They were in my hand. I want to be very clear about this: the entire time, they were in my hand, and I still looked in the fridge. Not the fruit bowl, which would at least make sense as a place keys sometimes end up. The fridge.
some part of me is always looking for something, even when nothing is missing.
I've decided this isn't a memory problem. A memory problem would be forgetting where the keys were. This was worse — I forgot they existed as an object with a location at all. For about four seconds, keys were a concept I understood only in the abstract.
things i checked, in order
- the fridge
- both coat pockets, including the coat i wasn't wearing
- under the cat, who did not appreciate it
- my hand
I'd like to say I learned something from this. I did not. I put the keys in a bowl by the door specifically so this wouldn't happen, and then didn't use the bowl, because using the bowl requires remembering the bowl exists, which is the entire problem in miniature.