The art of forgetting....

You may think that forgetting things is easy; for some people it indeed is. I have known a few persons who seem to be able to do it on demand.

In my life (though not long yet) I have heard the phrase "I forgot" more times then most word combinations I can think of. While I will be the first to admit that it is a useful skill (and indeed art), I am still surprised by the audacity with which some wield this little phrase. You could be in the middle of telling someone how lazy they are for not doing something, and then BANG! They hit you with a "I Forgot" (or sometimes "I didn't remember")! It is simply not acceptable to actually admit either one of two things: one, that you chose to ignore the thing you claimed to have forgotten, or two, that you CHOSE to place such a low priority upon whatever thing it was, that you indeed forgot, but it was due to laziness/personal choice.
While I am certain that all of my readers have said they have forgotten something in the past, I wish to present here a few things that can help you convince someone that you really have forgotten something (only use these helps when you truly have forgotten and have said so).

1. Only smile when you say "IF" (I forgot), if you are a known forgetter, and everyone believes you, because it is true tat you have forgot, and they know this through experience. If you smile it may give some people cause to think that you are either lying, or just being obnoxious.

2. It may be that you have a very fast brain and that makes it possible for you to blast out an IF before the questioner has even finished speaking, but to me it just seems like a PLANNED forgetting when you bite the bit to say IF.

3. Be apologetic. I cannot stress this enough. A cocky, know it all, unrepentant forgetter is bound to have a disbelieving audience.

4. If you truly did forget then you aught to try and make recompense with the person. "Gee, I am so sorry Fred. I thought that you said to pick you up at west dock, not east. Wow, your really wet, I didn't know it was raining that hard. Was it really six hours? I will get you a new hat since that one is ruined..." I think that you get the point.

5. DO NOT GROVEL! you should not have a some kind of prepared speech! It once again makes you seem to have done the forgetting intentionally...

If anyone has any other ideas, feel free to post them!