Selective hearing

The kitchen timer on the microwave is beeping. I can hear it. But I did not set it, so I don't have to turn it off. Apparently the man who set it does not hear it, or does not remember that he set it; no wait, he thinks it will turn itself off. I tell him I don't think it will, it never does. He thinks we should find out. My guess is that it would eventually drive me insane, but he would still be sitting here ignoring it, and that in fact it would not turn it self off for hours and hours.
I believe it must be in the same realm as the telephone ringing. I, and only I, can hear it ring and answer it. And no, it does not matter whether or not it is for me, but as my whole family *wrongly* contends, it is always for me. Actually it is usually for me; but if I have to run, wash my hands, get up from a warm cozy position, or wake up to answer it, inevitably it is for someone else.