Dèji's RULE

I was jolted from deep slumber this morning by what sounded like an earthquake's aftershock. As it turned out it was just my cellular phone vibrating inside of my overstuffed purse.

I don't get out of bed until 10:00 AM or so my friends believe. I looked at the clock on my nightstand and it was barely 6:00 AM. It's Saturday December 29. I'm on Holiday and just about everyone I know is too. But, most importantly, what about Dèji's RULE!

All who know me must abide by THE Dèji RULE. It is as follows:

I do not talk on the phone, gab, shoot the breeze, talk smack, gossip, preach, inspire, catch-up, text, tweet, retweet, pin or un-pin my interests, like-unlike, post my status, email, skype or even meet for coffee before 10:AM Pacific Standard Time. I will handle business and work related matters via phone or web before 10 AM, but only if it's an absolute must. Simple, easy peasy RULE right?

Apparently NOT simple enough for those who share my genetic pool. My genetic pool is scattered about the globe. Some members are on the Eastern border of the United States, others are in Europe, Canada, Hawaii and The Caribbean. The conversion of time zone completely eludes them and the fact that I do not sound 'awake' at 5:30 (PST) in the morning disturbs them even more. They must have seen the advertisement claiming that "great cheese come from California" because "happy cows come from California". While the Ad may be true, I do not own, operate nor labor at a dairy farm, so rising before or with the sun is not my modus operandi.

(509) area code, the caller resides in one of the islands in the Atlantic ocean. My corpus callosum swiftly connects info from the right to the left hemisphere of my brain. It scans through a list of anyone who is at risk of being ill, aging or deteriorating. The anticipation of potentially devastating news forces me to inhale deeply.

What conversation, revelation, accusation, persuasion, bargain, rehashing of the past, joke or debate that will follow my sleepy "Hello" will impact the rest of my day. And if history informs me, no good ever comes out of a pre-dawn phone call. Will I have to spend the remaining twelve or more hours of my awake day trying to recover from picking up a vibrating phone? After all, I have THE RULE.
THE RULE helps me set the right tone for my day, and the right tone seldom involves a pre-dawn jolt.

As I relive this moment, I wish I had opted not to pick up the phone. I wish I had obeyed my own RULE. Rules are what keep my boundaries safe. RULES when broken have consequences. Some of the time they are positive but more often then not the result is negative, disturbing even.