Monday, July 4, 2005

Petty Annoyance #145

I'm so annoyed.  Someone called me this morning at the outrageously early hour of 11:30 --

-- OK, maybe that isn't quite so early.  But it is if you've got the day off and you went to sleep around 3:00 in the morning.

I know enough to know, however, that you can't really be legitimately annoyed at someone for waking you up a half hour before noon.  That wasn't what annoyed me.

What annoyed me was that when I told the caller he had inadvertantly woken me up, he continued to chat right on, as if having a conversation when he just woke me up is something I'd rather do then, oh, go the hell back to sleep.

"Were you asleep?"

"Yeah."

"What were you doing asleep?"

"Dude, I went to bed at 3:00 in the morning."

"What were you doing up so late?"

Getting freakin' tired, that's what I was doing up so late.  Trying to remedy that by sleeping in this morning is what I was doing when you called, and what I'd like to get back to doing if you'd be so kind as to stop with the inquisition and let me hang up.  You know, there's a window of no more than, say, 60 seconds, in which you can fall back asleep.  If you go past that and actually have a conversation, well then, you've started to function in full consciousness and there's no hope for going back to sleep for at least twelve, thirteen hours.

Of course, I didn't say all that.  I didn't even think it, at least, not consciously.  All I could think was that my legs were wobbling, there was still sleep in my eyes, and this moron was keeping me from finishing off a dream that had something to do with ... come to think of it, I can't remember, but I'm sure it was fascinating.  

His question still hung there, so I mumbled something about it being a long story (mostly because I was so tired I couldn't entirely remember, and I didn't want to tax my brain with trying to access that file) and that I'd really like to get back to sleep -- at which time my late-morning callersounded all offended that I'd rather get back to sleep than chit-chat through my sleep-deprived haze.

I don't mind the waking up -- really, I understand he was operating under the reasonable assumption that I would already be up.  But, see, when someone calls me when I'm asleep and I actually want to take the call, I'll clear my throat before I answer the phone, and I won't even sound like you woke me up.  And I'll deny it if you ask.  But if you call and I let myself continue to sound sleepy, and I tell you that you woke me up, that's your clue to let me go back to sleep.

Am I alone in this?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

no, you're not alone.  you are right on.  
some people are clueless.  

Anonymous said...

You're definitely NOT alone on this one.  I'm in complete agreement.
http://journals.aol.com/bearanbananasmom/OddLiquid/
Lyn

Anonymous said...

Perhaps you're only alone if you necessarily feel that you *must* answer the phone instead of using the 60 second window to pick up and hang up, or turn the ringer off. Then again, maybe I'm the one with unnatural fear of answering my home phone.

Anonymous said...

There is something almost sinister about the knack of the telephone to ring at the most inappropriate time. I agree that if you gave out some clues the caller should just like... hang up. We are too poor/cheap to have caller ID but I know several people who never answer the phone unless the number registers on the caller ID and is familiar. Ah but for the days of the telegraph.
Michael