I have explained to my coworkers that I have MS. I have described the energy and weakness cycle and my need for a nap at lunch time. I sign out on our in/out board, with a notation that says "Lunch." I close my blinds and close my door.

The above actions seems to have inspired a kind of madness. People knock. Other people have loud conversations just outside my door. Some slip notes under my door. Some call on my intercom and buzz and buzz and buzz until I get up to answer.

Not only are the messages running the gamut between the innocuous to the truly forgettable, the conversations are highly nonprofessional: today's interchange revolved around a woman's getting her tubes tied and how it changed her level of sexual pleasure. I mean, really. Couldn't that conversation have been held quietly, in an indoor voice in a cubicle or conference room somewhere?

Yeah, I know, rhetorical question. I'm angry because I need a nap. It's not my choice; I am not being a slacker, or a time waster or somehow morally deficient. It's my duty-free hour, and I'm supposed to be able to spend it as I like (within legal bounds). But closing my door means that a needy coworker feels shut out, no longer the center of attention. And we can't have that now, can we?

Yes, I've asked nicely. Yes, I've explained. Yes, I've changed my schedule to avoid the loudmouth. Changing my schedule seems to have tricked my secretary into thinking I needed nonessential messages immediately. I'd go out to my car to nap, except that the temperature is currently 93 degrees and my car is parked in the sun.

Damn! [Thanks for letting me vent.]