That's Really Gonna Bug Me
Posted: Friday, April 11, 2008
by Ben Morrish
http://alltruism.blogspot.com
You know that feeling when inability to recall some random piece of trivia threatens to drive you mad....when you can't concentrate on anything else until you find out the answer to that random question that some random conversation threw up?
The answer is always on the tip of your tongue, but your brain can't quite find it.
It can happen at any time. You're at work talking to some colleagues over a tepid cup of vending-machine coffee. The conversation drifts to 80s kids tv shows (this is almost inevitable for people between 25 and 25).
Soon enough, it meanders over to Thundercats. Happy days eh, sitting on the sofa after a day at school, then that rocking theme tune pumps from the tv directly into the pleasure centres of your young brain.....feel the magic, hear the roar....Thundercats are loose!
And that Cheetarah....she must have been the "Thundercat's 'ho'" from the theme song.
Mumm-ra was cool, able to change from bandaged mummy to some bizarre smurf-skinned psychotic WWF wannabe just by shouting out that he was Mumm-Ra...the ever LIVIIIIIING!
But he didn't have to fight all the Thundercats alone of course, that would be unfair. He had some henchmen, lead by a humanoid frog called Slithe. Another was called Monkian.
But what was that third one called....you know, the reddish one, kinda looked like a humanoid rat? Ohcrap
You can picture him, so can your colleagues, but for the life of you, you can't get his name out of the dusty backroom of your mind. It drives you mad, and for the rest of the day, you're almost oblivious to your surroundings as you run the question through your head again and again. And again. You ask around the office, but no joy.
Later, once you're home, you phone Dave. Dave will know. He loved Thundercats, and he's great in pub quizzes. But Dave doesn't know either, and now he's infected with the bug too...another victim who won't be able to sleep until the name of that mystery Thundercats villain is dredged up from the depths of someone's 80s memories.
It can drag on for weeks. Productivity at work begins to suffer. Your girlfriend is always asking why you're so withdrawn and irritable lately. But you can't admit the reason....it sounds silly when you say it out loud....what would she think of you if she knew the reason you'd been borderline psychotic for the last fortnight was that you couldn't remember the name of the third mutant in an 80s kids tv show?
Eventually, you're down the pub with some mates and again, inevitably, the conversation drifts to Thundercats. You mention that you've not slept in weeks 'cos not knowing the name of that damn character has been bugging you, gnawing at your mind until it's in tatters.
"That was Jackalman wasn't it?" says one of your friends, as if it was just a minor point. YES!
It clicks, your brain recognizes the answer as being the Truth, and slumps down into a blissful state, relaxing for the first time in nearly a month. Nirvana is nothing compared to the pleasure of relief that surges through you, a feeling of exaltation greater than any drug can offer.
Another question that caused this kind of mental anguish for me was:
What were the original flavours of Monster munch? You know...the ones from back in the days where they had puppet monsters licking monster munch from trees.
But that was 5 years ago. Today, with Google and Wikipedia now being so close to omniscient as makes no difference, we can find out the answers to pretty much any question that bugs us instantly. Just type it in, and the answer is in front of you in milliseconds.
No more do we have to suffer for a month until the answer crops up - that suffering has gone, and gone with it is that immeasurable pleasure of relief when you finally found out.
And you know what? That really bugs me.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)hi ben, this was a well written, funny article, that everyone can relate to. just thinking about it brings back that hopeless feeling that nothing will be right again until the secret is unveiled. thanks for sharing with us. best regards, sue thomThanks for reading Sue, I'm glad you liked it!
Hi Ben, this was very funny and o-so true. I hate when that happens. Thanks for the laugh. Blessings to you. Teresa
lol, learn to let it gooooooo :) Funny article and yes, I am always forgetting things, sometimes basic words that are needed to complete a sentance, now that is annoying as it makes me look barmy!
A fun article, Ben! And how many times have you awakened in the middle of the night with the answer and no one to tell since your friends would disown you if you called them with your newly-remembered tidbit of info at 3 a.m.Funny you should say that...I had the situation the other way around - I got a text message with a long sought answer in the middle of the night once. I was a bit enraged at first, but I think I slept more soundly once I'd read it... "Spicy Beef".... was a weight off my mind I can tell you ;-)
this was a very well written article. however, you lost my interest midway through. cut it in half.Thanks for reading! The middle bit is deliberately directionless and long to try and convey the frustration being described, but I agree it'd probably be better for the reader if I just told them about it rather than seeking to give them a taste of it ;-)
Ben, Great article! Here's one for you. Who was the Chinese explorer in the 15th century who ran circles around Columbus? LOL Thanks. Now I have you agonzing!It was Zheng He.... thanks to the Internet I'm free from the agonizing, but also free from the sheer joy of finding answers after weeks of frustration ;-)
And you are correct! This guy was quite the explorer. I saw a two hour special on how he had an armada of ships, 350 in all. He traveled with 30,000 mates including prostitutes. LOL He brought giraffes back from Africa because the Emperor of China had some spiritual thing about this animal. Kinda cool.
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