brainis interruptis

"I did eventually, have a X shot a few weeks ago."

That ↑ was a line from my previous post, except where it then said X, you were able to read cortisone.

Huh?

You see, I had a memory issue when I was composing the post. The word, cortisone, eluded me. I knew that the correct word would eventually surface to the top of my consciousness, so I used X as a placeholder. Rather than getting bogged down in the moment, I went on to compose the rest of my post.

Then, when I was done,  was able to replace X with cortisone because it had then risen to the top of my brain.

Temporarily losing track of ones nouns, is a common side effect of aging. There can be many changes in how our brains and bodies work, but that is one of them for some seniors. It is temporary; we know that the words are still there, and we know that other words don't fit, but may fail to come up with the right word in the moment.

When I wrote about the issue quite a long time ago, someone in the geriatrics field commented that retrieving a noun could be likened to looking for an article on a crowded desk. You know that it's there, somewhere, but it can take some time and searching to find it.

My mind is still working pretty well, thank you very much. I do my puzzles in the morning, including what is often an extreme Sudoku. I am seldom stumped by the puzzles, including those very difficult Sudokus.

Mind you, when I am trying to convey something to someone and can't find the word, I can both feel and look pretty dumb, even though I am not.

I call it temporary brainis interruptis.

In my case, I can think logically and coherently, and I can write about my thoughts fairly well, I think. Feel free to comment if you think otherwise. I'll delete it, but go ahead.

However, as much as it seems to be the case so far, this post is not really about me, but I simply cite my example in order to make a point. Rather, I am thinking about the grand debate last week. I confess that I did not watch it, for I feared the worst. On one hand, there was a candidate, who has the gift of the gab, aided by the fact that he doesn't care whether or not he is being accurate and truthful. The other candidate is hesitant due to brainis interruptis as he struggles to find the right words and to tell the truth.

I did not watch because I feared the worst, and the worst, apparently, happened.

It is appropriate to question the latter's competency, but for the love of all that is holy, please take a minute to understand the senior mind. A person may have temporary issues retrieving words or may falter in expressing a thought, but they can be extremely competent. A temporarily lost word or hesitant thought does not necessarily indicate precipitous cognitive decline.

People and the press should know this. It's not difficult to understand. 

Age and competency are certainly concerns in this election, but I have an opinion about who is the more stable candidate, and it is the one who has a good governing track record and no criminal convictions and nor required to report to a parole officer.