Fascinating... this happens to me a lot also, but I never really realized what I was experiencing until reading your comment. Later on I will feel guilty asking people to repeat things when I actually understood them. I never considered what you are saying, that I didn't yet have the information when I asked them, but later did.

I often wonder if my hearing is poor, or if I am just overly sensitive to the possibility of mis-hearing people, that I would rather err on the side of confusion. I overhear a lot of other people talking that I can tell misunderstand each other, but neither are aware, and I wouldn't want to do that.