Inspiration From ADDitude Readers
Living with ADHD can be a rollercoaster of emotions. Our reader panel recalls the times their ADHD made them laugh, cry, and everything in between!
I threw out my salary check with the garbage. I never found it. -An ADDitude Reader
I had an interview at an advertising agency I wanted to work at, and accepted their job offer. When I came home, my husband asked what my salary was, and I realized I hadn’t bothered to ask. I had been so excited about getting the job, it hadn’t occurred to me to ask. He wasn’t very happy about that, but it’s one of those stories we share and laugh about frequently, 20 years later! -Barbra Smerz, Houston, Texas
I keep buying an expensive anti-aging cream, even though people say I look like a teenager (I’m in my early 30s!). -An ADDitude Reader
[Self-Test: Could It Be ADHD?]
I forgot to renew my dental insurance, went to the appointment, and had to pay out of pocket. -Cindy, Michigan
After I left work, I bought a box of doughnuts and put it on the top of my car because my hands were full. I left it there and I couldn’t figure out where it was when I got home. The next day, a co-worker told me she saw me pull away as the box fell onto the street, and then saw a car run over it. -Dave, Louisiana
I cried when my ADHD made me feel so stuck that I stayed at a job that made me miserable. Once I got out of my ADHD fog, I finally left the job. I cried tears of joy when I could see possibilities instead of impossibilities. -Diane, Weston, Wisconsin
I cried when I forgot to pick up my son at school. He waited nearly an hour for me to show up. -Silezia Pretorius, Fairland, Randburg, South Africa
[It’s Funny Because It’s True. True Because You Have ADHD.]
I cried when I made a mistake at work that cost the company $30k. Those darn details get me every time! -H. Smith, Plano, Texas
I wanted to take my kid, nieces, and nephews to a movie, and they wouldn’t all fit in my car. I was at the ATM at my bank, which happened to be having a parking lot car sale. I figured, what the heck, I’ll get a seven-passenger van. An hour later, I drove off in it. -An ADDitude Reader
I put diesel gas in my non-diesel car. I ignored the fact that the diesel spout didn’t fit into the hole of my gas tank, and I assumed it was a faulty pump. I continued to pump while carefully holding the nozzle directly above the hole, impressed with myself because gas wasn’t spilling everywhere. I was in a hurry to buy my husband a birthday present before he got home. I didn’t make it home that day, but my husband got two birthday presents that year: the present I eventually bought him and a $2,000 bill from our mechanic. -Michelle Rodriguez, Natick, Massachusetts
