Mind Your Manners

Lately I feel like a lot of people need reminded that not everything is all about them. Sorry to disappoint you, folks. You may be superheroes in your own minds, but to me, you are just people who could use a trip to etiquette school.

I am especially riled up in terms of telephones. I have the usual rants about cell phones in public places and I love telling patrons in my library to get off their phones. But what I am more upset about lately is that people are calling me at really inappropriate times. I got a call on Thursday at 3:36 in the morning. Call me provencial, but I try to be in bed by then. It is hard enough for me to get a good sleep anyway. If I am awake, I am probably trying desperately to get back to sleep, or doing something way more fun than talking on the phone to a drunk person would be.

Today my phone rang at 8 a.m.. Since I only got one day off last week, I have a three-day weekend. My plan was to sleep in as late as possible. Even though I hadn’t shared my plan with anyone, I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that calling anyone at eight on a weekend is not a good idea. Better to error on the side of caution.

I answered the phone, figuring I might as well since I was now awake. It was my landlord, who I have previously referred to as my fairy godmother. Apparently she thought that because she was awake, the rest of us should be, too. She wanted to confirm that she and her husband would come over at four to fix one of my windows. Thanks, fairy godmother! You have been demoted for the time being.