small annoyances

Two things are bothering me these days.

One is that I have a mild case of that phenomenon where it's hard to tell people apart. There was an article about it in the Globe last year, and I was able to tell about 60% of the faces apart -- Robert got all of them. I'm one of those people who loses the plot when someone in a movie puts on a disguise, even a bad one. I have a hard time telling which actors I've seen before when I go to a play.

And at work, there are are two pairs of men whom I confuse. The problem is that I'll go up to the wrong person and start a conversation that would make perfect sense if I were talking to the other member of the pair. I think both of the "wrong guys" think I'm just friendly and picking up on odd little bits of conversation. But really, I'm continuing something that started with an entirely different person.

A few weeks ago, I went up to one guy and said "I haven't seen you for a while." He told me he'd been in meetings and the gist of what was being worked on... and all the while, I thought he was my next door neighbor who comes in once a week. I finally passed this second guy while he was sitting in his office. He gave me a big friendly smile. Uh hi. And whoops.

I also went up to someone who had just returned from a long European trip and with whom I've had several friendly conversations. "Welcome back!" I said. "From where?" he asked? I blinked and said "I'm so sorry; I thought you were someone else" and walked off. Whoops again.

There are so many opportunities to feel like an idiot.

The other thing is physical. For a few weeks, one of my thumbs has been less than opposable, though it has been quite oppositional. It's not on my main hand, but it turns out that I use that thumb a lot, or at least I'd like to. It occasionally wakes me up in the middle of the night just to remind me who's boss (believe me, I'm not forgetting). I've even switched mouse hands at work to give Mr. Thumbkin a rest. Then I feel like I'm "all thumbs" (all toes?) when I try to mouse. I'm trying to up the ibuprofen and just get through this latest episode, but heavens, I hope it's not a several-year ordeal.