. Anyway, as I was filling out the several page evaluation form prior to the appointment, I realized that perhaps I was getting a little too flip with some of my answers. Reading through the form, I noticed that my approach to answering the DEI questions as well as the questions regarding my previous marital associations might be considered a bit too flip (by current societal standards). So, to prevent myself from a tragic misdiagnosis, I redacted those particular sections with a black sharpie.

I realize that action by itself may present some issues with regard to my, let’s just call it mental state. I think that’s the lesser of two evils. Besides, it looks pretty cool to have a couple sections of the form completely blacked out. It makes me feel… contemporary…

Now that I have confessed to all of this, I have to add the final chapter to the story. Last night I left my wallet, journal, calendar and exam intake form in a shopping cart in the parking lot of my local grocery store. It was dark and I was in a hurry (I’m certain there was no dementia involved). When I went back this morning to see if I could recover my items, they were all waiting for me in the store lost-and-found. I suppose that’s one advantage of living in a small town with mostly honest people. Sadly, the multi-page intake form for my neurology exam had gotten a bit wet from some overnight rain. Naturally, I decided to use that as an excuse to cancel the appointment. I can’t be showing up with a rain damaged questionnaire can I? I didn’t like the doctor anyway. I doubt seriously that senility is in any way related to dementia…