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Is it a blessing or a curse?

By Staff | Sep 27, 2013

In attempt to lighten up the editorial page this week, I ask the above question with regard to: snooze buttons. In a quick Google search for the inventor of this daily used device, any number of individual names pop up. With that said, and knowing fully that one cannot believe it simply because it is on the internet, we don’t credit the gadget to anyone!

But, whomever thought of the concept of “just a few more minutes” has surely gained fans and enemies along the way.

I openly admit that I am a “snooze pusher!” Every morning, promptly at 4:05 a.m., I it that little button to gain nine exquisite minutes of additional sleep. Then, I promptly hit it again to gain nine more! The problem lies in hitting again for nine more and again after that. The so-called “smart clock” that I have allows me to hit that little blessing of a button continuously every nine minutes for an hour.

Then, heaven forbid I actually do that, the smart clock decides to stop going off, obviously assuming that I don’t really need to wake up and get moving! (On most days, I never hit it for the entire hour…but…there have been those rare occasions.)

What confounds the morning, at least in our home, and probably in yours, is that there are multiple clocks going off at multiple times with multiple snooze features. My husband has his own clock that blares the radio every nine minutes while across the hall, one daughter continually plays music, hits the quiet, plays music and then waits for mom to wake her. Down the hall are two more with varying sounds.

And now, that blessing, or curse, also appears on our phones. So if one alarm and snooze feature is not enough to get you moving for the day, set your phone to go off at alternating times. So much for those brief minutes of peace in between as they get shorter and shorter with more and more devices. I have found, too, that even my I Pad comes with a snooze feature on the alarm clock.

Where does it end? Gone are the days of the “Big Ben” clock jingling across the room where it was placed to ensure one had to get up to turn it off. Instead, we sink into cherished moments of near silence (at least until an alternating device alarms) and wait for our corresponding noise to replay in an effort to wake us.

Truly a product of one’s great imagination, this “invention” blesses us with a few minutes and curses when it no longer goes off after its allotted time frame. As with many routines, we fall into the “just one more time” mode too often and wear out the efficiency and purpose. How many of you fall into this category? And who came up with nine minutes anyway?