Sleep Well
11:27 pm - 02 April, 2007
I got an e-mail today that hurt. It's had me thinking about it for a lot of the day, and really spoilt it on the whole. (I'd been laughing really hard with Gareth and Ol over pushups with claps... behind your head.) I've replied to the e-mail now, but the issue is still there.
We've had mouse trouble in our flat for a while. Alberto spoke to our landlord, and I think some guy from the council was in and put in some cardboard mouse-bait traps. I hadn't heard anything since, but apparently the mice are back, now, since he e-mailed the landlord again just the other day.
This information is not directly related to the matter at hand, as I am not apt to take offense at a mouse, or anyway, not much. The point, however, is that when I received an e-mail from Regina, the newest housemate (who replaced Victor last month), addressed to the landlord and CC'd to all the housemates, entitled 'Two big problem.', I was not terribly surprised that one of them was the mouse. What surprised and really rather upset me was the first, the 'very big' problem: me.
I am routinely up late. Sometimes past 3am. Partly this is force of habit. I have no particular reason to keep 9-5 working hours, so generally I don't. During term time, I've had numerous activities on in the evenings, and have often got back home at 10pm or so. I am lazy and don't like to use the kitchen when other people are there (so as not to disturb them, for a start) so I often cook my dinner around midnight. My bedroom door is quite capable of slamming loudly and shaking the building: since Victor called me on it, I've avoided doing that. I generally try to headphone stuff after 10pm, and won't play my trumpet that late.
I won't quote her, but she implied that I was up till 5am often (which isn't true) and complained particularly about my nocturnal cooking, TV (which I hope is usually rare) and door habits. She said that this meant she couldn't sleep and that if it didn't stop she would have to find somewhere else. I was upset. Naturally.
The main reason for this is because it means I'm an inconsiderate arsehole. I really don't want to be an inconsiderate arsehole and try not to be, but apparently not hard enough. I'm a very introverted person, and seeing other people's perspectives doesn't come very naturally to me.
That brings me to the second reason I was unhappy: before this, she hadn't said a word to me about the issue. My hearing isn't great, and I have no idea what my TV sounds like on the other side of the thin wall between our rooms, so it wasn't obvious to me that I was disturbing her. It upset me that she made her complaint indirectly and publicly.
I spent quite a long time thinking about the whole thing, and I talked it over with Spike, which made me feel better, though his suggestions seemed mainly to be more of an arsehole. Eventually, I sent the following reply:
Hi Regina,
I'm very sorry that I have been such a pain to you. I have no wish to be a bad housemate, and in future I shall curtail my nocturnal activities: I had no idea that they aggrieved you so. I wish that you would have raised this with me sooner, and if you ever have an issue with me personally in future, I would appreciate it if you were direct so that I can correct myself expeditiously.My sincere apologies once again,
Thomas
The flourid language is, I would say, reasonably characteristic of my letter-writing, but may have been exacerbated in this case by the vindictive pleasure of imagining her being forced to reach for a dictionary (she's Italian, by the way). I felt it was important to apologise, but my ego required that I point out she had not made any complaint directly to me. I deliberated a little over whether or not to reply to all. A private response might have saved her some embarassment, but I felt a public reply would be better for my relations with the others, and appropriate since the complaint was broadcast.
When I get back, I think I'll try to keep more 'normal' hours. (During the summer or something, I plan on adopting a 28-hour day, which means 6 days fit exactly in a normal week, but that's another story.) I've not been heavily into RP on Star Trek: Legacy lately, so that's not that much of an excuse for me to be up.
Anyway, I hope Regina will be able to enjoy undisturbed sleep for the next week-and-a-bit, while I'm here in Glasgow. With Oliver's snoring to disturb my sleep.
