Losing yourself for a moment or lacking common sense?

I consider myself to be a decently smart person. I can't do a statistics problem to save my life and I can't really tell you what a politics term means without having to google it on my blackberry. But, I do have a college degree and I'm a thinker. To get through 4 years of college, you have to have even at least the tiniest bit of smartness in you. (We're all smart in different ways, I think.)And there are those times when I lack common sense. I'd like to think it's not too often, but I do have my moments. I'm just glad that I'm not one of those people who is SO book smart that their common sense just disappeared into thin air. Example: Yale students who cross 3 lanes of oncoming traffic without even looking. But anyway, let me tell you a time when I should have used my common sense.
My best friend came home for Christmas. I hadn't seen her in months. We made plans to go to Dunkin' Donuts. I know, you're thinking "Why would you go to Dunkin' Donuts to just hang out?" Yeah, I wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea, but she wanted to go b/c she doesn't have one close to her new location so I agreed. It was kind of late and I knew that I had to get up early the next day. The smart thinking Christina would have taken her contacts out, giving them a chance to get clean and my eyes a chance to breathe. I often wear my glasses at night when I know I'll probably be out late. My contacts like to betray me at night. It's understandable though, b/c technically, I'm only supposed to wear them for, mmmm, 8 hours a day? I probably wear them for well over 12 hours sometimes. But that's a topic for another time.
So, we're sitting there at D&D, and I start to feel my contacts getting dry. I figured I would be ok, thinking that her sister had some solution back at their house. Well, her sister hasn't really worn contacts in a while and the only solution she had was a couple years expired. Given the problems I had in the past with my eyes, I wasn't about to risk it. But you know what? I risked it. I risked it b/c I had to drive myself home and I needed to see clearly. I braced myself for the sting. It miraculously worked. No sting. But that was in the left eye. I usually take the right eye contact out first. Which is what I did. But, when I took it out, I dropped it. I FREAKIN' DROPPED IT. And you know what? I COULDN'T FIND IT!!!!!! I was on my hands and knees in their bathroom attempting to find a very small sliver of plastic. A very small sliver of plastic that is essential to me seeing properly and also VERY EXPENSIVE! Probably needless to say, I was unsuccessful. I went downstairs so I could hang out with my BFF, her sister, and her sister's friend. The whole time I'm thinking "Crap, crap, crap. How the heck am I going to drive home?"
I don't know how I did it, but I did it. You know how? I drove with my contactless eye closed. I drove like that for the whole 15 minute ride. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but it freakin' is when the only time you really keep your eyes completely shut is when YOU'RE SLEEPING!!!!! And seriously, people, we take our vision for granted. Do you have any idea how hard it is to see with only one eye? Especially while driving? My peripheral vision was so off that I was scared that I was going to veer into the wrong lane on 95. If you've ever driven on the newly constructed 95, then you know exactly what I mean. So. All that said- I lacked common sense that day. Common sense would have been me taking my contacts out and putting my glasses on before I left the house. But clearly, my mind was somewhere else that day. And my friend's sister made a good point- it's just a good idea to carry a case around with you should you ever really, seriously need to take your contacts out. I think I should go back to doing that......