What the Beep?

In the morning, I am awakened by the electronic beeping of my alarm clock. The coffee maker beeps at me when it is done brewing, and while this is much more welcome, there are more beeps to assail my ears throughout the day.

Fortunately, drivers here in my corner of rural America don't tend to beep their horns, and there are rarely commercial vehicles with their infernal back-up beepers. However, the car is full of idiot alarms to tell me things I already know, like, "the road is icy, and traction is intermittent at best." I can feel that. I've been driving here for many years. No need for beeping at me over it.

At work, the bar code scanner beeps every time I check in a book or check one out. Children playing games on our computers or their own devices often fail to mute the myriad beeps from their games. Once a month or so, our work cell phone beeps an Amber Alert or other emergency notification, too

As I heat my lunch, the microwave beeps every time I press a button. It beeps when the time is up, and the beeps continue uninterrupted even if I open the door the moment the timer finishes. It also beeps reminders if I wait one minute as directed by the packaging instructions for the contents to cool before I open the door to handle my meal.

As I leave work, I set the alarm, which beeps to acknowledge my inputs, and then beeps periodically during its countdown as I leave. Again, there is an absence of traffic beeps as I commute home. However, once I arrive, they resume to remind me the oven is preheated for dinner. And then another beeping timer alerts me when everything is done.

When I sit down to watch TV, I learn some genius decided to launch a commercial with an extra-loud beeping sound effect. Way to suggest I never buy your product or service! And as a final insult, my alarm clock beeps to let me know it has been set for the next day.

It's driving me beeping insane!