Trivia No1.

I was woken up by a frenzy of vibrations coming from my phone. Why is my phone going mental during this ungodly hour?” 

I normally put my phone in the Do-Not-Disturb mode, which means it does not ring, vibrate or light up when people call, text or email me. I almost always do it when I am working because the vibration noise interrupts my thoughts. In the meantime, all the messages come through to my laptop which I currently sit by at least ten hours a day. I can always check them later when all the thoughts are neatly put in the right spots and at no risk of getting lost. My laptop can also take most calls that come to my phone.  Think about it, I actually don’t need my phone that much. So it makes perfect sense that I put it on Do-Not-Disturb mode.

There are two problems though. Firstly, as forgetful as I am, it is often the case that I leave my phone on the same mode after work, especially when my work days start to extend into evenings and weekends. Secondly, people get annoyed when I ignore their calls once or twice. By “people”, I mean my boyfriend and by “once or twice” I actually mean a lot. So when he left for England last week for a few days, I reluctantly switched modes so I can get notifications of his messages instantly, all the times, including five a.m.   

“I can’t sleep. I’ll walk to you. See you.“, texted him.

“What? Is he walking home? Across the Channel? “, read me.

“He must be kidding. But what if he isn’t. Be nice to see him a few days early. But seriously, walking from Cambridge to Amsterdam? No, it gotta be a joke”, debated me with me in my sleep.

In hindsight, of course it was a joke. But my brain worked differently at five a.m. when I was coming in and out of a trance.

Have you ever had dreams that were so unreal but so real at the same time? Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night to find yourself crying over an argument with a friend that does not even exist?

By the same token, the messages sent me into a daze of questioning my judgment, getting excited about seeing my boyfriend and telling myself to stop all the nonsense and go back to sleep.

I was only totally awake and sensible a few hours later. The boyfriend is still in England, obviously. But the Do-Not-Disturb mode is now on. I will take no chances!