Agonotheta

Bad Habit

December 10, 2003

I have a bad habit.

Well, actually, I have more than one. But just one that I'd like to talk about right now.

Sometimes, I really don't want to talk to somebody, but I need to talk to them. Make sense? So what do I do? I call them during a time when I know they won't be home/at work/available, etc.

I have been doing this for years and years and somehow, I've managed to get away with it unscathed. Of course, I had the occasional run-in where I was calling one of my four sisters whom I thought was busy, but received a pick-up. Its at these times when my childhood/adolescent stuttering/can't get my thoughts together kicks in. I sound really stupid, thus, hilarity ensues. I typically just tell them I wasn't prepared to have a conversation with them as I assumed they wouldn't be available and just wanted to leave a message for them to return at their convenience. This usually prompts some derision from the other end of the line. Like I said, no big deal between friends.

Not so, at the workplace. Yesterday, working late, I decided it would be a good time to call a principal. Assuming that he wouldn't be there, I was going to leave a fairly detailed message about one of his more "high-maintenance" teachers. It was already going to be a touchy situation, so my mind was preoccupied with getting my thoughts together, when all of a sudden, he picks up.

"Hello," he says.

*crickets chirping*

"Hello," he repeats.

*a tumbleweed blows through my office*

"Think quick. Think quick, you idiot." My inner 5-year-old coming out to mock me at exactly the wrong time.

Being flustered and forgetting we have caller-ID on our office phones, I hung up.

Fully anticipating it, I had a message waiting for me this morning when I sat down at my desk. I'll let you know how it goes when I get the balls to call him back.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, so fess up all you. Leave a comment letting me know when/if doing this has backfired on you.