Further Research has Muddied My Waters

This morning on the Skytrain, I encountered the same gentleman from last week, the one who caused me to ponder the relative annoyance factor of cell phone conversations in public places. Again, he was having his chat with an acquaintance on his walkie-talkie phone; today I was close enough to note that it was Sony Sports Walkman Yellow. (annoyance factor 1. Nothing should be that colour; not SUVs, not phones, not shoes, maybe Crocs but otherwise NOTHING.) While he was conversing at a fairly high volume, I might not have noticed him if not for the beeping. After he spoke, he would press the “send” button, I guess, and the phone would go “buuuuleeeeep!” and then the other person would talk and then “buuuuuuleeeep!” and so on.

Last week, as you may recall, I was faintly amused by him.

Today, I almost killed him with my bare hands.

The circumstances differed from last week as follows:
1. I was running late because a) it’s Thursday and it’s my later day and b) I stayed an extra 10 minutes at Trombone’s daycare because he was shrieking and crying like a stuck donkey in an electric fence.
2. I was standing
3. in the middle of a very crowded Skytrain car which I had to take because if I waited for the next one I would be even later, so
4. there wasn’t enough room to read my book and all I had to keep myself amused was looking out the window, wondering if my daycare provider is secretly torturing my son while I am at work (otherwise wouldn’t he have STOPPED SCREAMING by now?**) and listening to buddy and his fucking cell phone whilst also
5. thinking about how I am not even at work yet. But hey, at least work will be fun!
6. Oh wait, no. The other thing.

So – results are embarrassingly obvious: placed in a stressful situation, common annoyances are more annoying.

** I doubt she is torturing him, really. On Tuesday he was fine. Most of the time he just cries a little. But today, my heart, he ripped it out and threw it in my face. As ways to start the day go – approximately negative 16,999 on a standard ratings scale of 1 to 10.