Whoa Brain! Whoa!!

I readily admit that my brain works in strange ways at times.  As it receives information it is constantly trying to make sense of what it is receiving.  This trait sometimes gets in the way of enjoyment.  For instance, I noticed that even though the characters in The Big Bang Theory walk up and down several floors of stairs on the show - then always walk by the exact same floor baseboards.  I know.  It bugs you too right?

Here's another example of this annoying habit my brain has of trying to keep things straight.

I was reading an article about West Bloomfield, Michigan teachers - as it relates to this whole deal in Wisconsin.  The story started simply enough explaining the teachers had participated in a sickout.  40 teachers had called in sick.  Here is the second paragraph - the one that distracted me.  Does it surprise you too?

Superintendent JoAnn Andrees said that 41 high school teachers didn’t show up and that 36 of those teachers were not within a normal “pattern” of absences. Andrees said as many as a dozen teachers could be out on a typical day. The Michigan Department of Education said there are about 100 teachers at the high school as of 2009-10.

Ok.. here is what goes on in my head when I read these two sentences:

a) 41 teachers didn't show up
b) oh.. they have about 100 teachers - so about 40% or so didn't show up - hmmm. ok.
c) wait a second.. wait a second.. the 'normal pattern' is for as many as a dozen to be absent??
d) let's see .. that would mean 1/8 of the teachers being sick is relatively normal
e) that means these teachers take one sick day for every 8 days of work
f) that's 6 times the rate I acrrue sick time at!
f) what the heck is going on??
g) why isn't the crazy amount of sick time the point of the article? 

This all happens in about 1/2 a second for me.  And then the rest of the article is just .... blah blah blah.  I'm distracted and disinterested at this point.

I truly wish, at times, that I could turn this 'feature' of my brain off at times.  It really helps me in many areas of life.  But - it certainly gets in the way at times.  I certainly understand the adage: ignorance is bliss.