(NOTE: The following story, while 100% true and factual is intentionally vague and ambiguous because my friends don't need to worry about me putting their business out there...because I don't)
The other day, I was with a friend who is taking medication for a serious condition. Through a series of mishaps and circumstances, their prescription had expired and they were off the medication for about three days before resuming the day we got together. I didn't realize that suddenly stopping and then suddenly resuming taking medication was such a big deal until this happened.
There was a newspaper on the counter while we were talking and my friend said this:
"I was at a meeting with Steve today and he said this situation in Egypt is a real mess."
I don't remember what I said in response. It wasn't anything profound. It might have been "Oh" or "Yeah, no kidding" or "Huh". I didn't know Steve knew anything or cared about foreign affairs and it was sort of a 'well, duh' understatement of an announcement. My friend replied, "what was I saying before that?". I tried to remember; it might have been something about sports or movies... "No, about what Steve said at the meeting". That's when I realized that the sentence about Steve and the thing about Egypt were two entirely, unrelated topics of conversation. Like this:
"I was at a meeting with Steve today and he said (unfinished thought) / (new observation culled from nearby newspaper) This situation in Egypt is a real mess."
It should have looked (sounded) something like this:
"I was at a meeting with Steve today and he said...wow, this situation in Egypt is a real mess."
That's right. My friend had lost their train of thought (something that happens to all of us from time to time) in the middle of a sentence...and didn't so much as pause in the middle of that sentence. That there is some super-serious, industrial strength, steroid-enhanced ADHD, folks.
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