Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Ranting

I have a rant that I simply have to get off my chest. It's from this weekend. Now first I should let you know that I had an amazing weekend. I headed up to Minneapolis for the annual juggling festival up there and had a ton of fun. I got together with friends for dinner on Friday night followed by some geek shopping at a games store. We ended the night with video games.

The next day we met more friends up at the juggling festival and I spent the whole day working on my contact juggling. I've picked up a passing trick but its still so rough that I'll have to work on it for a while before I'm ready to show anyone. After the festival and the raffle we headed back to our friends Lon and Lisa's house for dinner, good conversation, and more video games.

Sunday we headed out of town about 11 and had lunch with my brother and his family. They bought a new house in September and I had to admit that it was our first visit up to see the place. It was amazing. The decorating they have done is just perfect. My sister-in-law (and brother) have great taste. We ate lunch with them but most of the afternoon was spent climbing trees, playing card games, and just talking.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. It was only spoiled by one thing. The one thing I have to rant about. The hotel. Jeff and I stay in the same hotel every time we go up there. This time was a bit different though. There was a convention of Minnesota Football Coaches at the hotel. I was a bit worried when we checked in but the concierge put us up on a private floor. You know the kind you have to swipe your key to get the elevator to take you to. Yeah, swanky. Except that when we came back on Friday night we were shocked, and a bit disheartened to see all three rooms adjacent to ours open with the coaches drinking beer in the hallway. Now normally I wouldn't have a problem with this, but it was nearly 1 in the morning. Gone was the idea of a quiet night.

I put in my earplugs and tried to get some sleep. No dice. My anxiety had already kicked in. About 1:30 they decided to head off to a different party (woohoo) but the damage had already been done. I lay in bed from 1:30 to 3:30 in the middle of a massive anxiety attack. From 3:30 to 5, I simply forgot how to fall asleep. The anxiety had passed, I was just too tired to sleep. I finally dropped off for about an hour and a half but was up again at 6:30. This time I just stayed up. I was exhausted on Saturday but still had a good time. It just makes me angry though.

My mother would shush us children in hotel hallways at 9 o'clock at night. "Be respectful, people may be trying to sleep." She'd say to keep us from running and yelling past rooms. It was the same in the morning. We were always taught to be aware of how our behavior affected other people. We were quiet to be nice to them. I'm slowly learning that a large portion of our population was never taught this valuable lesson in common courtesy. Jeff called the front desk one night on a group that were yelling to each other down the halls after getting home from the bars at 2 am. That one had woken me up from a sound sleep with earplugs in. Another night we called the desk about the room above us where the group was blaring some sort of thumping bass music and jumping on the beds. It sounded like a full marching band.

Perhaps I'm an old grouch. I certainly feel that way calling the desk to complain about my neighbors noise. I keep thinking that I'm too young to be bothered by this stuff. So I pack my earplugs and pray for a quiet night. But I'm beginning to wonder if this has nothing to do with age. And everything to do with respect. I was taught to be respectful of others sleep and piece of mind. I was taught not to disturb people. That was just common courtesy. Lately I'm wondering if I'm in the minority on that one.

So if you happen to be vacationing in a hotel, and you see a women walk past with earplugs in and a grim look on her face, know that it's me. And try to keep it down.

2 comments:

badhousewife said...

that's awful! i shared a b&b room with my mother once and NEVER again, she snored so loud i didn't sleep all night! i pushed her once or twice she stopped momentarily than carried on with great gusto! the most annoying bit was the next day when she was all fresh-faced and exclaiming what a "great night sleep" she'd had while i was pale, yawning and needing lots of coffee!!
i was wondering don't you wake your husband when you have panic attacks, can't he help you or are they all consuming?
also the thought did occur to me that many people may not have stayed in hotels much as children, i certainly didnt, our family has always been broke! the b&b was owned by family friends! so i was never taught about hotels and being quiet because it was never relevant lesson for us to learn. just a thought, no excuses
i love your blog by the way, hence the following....

Cat B said...

badhousewife,

Did you ever tell your mother about her snoring? That would be awful. Particularly when you have to try to be nice the next day when you're dragging and she's relaxed.

I sometimes wake my husband and he always calms me down. I didn't that night because I worried that he would have problems sleeping. When I get an anxiety attack, I don't always think straight.

I never thought about people not having a lot of exposure to hotels. That's a good point. I was rather fortunate that I got to travel a lot as a child. That's a great reminder not to judge to harshly. I tend to forget that not everyone grew up the way I did. Thanks.

And thanks so much for your lovely comment. I'm glad you enjoy the blog. I'm looking forward to reading your posts.