Crazycakes and the comfy couch

[Antisocial_Worker]

So... well.

Last night a lady whom we shall call Crazycakes (aka C.C.) slept on a couch in the lobby for about five hours. We had been expecting trouble, and if letting her doze on the couch, in public, was the price we had to pay for peace otherwise, it was worth it.

The trouble began, as trouble often does, with the fall of night, when C.C. discovered she could not figure out how to work the curtains. Try as she might, a slit of light from the streetlight outside still sliced through the room and it was just too much. She requested a blanket, and laundry clips to pin it up over the window. The problem with this is that one, we don't have such clips, and two, our rooms have recessed curtain rails in the ceiling. There's nothing to pin a blanket to unless you nail it up.

Then, despite the fact that C.C. had specifically requested a room near the elevator due to her disability, the noise from the elevator and the people coming and going was unbearable. She came down to the lobby three times to complain about it, and finally demanded a blanket and made herself a nest on a couch by the kitchen.

Then, and only then, did she shut up and stop bitching. As I said, this seemed a reasonable price to pay for her silence.

The question though, is if a single bar of light made sleeping unbearable in her room, why was she able to sleep under the lobby lights? A further question is if the noise from the elevator was too much, why was she able to sleep in a lobby with the phone ringing, printers grinding away, people coming and going, the doors opening and closing, the security guard patrolling, and one distraught guest trying to help his son not be charged with a felony on the other side of the state?

Questions abound; answers not so much.

[Teskeria]

My guess is that she was afraid to be in the room alone. In the lobby, you were there. She felt safer for some reason.

[Antisocial_Worker]

My guess is that she was afraid to be in the room alone. In the lobby, you were there. She felt safer for some reason.

Weird thing about that, though, is she had teenaged kids with her.

[Thana]

Could be like those few scenes from the movie My Cousin Vinnie. Vinnie couldn't sleep out in the woods because it was too quiet. Couldn't sleep next to the train station because it was too quiet and the train came through every morning at 5am. Couldn't sleep in the hotel because it was too quiet and the faucet dripped. Got himself in contempt of the court and slept like a baby in prison because it reminded him of the Bronx.

[Shyla]

Great scene from My Cousin Vinny. My speculation is the teenagers treat her badly and she can't sleep in the room with them. We've all seen parents who have no control over their children.

[Evannah]

I get the impression that she just wanted to be difficult.

[Kheldarson]

I know why.

I can sleep (well, nap) in full light. Full out, no problem. But if I'm in the dark and there's just one spot of light, it feels brighter than it actually is and drives me batty. Same thing with noise. As long as the noise is consistent and not very variable until I fall asleep, I'm okay. But if it's variable (like TV volume between show and commercial, or snoring, or trains) then I'm going to keep waking up.

[blas]

Many years on night shift had me very used to sleeping during bright daylight. But, most of it was because I lived in an apartment with rules of no decorating or replacing shades....

Moved back home to my old room with dark carpet and dark curtains and dark bedding....it has to be dark in here. All the time. Or I'm angry. Unless I'm up and awake and want fresh light or air in here. But as soon as I'm tired or feeling lazy, I want my cave back. LOL.

[otakuneko]

That's nothin. When I was a wee one my parents used to play Fiddler On The Roof at full volume to put me to sleep.

[prjkt]

Used to live across the road from a train line, there'd be a goods train sometime between 3-4am every morning. My dad would wake up each time it wasn't there, as he subconsciously knew something was different.

[AccountingDrone]

I lived with an idiot once. His parents were also idiots. They originally lived in Brooklyn in a studio apartment when he came along. They did not have much money so they did the classic sleep him in a dresser drawer. That isn't the idiot move. They decided that he would not cramp their style and he learned to sleep through late 60s hippie partying. Now, he literally can not be woken up without being physically shaken. When we lived together, I had to make sure that he was physically up, out of bed and in the shower or he would fall back to sleep.

Fucking morons.

[Sapphire Silk]

Weird thing about that, though, is she had teenaged kids with her.

She might just have wanted to avoid the kids.

I can get the not liking the sliver of light through the shade. I'm the same way; at home I put up curtains specifically to block a streetlight that would otherwise shine right in my face all night.

I've had that problem in hotels before. My solution is to turn my back to the light, and pull the covers over my head until I fall asleep. Then it's not an issue.

[Ben_Who]

My sister had an insomnia attack one night not long after we temporarily moved to Ohio, probably due to the stress of the move. Never one to acknowledge her feelings or find a healthy way to process her emotions, she decided her insomnia was all my fault.

Over the next few days, as she slid into sullen, sleep-deprived madness, she did things like hiding all my notes in the trunk of her car, or stuffing all my books into her suitcase and shoving it in the back of a closet - whatever she thought would render me inactive at night when she wanted to sleep. Trouble was, I always fell asleep before she did. The lights would be off, curtains drawn, the room dark, I'd be sliding into a perfect dream, and I'd hear her shout from the next room, through the adjoining door: "TURN THAT FUCKING LIGHT OFF!"

When an insomniac gets a fixation, like a dripping faucet, it's impossible to shake. There's an electronic device in my room with a flashing light on it. I slept fine for months, and then suddenly one day could not sleep with this stupid blinking LED going off every two seconds.

Your guest had an insomnia attack, needed someone to blame, decided it was the fault of the room or the service, and wouldn't let go of the idea. Childish, yes, but my sister was 23 when she hid my stuff in her luggage in a closet. Sometimes "childish" knows no age.

[AnqeiicDemise]

Your guest had an insomnia attack, needed someone to blame, decided it was the fault of the room or the service, and wouldn't let go of the idea. Childish, yes, but my sister was 23 when she hid my stuff in her luggage in a closet. Sometimes "childish" knows no age.

I had no clue that's what happens when I can't sleep, an insomnia attack-- it has a name! I've really read up or it or gotten diagnosed because I already know I can't sleep and I refuse to get medicated. (I had an rx pushing doc growing up. I really hate taking meds.) I've tried doing behavioral things like, not going to bed unless I'm legitimately tired as I found myself getting psyched up about other stuff (like 'its reading time!' or 'ooh,web surfing!') And for the most part that works okay but sometimes?

Sometimes not even taking a shot full of nyquil can help.

No wonder I've been fixated on the bedroom fan the last few days. It never bothered me until recently. And I'll be half asleep when BAM I can't take the stupid rattle. I get out of bed and I shake it. Turn it to a different speed, then wake up Manthing then he's crabby. I've just laid there for hours wanting to throw shoes at the stupid thing.

Hmm.. now I know it has a name and I can figure out a way to defeat it! Thanks!