She Said, Z Said: To-Do List To-Do

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/101109_she_said_z_said_to-do_list_to-do/

By Leslie Dinaberg and Zak Klobucher, Noozhawk Columnists

Mental lists are just as effective as writing things down. Now, what was I supposed to do?

She: Augh!

Z: I didn’t do it.

She: And that’s exactly the problem.

Z: My bad. I did do it?

She: No, you didn’t. You never do it because you don’t write anything down, and you don’t remember anything.

Z: Why should I write things down? I don’t have enough to do that I should write things down. I keep a mental list.

She: But then you forget things.

Z: If I wrote things down, then I’d forget to look at the list. Especially since it would be a list of two things for the month. Why would I be checking a list all the time for two things?

She: You only have to remember two things because I write everything down.

Z: See? My system is flawless. I remember everything.

She: No, you don’t. You remember nothing. And you take no responsibility when you forget everything.

Z: I don’t recall that being the case.

She: I wanted you to print me some labels for two weeks, and you kept forgetting them every day.

Z: No. I made them the very first day you asked me to.

She: And?

Z: And then I forgot to bring them home for two weeks. But I made them, which proves that I can remember things.

She: Just not to bring them home.

Z: Exactly.

She: I guess if you kept a list then you would have had to put two things on it: one, print labels and two, bring them home.

Z: See? Only two things. What’s the point?

She: It’s like when you remember to go grocery shopping but then forget that you have to take the groceries out of the trunk of the car and then put them away in the kitchen.

Z: I can’t be expected to do everything. I remember the important things.

She: You mean like Hollywood pitch meetings?

Z: I only ever forgot about a couple of those. And that was more than 10 years ago. Which, when you think about it, is hugely reassuring. My forgetting things isn’t new, I’ve always done that.

She: Which is why you should write stuff down.

Z: I know you’re the goddess of the Franklin system, but I simply can’t wrap my mind around doing the amount of work that you do on that thing.

She: It’s not work; it’s stress release. I write things down and then I don’t have to remember them because they’re on my list. I don’t understand why it has to be so complicated.

Z: It’s not. I have a mental list. And a wife.

She: You and Koss are both hopeless when it comes to remembering practical things. Ridiculously useless information sticks in your brains, but not the very basics. One, take off socks; two, put socks in hamper; three, take off shoes; four, put shoes in closet.

Z: That’s my boy. I was never more proud of our child than I was this week.

She: Did he save a drowning woman from a shark? Or better, bring her back to life with his impressive knowledge about the difference between tiger shark’s teeth and sand shark’s teeth?

Z: Nah. You got mad at him for not remembering to do his math homework before 9 o’clock at night, and told him that he needs to start writing stuff down, to make a list.

She: It’s never too early to start on the Franklin.

Z: And then he said — I kid you not — “But then I would just forget to look at the list. I’ve got two things to remember. Why should I make a list?” Be still my heart. I’m going to go buy him a bike.

She: Like you’ll remember to do that. He’s still waiting for you to remember to fix the tire on the Big Wheel he had when he was 4.

Z: He’ll forget about that.

She: It’s been on your “mental” list for years, right after “buy a new Walkman” and “replace goofy looking glasses with something from this century.” Augh!

Z: Yes, dear.

— When She and Z aren’t making a list and not checking it twice, they can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/101109_she_said_z_said_to-do_list_to-do/