When we stay in hotels, we have a few standards. We insist on non-smoking rooms, we prefer king beds, we’re starting to require wireless internet or at least cable internet access (David has a portable wireless access point).

But what we often get, without specifying it, is The Screaming Family In The Adjoining Room Next Door. This happened the last time we were at the Gonzo Inn in Moab, and it’s happening again… complete with near-hysterical mother loudly ordering a cranky toddler to “stop crying and rest! immediately! This is the third time I’ve told you, you need to rest! Why do you do this to me??”

Gosh, it seems like screaming at a crying child while alternately bargaining and “reasoning” with them is guar-on-teed to prevent them from calming down and taking a much-needed nap. Meanwhile, the father chimed in with some loudly spoken words of wisdom as well. Joy.

I just hope they’re quieter tonight, that’s all.

I wonder if they’re the same family with the obnoxious kid that was playing with the phone system earlier? Kid kept calling our room and saying “Hi,” but after the fifth call (and waiting for them to hang up and clear the line for several minutes) we called the front desk to complain. Turns out they can watch the call board to see what room is calling another, and the front desk person said she’d keep an eye on inter-room calls and put a stop to the behavior.

Oh! We just heard a young child in the Family From Hell room next door say “Hi!” in the same tone of voice David heard on the phone. What fun, they’re right next door!

If this continues, we’ll apply our own remedy: joyfully boisterous loud sex. That’ll larn ’em.