It's possible that I now have some small idea about what it must be like to be in the early stages of Alzheimer's. I don't think I am, I think I had an episode of some kind of dyslexia. Or that some part of my brain took over and wouldn't let any other parts contribute. Or that it was about 45 degrees in the train.
I was going to Orly Airport from Paris. Decided to take the train. Actually two metros and two (or three) trains. You take the RER B2 from St Michel to Anthony and then take the Orlyval to Orly. Easy, right? Except I could not process Anthony. I knew it was an English name so I wasn't too worried. How many stations could there be on that line with an English name? Two. Anthony and Robinson. It's actually the B4 train that goes to Anthony, the B2 goes to Robinson. The line splits at Bourg-Lareine.
So I ended up at Robinson because I missed the part about having to get off at Bourg-Lareine and change trains. Caught the next train back to Bourg-Lareine. Read all the signs, went to the platform, got the next train, kept reading the stations to make sure I was going in the right directions, and ended up at .... Robinson! Again! Feeling a bit panicky.
Got the next train back to Bourg-Lareine. Read the signs again. Went to a different platform. A train pulled in just as I got to the platform. I leapt on and hoped against hope that it was going to Anthony because I just couldn't process the names of the stations. I didn't really believe I was on the right train til it arrived at Anthony.
It was not a pleasant experience. On some level I knew what I had to do but I just couldn't get my brain to communicate it. It's the kind of thing I experience when I try and work from a diagram I can't really translate the image into reality. I've had to call people to come and do things that really are fairly straight forward. I was making curtains and could not pleat them - the diagram confused me so. I was trying to cut and mitre a piece of quarter round. The piece was 6 feet long and I needed about 8 inches. After a lot of cuts I was down to about a foot of trim.
This is the first time I've experienced that kind of confusion with words. Very disconcerting. I don't think I have early onset Alzheimer's but if anyone notices me doing bizarre things maybe they could let me know.
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