.
Both have their place.
When you are in the midst of your occupation, working for the Yankee dollar, you are expected to be in steel trap mode. But as you slide into your “golden years” the garbage bag tends to becomes the more germane metaphor. I call my mental garbage bag “the hopper,” not to be confused with Dish TV’s digital assistant of the same name. My hopper is my mind - or better perhaps, my memory. Just about everything and everyone I have ever known is in there somewhere. I’m just not exactly sure where. The point is that in most instances I really don’t need to know what I am looking for right then - my self-imposed expectation of immediate recall is a relic of the steel trap days. They went something like this:
Student: Dr. Schrag, what did you say was our first globally shared disaster?
Me: The sinking of the Titanic which was broadcast around the world almost immediately via the new medium of radio.
Student: And when was that?
Me: 1912, between the late hours of April 14th and into the early hours of the 15th. The ship was captained by Captain Edward Smith who died in the disaster.
Student: Thank you.
Me: No problem.
The “hopper days” work somewhat differently:
For example, there is a large black lab puppy in our neighborhood. And when I say large I mean REALLY big. His paws are the size of dinner plates and his tongue seems quite capable of slurping up a Smart Car. Labradors and Newfoundlands are both descendants of the St. John’s Water Dog, so share some DNA, but this guy definitely leans toward his Newfie cousins.
Anyhow, I like black labs, so I fuss over him and play “dodge the feet and tongue” when I encounter him out on his walk. I really like the pup, but I have trouble with his name. For some reason I first came to believe his name was Casper - sort of the opposite of the very white cartoon character, Casper the Friendly Ghost. In reality the dog’s name is Gaston. There is a Lake Gaston nearby and perhaps there is a relationship there, I dunno. So now when I encounter said canine I toss a "BOLO (Be On Lookout For) large lab puppy’s name" into the hopper. Fortunately both my daughters were addicted in their youth to the movie Gigi that featured a male protagonist named Gaston. (played by Louis Jourdan opposite Leslie Caron - “Ah, yes. I remember it well!” Actually, they didn't sing that song, Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold did. Anyhow.) So fairly quickly the hopper churns “big lab+not Casper+dude from Gigi+big lake nearby” together, and Gaston pops out. Sometimes in time for me to call the pup by name. Sometimes not. No big deal. I have learned not to stress over it. I don’t “need” the name right now, and it won’t be on the test.
Anyhow, I like black labs, so I fuss over him and play “dodge the feet and tongue” when I encounter him out on his walk. I really like the pup, but I have trouble with his name. For some reason I first came to believe his name was Casper - sort of the opposite of the very white cartoon character, Casper the Friendly Ghost. In reality the dog’s name is Gaston. There is a Lake Gaston nearby and perhaps there is a relationship there, I dunno. So now when I encounter said canine I toss a "BOLO (Be On Lookout For) large lab puppy’s name" into the hopper. Fortunately both my daughters were addicted in their youth to the movie Gigi that featured a male protagonist named Gaston. (played by Louis Jourdan opposite Leslie Caron - “Ah, yes. I remember it well!” Actually, they didn't sing that song, Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold did. Anyhow.) So fairly quickly the hopper churns “big lab+not Casper+dude from Gigi+big lake nearby” together, and Gaston pops out. Sometimes in time for me to call the pup by name. Sometimes not. No big deal. I have learned not to stress over it. I don’t “need” the name right now, and it won’t be on the test.
I have been introduced to Gaston’s humans a couple of times. I have no idea what their names are. Hey, not everything makes it into the hopper. You still have to prioritize.
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