fits of homicidal rage...

[kathryn]

...well, okay, not quite , but it did get your attention, didn't it? LOL!

This a.m. I did a 5k which was poorly marked, lacking in traffic control, and almost forgot to award the walkers at the end...oh, yeah, they DID forget, despite having advertised that top walkers in several age categories would get a medal, but as walker 1, I reminded them, and got my measly medal! (Who knew that part of the 'endurance' for these events is waiting around till the very, very end of awards for your category!).

This did not leave me in a fit of homicidal rage, but I was a bit miffed.

When I got home, I decided to do a short lower-body workout (One by Dr. Michele Olson that works primarily the deeper stabilizing muscles).

Just as I was coming to the end of the workout, and sweating like a pig, someone rings my doorbell....or should I say someone "cranks on my @#&$@ doorbell with almighty force" : it's an old-fashioned 'bell' that's kind of like the clapper at the top of an old-fashioned alarm clock, and if people crank on it instead of just giving it a nice turn, it's extremely enervating (even though it is quaint when not being abused!).

Well, this person doesn't just crank it once: they pause, then crank it again, then again, then longer. I finally determined that I had to answer the door to get them to stop.

I open the door to a 60-ish woman and a tween girl, and I immediately recognized the door-to-door tactics of the Jehovah's witness' (or similar group). The woman, Bible and tracts in hand, introduced herself and the kid, started to say "we're..." ...then I interupted and said "No thank you, I'm not interested" (which is my standard response to these kinds of things).

As I went to close the door, she asked if she could leave some info with me. I again said, "No thanks, but have a good day". As I closed the door, the woman was grumbling and acting as if I had done something very rude in not accepting her info.

WT#? Who is being rude here? I'd say it's the person who comes uninvited to my house, cranks on my doorbell (which I intentionally wasn't answering) incessantly, and tries to make me feel obligated to take some of her 'information'!

AAARGH!!

(Must be calm, calm....stress causes cortisol release, which leads to fat storage in the belly area!)

Two deep breaths.


No longer homicidal...it helps to share.


So what kind of interruption drives you to a near-homicidal rage? (though I would have had pretty much the same reaction had I been doing pretty much anything!)

 

[caseysmomgo]

LOL...Kathryn, kudos for doing the 5K, and then going home and doing more lower body! Way to go... and I'm sorry the event was poorly organized. You get a big medal from all of us here!!!

I hate to be interrupted like that also... but any more, just about anything puts me into fits of homicidal rage! Gotta be the hormones, or lack thereof... The other day my pots and pans and cookie sheets weren't cooperating in the cupboard and and I ended up flinging all of them out of the cupboard into the middle of the kitchen like a lunatic!! It scared the crap out of the dog and he went flying into the living room in fear of his life....

Thanks for the reminder about the cortisol/fat storage issue!

 

[martijean1]

Silly as it sounds, I get totally MIFFED when the cats go in, one by one after the catbox it cleaned...REALLY? It's not like I don't clean the stupid thing every day! Do they hold it until I get home and know I'm going to clean it? Then I clean the stupid thing AGAIN because it smells like a bachlor cathouse (they are NOT the covering type)...GRRR! Then they look at me with their sweet little "come give me some love, Mama" looks...Stupid furballs!

Oh, and waterspots on the mirror...Take a wet hand, sprinkle the mirror and wipe it. It is NOT difficult...I would think it is MORE difficult to "wap" the toothbrush as hard as they (3 teenagers) do and get water all OVER the mirror...

Thanks for the vent!

MJ in MN

That being said, I LOVE my furbabies AND the girls! LOL!

 

[kathryn]

Ah yes, the (lack of) hormones, Denise. They have at times caused me to cuss like a sailor, growl like a bear, and/or fling objects in all directions. It makes me feel better to see I'm not the only one!

 

[zoesmom]

CATS!!

Silly as it sounds, I get totally MIFFED when the cats go in, one by one after the catbox it cleaned...REALLY? It's not like I don't clean the stupid thing every day! Do they hold it until I get home and know I'm going to clean it? Then I clean the stupid thing AGAIN because it smells like a bachlor cathouse (they are NOT the covering type)...GRRR! Then they look at me with their sweet little "come give me some love, Mama" looks...Stupid furballs!

Oh, and waterspots on the mirror...Take a wet hand, sprinkle the mirror and wipe it. It is NOT difficult...I would think it is MORE difficult to "wap" the toothbrush as hard as they (3 teenagers) do and get water all OVER the mirror...

Thanks for the vent!

MJ in MN

That being said, I LOVE my furbabies AND the girls! LOL!

yes, I have the cuties cat DeeDee. I go down an clean her box (she covers, thank god) and soon as I leave, BAM! right back in... WT Freak! But I love HER!!!

 

[syzygy314]

Kathryn - Congrats on completing another race! My DH goes ballistic at poor organization! That would have flipped him out! Me, I would have grumbled, but would not have pointed anything out to the organizers! Kudos to you for that!

Everything sets me off these days! I have absolutely no patience for anything anymore. I don't have a doorbell (I'm actually grateful for that most days!), so people will knock once or twice then, after waiting for a few minutes, they leave. I won't answer the door for anyone unless I"m expecting them.

 

[kathryn]

I won't answer the door for anyone unless I"m expecting them.

That's pretty much my SOP as well. Unless they are expected (or have a warrant, ), I don't feel obligated to answer the door (but why do some people seem to think that I should be? ).

 

[janie1234]

Heck Kathryn, . . you sounded way nicer than I would have been. I mean you even said "Have a nice day!" I would have said "No thanks" and slammed the door in their face. Honestly I'm sure that they've had worse done to them. Sounds like your having one of those bag punching days, . . you know when you really wanna punch someone but revert to punching a pillow instead. I know it is hard to find the good in things when everything seems to get us down but kudos to you girl, . . how many races have you done now? Did you wear your vegan shirt and represent? Days like those I just pop in a Cathe kickboxing DVD sweat some, . .then relax with a nice cup of tea and a good book. Hugs to you!

 

[syzygy314]

I wish I could understand that, too! Some days, I just don't feel like talking to people - usually after a particularly long, busy day at work. People always feel like I've just been horrible to them when I'm like that.

In the immortal words of Greta Garbo (I think ), "I vant to be alone!" sometimes.

That's pretty much my SOP as well. Unless they are expected (or have a warrant, ), I don't feel obligated to answer the door (but why do some people seem to think that I should be? ).

 

[Fidget Queen]

I have a standard policy of not answering anything if I don't feel like it - I'm just one of those. It angers me (greatly, I might add) that just because I have a door/cell phone/computer that people assume I must be reachable at all hours of the day or night. Cell phones have been the final death of respect and privacy IMO.

I have no tolerance for door-to-door antics of any kind, but particularly religious. They are not respectful of my wishes, beliefs or privacy, so I have no ability any more to respect them.

 

[ripley33]

I have a dayhome and ANYONE coming at quiet time irritates me, period. A lady came the other day and I saw her out the window. I ran to the door and stopped her from ringing the bell. I said, "I can't talk right now because the kiddies are sleeping. I'll phone you later." I close the door and go back up the stairs and then DING-DONG she rings the frickin' bell and the pugs go crazy barking and I open the door and she says, "I hope that didn't wake up the kids!" WTH??? I said, "I'm sure it did." She forgot to tell me something totally non-important. GRRRRRRRRRRR. I was pmsing but really?

Laura

 

[kathryn]

I have a standard policy of not answering anything if I don't feel like it - I'm just one of those. It angers me (greatly, I might add) that just because I have a door/cell phone/computer that people assume I must be reachable at all hours of the day or night. Cell phones have been the final death of respect and privacy IMO.

I have no tolerance for door-to-door antics of any kind, but particularly religious. They are not respectful of my wishes, beliefs or privacy, so I have no ability any more to respect them.

ITA!
I always screen my calls before answering (unless I'm expecting a call), and I don't answer the door when I don't feel like it (it's my phone, my door, my house, my privacy, so I should be able to control access to me! I guess you won't see me on a 'reality' TV show any time soon, LOL!)

I have a cell phone, but only for emergencies and travel, and I hate the idea of being 'reachable' at all times.

 

[lainiefig]

I'm the same way about unexpected people at the door. I often try to ignore it but I have 3 windows in my door at eye level and people actually purposefully peer in looking for me so if I'm in the right parts of the house they see me. Grr. Plus my kids yell, "Mommy, there's someone at the door!" or open the mail slot to peer out at their knees. I keep trying to train the little boogers not to do that. I really want a new heavy solid door with a peephole.

 

[kathryn]

I'm the same way about unexpected people at the door. I often try to ignore it but I have 3 windows in my door at eye level and people actually purposefully peer in looking for me so if I'm in the right parts of the house they see me. Grr. Plus my kids yell, "Mommy, there's someone at the door!" or open the mail slot to peer out at their knees. I keep trying to train the little boogers not to do that. I really want a new heavy solid door with a peephole.

Can't you put a curtain over the windows?

The house I grew up in had a front door with a window in it (kind of defeats the purpose of a door, IMO!), and we hung a curtain on it (my parents fastened a small curtain rod above and below the window, so the curtain wouldn't billow out, and my stepmother sewed a pretty piece of fabric with a pocket at the top and the bottom that slid on the rods).

LOL about the kids at the mail slot!

 

[lainiefig]

I bought some window-obscuring film stuff to put on it but I haven't had a chance to put it up. Maybe after complaining about it today I'll bump it to the top of my to-do list.

Oh, and I'll attach a mailbox elsewhere when we get a new door. No more mail slot. The other problem with the mail slot is the dog will run to the door and try to either stop the mail coming through or grab it in his teeth. He's well-trained in other ways but he's weird about the mailman.

 

[Stebby]

I am totally anti-social. Our land-line phone is set to off, so the only way for people to get in touch with us is to leave a message. My cell phone is off except when I need to call someone or I'm expecting a call. People knock on the door and I'm sitting in full view in the living room, and I just don't look up. Maybe they think I'm deaf.

The good thing is, I realized I'm inadvertently training my 7-year-old daughter not to answer the door, which will be great for when she's old enough to be in the house alone. She doesn't think it's odd to ignore knocking.

Stebby

 

[kathryn]

I am totally anti-social. Our land-line phone is set to off, so the only way for people to get in touch with us is to leave a message. My cell phone is off except when I need to call someone or I'm expecting a call. People knock on the door and I'm sitting in full view in the living room, and I just don't look up. Maybe they think I'm deaf.

I'm even more anti-social than that: there's no way I am ever in view from the outside: I only have my shades open when it's darker inside than out (unlike my neighbor, who seems like a bit of an exhibitionist to me: she'll be sitting on her sofa watching TV after dark, with her big bay window shades wide open. Can I admit I was so curious once that I backed into a light pole while driving by : I live in a dead-end, and back in to get into my driveway for easy exiting) and if there were a window in my door, I'd cover it immediately.

I'm always creeped out by movies or shows that have someone walking around inside their house with the shades up, so others can see them. I feel like yelling "close your freakin' shades, you idiot!"

 

[Stebby]

...unlike my neighbor, who seems like a bit of an exhibitionist to me: she'll be sitting on her sofa watching TV after dark, with her big bay window shades wide open.

That is creepy! What is she thinking? I'm not quite that bad. I always have my sheers closed but you can still see in during the day if the light is right ... I need my sunshine streaming in so I don't close it out. As soon as it gets dark I close the blinds though. I guess I can handle people seeing in if I can see them, but not if I can't. (And if I can't see them, it probably means they have a gun with them and they're about to point it at my head.)

Stebby

 

[meredith]

Kathryn, you sound perfectly normal to me. I screen all my calls too. I never open the door to someone I don't know/didn't expect. I will stand there & say loudly thru the shut door, "can I help you?" and if they are selling something or are a religious zealot, I say "no thanks" & I'm done with them. I also sometimes don't even go to the door. I think it's not safe to open your door to someone you don't know.

 

[lisa_la_machina]

Kathryn, you sound perfectly normal to me.
I think it's not safe to open your door to someone you don't know.

Yep. I do the same thing. We are just being safe, not really anti-social, given that we will answer the door for our friends--or the UPS Man delivering Cathe DVDs, LOL!