I have had my alarm clock for many years now. I don't know when or how I got it, but as far back as I can remember, it's red LCD screen has been staring me in the face. Seemingly for as long as I have had the alarm clock, I have had this little neurotic thing where I continually check my alarm clock. On it�s best days, I only check the alarm clock twice - once when I first set it, and once when I just start going to sleep. I just can't sleep knowing that there is a chance that I have forgot to flip the alarm switch to on.

Since I have started going to college (this is my second year), I have started checking my alarm clock all the more often. I think this is because my mom isn't there to bail me out and wake me up if my alarm clock fails to turn on. 5, 6, even 7 times before I go to bed. The possibility that I could sleep through a class terrifies me to no end! The fear is made all the more tangible since I missed two or three classes last semester. One of the classes I only half-missed, as I came in during the middle of it. Really, that feeling that everyone is looking at you is mortifying than you�ll ever know.

But, I still love my alarm clock. There just have been too many times where its saved my bacon. The alarm clock has a really totemic role in my life, as it reflects exactly how I treat all of my friends and love interests. It may be always there for me, but I treat it as I do all of my friends, no better than a common stranger. Perhaps my distrust for my alarm clock could be my inner Luddite shining through - a very funny proposition, as I virtually depend on computers every second of my day.

It is not like I act this way towards all alarm clocks, either. When I am home, and without any method of waking me up besides my own internal alarm clock, I don't try to acquire another alarm clock. When I am with friends in a hotel room, and they set the alarm clock, I can fall asleep, as easy as can be (I say as easy as can be because I'm such a nice guy and I usually take the floor).