OMG, my hubby spent many months hospitalized, long recovery. Each time I frantically called 911 after he came home I realized I do not do well answering a spur of the moment question under such pressure. Not that I don't know the answer, I just draw a complete blank on the weirdest things under pressure. I fully understand.
I also think it's genetic, based upon anecdata (lol): not too long ago I was lamenting to my father about how often I have caught myself after the fact, giving directions to tourists in NYC with an air of complete confidence - and having said directions be wrong. (Sorry to those tourists I've inadvertently wronged!) If an area is completely unfamiliar to me I'll fess up to it; but for some reason, when I'm in areas where I have long worked, I find myself personally compelled to make a quick answer.
Well, my father spent a few years carrying mail as a second career post retirement, because he's crazy (j/k), and he said "People used to ask me for directions all the time when they saw me; probably because as a mailman, they assume that I know these streets like the back of my hand.
"Of course, I
do know these streets like the back of my hand, and these people aren't wrong in their assumptions.
"But just let anyone
ask me where something is located, and my brain automatically freezes up and refuses to let go of any details."
Thankfully, this is so well-known a mental block that I think a lot of people can understand; but I can't help but think there are some cases where some posters would have a mailman acting similarly, and would say "Now, how do we know that person wasn't actually a criminal
disguised as a postal carrier? I mean, what kind of postal carrier doesn't know his or her own route?"