In a world where I actually hear the alarm
The scene: 1:07 a.m., November 21, and my daughter stands in our bedroom shouting 'what the hell is wrong with you people?"
Here's how it went from there:
I calmly sat up (if you have kids, you know this is the pavlovian reaction to any and every middle-of-the-night awakening) and asked, 'what's up, sweetie?'
My husband, who as usual, opted to reach for his cell phone, busied himself with something while our daughter ranted in no uncertain terms that we must be DEAF or IDIOTS because the alarm had gone off and BLARED for a solid five minutes before going silent.
'Sorry about that," I said. My daughter threw her hands in the air and stomped back to her bedroom.
But my curiosity was piqued.
"It triggered in the laundry room," my husband volunteered as if reading my mind. I huffed. TG for his cell phone.
In case you're interested, it's always ME padding down the hall to check out triggered alarms (which I usually hear), crying children, odd bumps in the night or mysterious scratching noises; my husband mans the phone. On NOV 21 the wind was apocalyptic, and every inch of my part of the planet was rattling (the reason I slept through the alarm, I suppose). Once I reached the laundry room I realized the door to the garage was unlocked, and I figured the wind had pushed it and triggered the alarm, so I locked the door and made my way back to bed.
Now I'll admit, at the time I was glad the alarm company didn't send the police, because I would have had to wait around for them then serve coffee while I explained the whole thing. BUT. The experience put a gnawing question center stage in my thoughts: Why am I paying for an alarm when a courtesy turn-off and a message on my cell phone (and my husband's) was ADT's idea of follow-up to a triggered alarm that we did not turn off with the code? (The message said: 'This is ADT. We're just calling to check that you're okay.')
Um, seriously? What if the alarm had been triggered by a crazed psycho who, AS ADT KINDLY TURNED OFF THE ALARM AND LEFT A MESSAGE ON MY CELL PHONE, rampaged unfettered in my house? I mean, there's a reason why I'm the one who jumps out of bed and wanders down the hall, but the reason is NOT to meet a crazed psycho.
I never did get back to sleep that night because (a) the wind and (b) I laid there wondering WHY I pay good money for some dude on the other side of the country to over-ride my alarm then call my cell phone (which goes silent after 10) and leave a message asking if I'm okay.
What keeps you up at night?
Here's how it went from there:
I calmly sat up (if you have kids, you know this is the pavlovian reaction to any and every middle-of-the-night awakening) and asked, 'what's up, sweetie?'
My husband, who as usual, opted to reach for his cell phone, busied himself with something while our daughter ranted in no uncertain terms that we must be DEAF or IDIOTS because the alarm had gone off and BLARED for a solid five minutes before going silent.
'Sorry about that," I said. My daughter threw her hands in the air and stomped back to her bedroom.
But my curiosity was piqued.
"It triggered in the laundry room," my husband volunteered as if reading my mind. I huffed. TG for his cell phone.
In case you're interested, it's always ME padding down the hall to check out triggered alarms (which I usually hear), crying children, odd bumps in the night or mysterious scratching noises; my husband mans the phone. On NOV 21 the wind was apocalyptic, and every inch of my part of the planet was rattling (the reason I slept through the alarm, I suppose). Once I reached the laundry room I realized the door to the garage was unlocked, and I figured the wind had pushed it and triggered the alarm, so I locked the door and made my way back to bed.
Now I'll admit, at the time I was glad the alarm company didn't send the police, because I would have had to wait around for them then serve coffee while I explained the whole thing. BUT. The experience put a gnawing question center stage in my thoughts: Why am I paying for an alarm when a courtesy turn-off and a message on my cell phone (and my husband's) was ADT's idea of follow-up to a triggered alarm that we did not turn off with the code? (The message said: 'This is ADT. We're just calling to check that you're okay.')
Um, seriously? What if the alarm had been triggered by a crazed psycho who, AS ADT KINDLY TURNED OFF THE ALARM AND LEFT A MESSAGE ON MY CELL PHONE, rampaged unfettered in my house? I mean, there's a reason why I'm the one who jumps out of bed and wanders down the hall, but the reason is NOT to meet a crazed psycho.
I never did get back to sleep that night because (a) the wind and (b) I laid there wondering WHY I pay good money for some dude on the other side of the country to over-ride my alarm then call my cell phone (which goes silent after 10) and leave a message asking if I'm okay.
What keeps you up at night?
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