Really grumpy, this morning. At half-past-six - around two hours before I would usually get up - I was woken up by what I could have sworn was a knock at the door.
I tried to ignore it, and convince myself it must have been the wind rattling the letterbox. But it isn’t very windy here! Told myself it couldn’t have been a knock, because if it was, it must have been important, and they wouldn’t just go away without trying again.
But couldn’t get back to sleep. Was lying there fretting about what if it had been a knock, and why. Who would be knocking that early? Had something happened to my mum?
Eventually got up, even though it was much too late to open the door by then - just couldn’t rest/get comfortable after it had happened.
To find one of those damn “charity” clothes collection bags on the mat! The ones that aren’t really “charity”, but when you read the small print, actually a “for profit” company that promise to donate 1p per tonne to orphaned children, or some such. The noise had been of it coming through the letterbox.
I suppose it’s not technically the middle of the night, but does anyone else think junk plopping through the door at half-past-six is a bit unreasonable? I can’t have been the first house on the round, either, because I’m at least halfway round a close, so presumably, some unlucky residents had a rude awakening well before that!
I’ve now got to get through the whole day on two hours less sleep than I usually have, and it’s a struggle on a good day!
If it had been the postie with something important, I wouldn’t have resented it as much - but they never deliver before lunchtime these days.
7.30am and thats ONLY the postie/real delivery folk! Postie knows that if they try the door and its still locked (they open door and put mail in for me) then they put it in bunker outside and a note through the door telling me so-they NEVER keep knocking but I suppose thats a benefit of being in a rural place
Thanks, I’m glad I’m not alone in thinking it’s a bit “off”. 7:30, OK - a bit early for me still, but they’ve got to start somewhere - can’t take account of every lie-a-bed like me.
They weren’t actually knocking (least, don’t think so) - but at that time in the morning, stuff coming through the letterbox is indistinguishable from a knock.
The impression was just: somebody/something at the door.
Hi Tina Far too early to deliver methinks. I have had parcels delivered at 7.30 before now which is bad enough! I have to be up for 6.30 during the week to get children to school/college but I am not fit for human consumption at that time of day, lol! Try to have a siesta this afternoon to catch up on a few zzzz’s Tina! It’s more than justified with that rude awakening. Teresa xx
Unfortunately, I work full-time (at least, that’s what my contract says), so no chance of any siesta before 5 p.m, at the earliest.
That’s why I’m so niggled about it - I can’t just catch up later.
Oh and Pat, I wouldn’t have ordered again from a company that thought that time in the morning was OK, either? Wasn’t the company A&C, was it?
First delivery I had from them, they took to completely the wrong house, and the owner was out at work, so they left the box out in her garden, in hot sun. By the time she got home, and realised there was something dumped in her garden that obviously wasn’t hers, the fruit had all gone mushy in the heat, and was running with ants, attracted by the juice.
Hi Tina Sorry about that - working all day will put paid to a siesta for sure. Perhaps you could compensate tonight with a lovely early night? Anyway, hope you get through the day OK and find some reserves of energy from somewhere. Pace yourself! Teresa xx
I don’t think they’re “fake”, inasmuch as I believe a small donation really does go to the charity. BUT, I think the presentation dupes people, because they believe they’re giving to a charity, and not to a commercial organisation, who commit only to give a very small proportion of the proceeds to the charity.
When I give to charity, I want the charity to have the whole lot - not a token 1%, or whatever the company passes on to them. I know you could argue: “Well, it’s better than nothing; at least the charity gets something out of it”. But nowhere near as much as the company touting!
So whenever I get a “charity” collection bag, I always check to see if I’m giving to the actual charity, or to a business that pledges a small donation. If they’re a business, I won’t donate, because the proportion the charity gets is tiny.
One way you can tell is whether or not you can “Gift Aid” your gift. A genuine charity always has a “Gift Aid” option, so that if you are a UK taxpayer, the charity can reclaim tax already paid on your gift (this extends even to non-money gifts that they can sell for money).
But if it’s a company, they’ll never have a Gift Aid declaration to tick, because companies aren’t allowed to do that.
Earliest I’ve had is 7:30 which is waaaay to earlier. I had a delivery at about 8:30 this morn and I wasn’t even copus mendus, or had glasses on so I think I was squinting. I don’t even want to know how I looked. Lord knows I look bad enough awake.
On the subject of those darn charity bags I get about 3 a week sometimes. In the middle of a recession and high unemplyment, how much money do these folk think we have that we can just give things away on a near weekly basis. I prefer to take anything useful I have to my local charity shop. Anything broke gets recycled if it can or binned if it can’t.
I do think they are a little dodgy. I get a feeling they pick up the bags take 'em to the clothes banks and get the money. Wouldn’t be suprised if they kept it all. But I am very cynical about a lot of things like that.
Hi Tina, that is way too early to be delivering and I am not surprised you are in a bad mood. Like you, if I had been wakened at that time by the door, my first thought would have been is my mum / dad ok and I would have panicked a bit. I would have gone to check too. We also get a lot of these bags, I mean how much stuff do they think people have to chuck in them, oh and glad to hear someone else doesn’t get mail until lunchtime. Incidentally, the old company that used to deliver betaferon to me did deliver it about 6.30 but only after the driver had missed me one day, had to come back, asked what time I was in for future reference, then asked what time I went out in the morning. I said he could deliver before I went to work so he used to come between 6.30 and 7.00 which suited him and me, but this was only after we had both agreed. Shame the delivery company changed because they come later now, when I am at work! Cheryl:)
