Driving down the road, travelling on a bus, in bed, away on holiday, have you ever uttered the words… ‘Did l…
Did l shut the window? Did l lock the door? Did l unplug the …? Did l leave the … switched on? Did l pack the…?
The list of ‘Did l’s’ are endless and it always seems to happen when we are too far away from the house, or wherever to go back. If we do go back it usually turns out to be a false alarm.
Have there been instances of this sort of questioning in your life ever?
I bet there has!
Oh yes…Did I leave the iron on, Did I switch off the heating, Did I lock the door…it got so bad when I was leaving for work that I made a list and checked everything off as I did it, so I could reassure myself!
Yes loads of times I’ve been in bed and thought have I locked the back door? Logically I know I have, but I have to get out and check. Sod’s law it is always locked.
When you’re married it’s “did you”.
Since the pandemic, “did you remember your face mask” has been added to the list that includes “did you remember your wallet? And your glasses?”
“Yes dear”.
But I had this thing where if I worried about it enough without going back to check, somehow it wouldn’t be anything to worry about Invariably it would be locked, of course, but as its so automatic, I couldn’t recall doing it.
So had to check anyway I blame the job stress…I’m alright now!
OCD at one time ruled my life, it doesn’t anymore, I used to think all of the above, I’ve even turned back home when driving years ago , to make sure I had turned such and such off.
That voice that I used to listen to in my head, has no power over me anymore,
Occassionally, yes. My biggest fear was ‘has anything been left switched on’ because very little get unplugged in my home, only switched off at the socket. I overcame this by fitting neon indicated sockets so I can see at a glance as I do my round before heading off up to bed.
That fear goes all the way back to when some radios had mains (voltage dropping) leads that heated up and I saw one catch on fire when a chair leg nipped it, but the fire started when nobody was in the room. The small fire was discovered only a few minutes, when the smell of scorched lino issued forth from that room. . a lucky escape!
Haven’t we all…
Did you lock the back door is a favourite. But worse is when you close the back door and lock the inside of it after you have gone out…
Many years ago myself & an ex-girlfriend, went up to Northumberland on Holiday. I had borrowed a caravan off a friend & we got as far as North Yorkshire, call it 150 miles up the road. When it suddenly hit me. Had I moved the caravan key from my car to the rental car? And the answer was no.
Thankfully, being an ex builder & someone who practices escapology, not having a key is not the end of the world & no return trip or damage was required.
Did I remember my mask & relief to find it in a jacket or jeans pocket.
Did I switch off the computer, well mostly I have, but sometimes not.
Did I lock the back door, now several times, in Summer, I must admit I had even left it wide open. Luckily all those ‘did I’ times I hadn’t been going out for long. If we are going to be out for ages I check & double check, then check again.
Once when I went into hospital I asked my mum to go back and check, did I close a window? Yes of course I had, said mum rather crossly, once she’d checked.
