How I Listen Well to Instruction

Crisp tells me that he needs to make a work call, and he asks politely if I can please be quiet while he is on the phone.

"Of course!" I reply.

Two minutes into his call, I decide I should make some homemade mac 'n cheese.

Water boils (quietly).
I open the box of pasta shells (quietly).
I pour the pasta into the boiling water (not so quietly).

Note:  Kitchen directly connects to Crisp's home office.

I melt some butter (quietly).
I add some flour (quietly).
I accidentally knock the pan sideways while pouring the milk (not so quietly).
Spilled milk is suddenly sizzling and burning on the glass stove top (not so quietly).

I hear Crisp pause awkwardly in his seemingly important conversation about some Chamber of Commerce in Spain.

Milk continues to sizzle and burn (not so quietly).
Panic ensues when I realize the smoke alarm might go off, and I drop a metal spoon on the stove (not so quietly). 
I quickly grab a damp sponge and try to wipe the quickly scorching spilled milk, but the damp sponge sizzles even more on the hot stove top (not so quietly).
Remember that I should shut off the burner (quietly).

Crisp continues talking on his call, so I assume my noise has not interrupted him.

Cheese mixture is finally made (quietly).
I test the pasta to see if it is done cooking (quietly).
I carry the pasta pot to the sink in an attempt to strain it (quietly).
I decide to forgo the colander, as I do not think that I could get it out of the cupboard (quietly).
While straining the pasta using only the glass lid of the pasta pot and without using oven mitts, I burn my hand and drop the entire pot into the sink (not so quietly).

Crisp abruptly stops speaking on the phone.

"Sorry!" I whisper (not so quietly).
I salvage more than half of the pasta that did not fall into the sink (quietly).
Combine the cheese mixture and the pasta (quietly).
Breathe a sigh of relief that the meal is complete (quietly).
Turn to the sink to rinse of some dishes (quietly).
Water from the faucet causes several dishes to shift and fall against each other and the sides of the sink (not so quietly).

Crisp's conversation seems to be coming to an end.  Thank goodness.

"I'm off my call," he yells into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry I made so much noise," I reply sheepishly.
"It's OK," he says. "As soon as I asked if you if you could be quiet, I realized that I should keep my phone on mute whenever I wasn't talking."

#thatllhappen