The Forgettable Building
On my way home there is this square nondescript building with no windows and no identification save a number which does not appear to be it’s address. There are vents at the top but otherwise from my point of view the building has neither entrance nor exit. The building is surrounded by a sizable yard and fence that does not have a gate. The building is painted a neutral light blue and situated between two houses in a largely residential area and does not appear to be connected to any power lines.
But none of the above is what makes this building special.
Everything about this building has been designed with one goal in mind: to make it completely forgettable. Even noticing the building in the first place takes skill, but holding any memory of it in your mind is an almost impossible challenge. I would walk by this building every day, take a look at it and wonder to myself what purpose it served and then within seconds of looking away completely forget it’s existence. Sometimes I would unwittingly repeat the process several times in a single trip home. It was like a temporal loop…
*looks at building* What an odd building, I haven’t noticed that before. Hmmm, I wonder what it’s used for *looks away and instantly thinks of something else forgetting the building entirely, then looks back* What an odd building. Hmmm, I wonder who is inside. Have I noticed that building before? *looks away again, forgets building, looks back* Hmmm, what an odd building, not that it really stands out. I wonder what goes on there. *continues walking and within moments forgets the building once again*
It wasn’t until I had walked by this building twice a day for 2 years that I began to put the pieces together. Yes, I HAD seen that building before, how could I not have walked by it twice a day for 2 years and not seen it? And these thoughts feel VERY familiar…
I began making a concerted effort to remember the building. To ponder the possibilities even moments after looking away and failed miserably every time. It’s not that I am an overly forgetful person in the short term, when it comes to useless information I seem to have a facility to store and recall the data better than most. There were days when I had nothing else going on, nothing on my mind whatsoever, and yet still I could not concentrate on this building if I was not looking directly at it.
How could they, whoever they are, design a building to be instantly forgotten?
But I’m writing about it now aren’t I? How did I break the cycle of forgetfulness? I had two allies: A friend and my PDA. Walking by the building one day my friend looks up and says “what an odd building“. Having accepted my fate I said looking at the building, “don’t bother, you’ll forget it in an instant and never think of it again unless it’s in front of you“. I explained the meaning behind my words and we made an off-hand comment about how I should write about this building in my blog and moments later we had forgotten about the building and were talking about something else.
Later in the day I was thinking about a different topic for my blog when I remembered earlier in the day saying “I should write about that in my blog” but couldn’t for the life of me remember what “that” was. My friend and I were able to put the pieces together and reconstruct our memories of the conversation, I got out my PDA and took notes, it is those notes that I am basing this post on.
I wonder what the building could be. A secret CIA prison? An advanced weapons research facility? A Caramilk factory?
The possibilities are endless and fun to speculate about but what I really want to know is: Will this post still be here tomorrow?
