Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Selective Hearing

The noise in our house is often incredible. There's on an average 160 people all talking screaming yelling beating/kicking on the doors all at the same time. It's usually very loud. And for the most part, I hear all of it. I listen for tones of voice. Especially on the radio. I listen for plans and I listen for names. They sometimes come in handy.

But there are things that sometimes I don't hear. Some of the offenders purposefully try to rile me up and it really pisses them off if I don't seem to hear. And it pisses them off even worse if they want something and I don't hear that either. If they need a new cup or their laundry or a roll of toilet paper and I sail on by like they never even spoke it just makes them mad as hell. And if I ignore them and they see me do something for someone who has asked politely, they just get all sorts of pissed off. And for some reason they think if they insult me and yell louder I might manage to hear them.

And they are amazed when it doesn't work.

There are a few offenders in my house that I have never spoken to. They stand behind the door and scream obscenities and occasionally I'll stop by their door and smile and walk on.

Boy, that makes them mad.

And for some reason the refrain from Peter, Paul & Mary's "How Many Roads" keeps drifting through my mind:
"When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?"

4 comments:

  1. Hey, I was singing "Where have all the flowers gone" just last night! Mindreader!

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  2. Surrounds frighteningly like a typical day at the office for me.

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  3. Donna- It must have been you I was hearing then. Somebody got that song stuck in my head!

    Anon- you have an office with 160 screaming lunatics in it, too? Aint that a hell of a way to make a living?

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  4. I've worked in 6 different factory settings ....the auto industry is the loudest, with all the robots now. My kids just don't understand how I can drive with the radio OFF!....Or how I can go sit in the woods without an mp3 player.........LOL
    ah...this life of a loopymom

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