Where did you find that?!

C had some dental work done and needed to take some ibuprofen to work. I remembered that he had a bottle next to his bed on the night table. "Take the bottle by the bed!", I called out to him from the other room. I heard sounds of shuffling as he rooted around his side of the bed to look for the pills. A few minutes later he came out. "I can't find them, " he said. "Did you look under the bed?" I asked. He answered yes. "Did you look really well under the bed?" "Yes," he said "They are not in the bedroom."
I knew they were there. I saw them when I put something in the trash can a few days ago. I knew no one had touched them. They were there, he just didn't see them. I went back into the bedroom, pulled up the dust ruffle and saw the bottle. I picked it up and handed it to him.
"Honey, Where did you find it?!" he exclaimed, in an exasperated tone of voice. "Under the bed." "But I looked there !" "I know," I said smugly as I sauntered out of the room.
This is not the first time this has happened. I think C suffers from a strange sort of blindness. If he is looking for something and it is right in front of him, he can't seem to see it. I think it might be one of those Y chromosome things that men sometimes suffer from. (I'm sure there are X chromosome things that women suffer from too.) I once worked with a pharmacy clerk many years ago who had the same problem. Several times a week when I would work with him he would be unable to find a prescription ready for pick up. I would walk over to the shelf, pick the correct one off the shelf and casually deposit it in his hands. He would get frustrated too.
It's really very strange. C can find a 30 cent error in the checkbook without a problem. He can walk into our bedroom and be able to smell the perfume I put on over an hour ago. He can hear an off key note in the middle of a loud concert. He can tell what a child needs or wants by the way it cries and most of the time is able to predict whether a pregnant woman is carrying a boy or girl by the shape of her belly. He can do all these things, but he can't see something in front of him.
I used to get very impatient with him. I'd ask him to get the ketchup out of the fridge and after a 20 second search, he comes empty handed and unable to find it. I'd march into the kitchen, open the door, find the ketchup, slam the door and thump the bottle on the table in front of him. Then I thought maybe it was his way of getting out of doing things I ask him to do. Eventually I'll get the hint and quit asking him to do stuff.
Now I realise he can't help it. It's not his fault and I need to be more patient with him. He is just as frustrated about it as I am. I've learned to either get the item myself or give him precise directions to where it is.
The strategy seems to be working. Now I'll have to find something else to work on....