Wednesday, May 03, 2006

How do people do it?



Every afternoon for the past twelve years, I've slipped into what some people might call a nap, but is more like a coma. I've learned from Boomer and Duncan, the masters of the nap, my sleep sensei, to relax after lunch, lie down and chase a few dream bunnies.

This, however, is not a practice embraced by corporate America. We're go-getters. We have coffee. We have meetings. We have journal articles to digest along with the tuna sandwich. No time for shut-eye. Chase those bunnies on your own time, fella. We got worlds to shake.

My body still thinks it's nap time, not work time, which makes those hours between 1:30 and 3:00 brutal. I stand in my cubicle, reading on my feet, or staring at spots on paper would be more accurate, and pray I don't fall down in front of anyone. I also worry about getting the rep as the old man who nods off after lunch. Not good.

My wife tells me I'll get used to this, but I think back to the civilized people of Central America who know when it's time to stop, lie down with the dogs, and sleep. This way of the Norteamericano is positively barbaric. The world would be a better place if more people spent more time sleeping.

Update: No news on the computer yet, but I appreciate everyone's words of sympathy and support. If this inspires you to back up your work, I'll feel like some good came from my stupidity.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had one of those corporate two week training classes that run 8-5 and teach you how to program in this or that environment. We had two asian attendees who each brought lunch in a sack and a rollup pad for a nap after lunch. More like a 30 minute nap than a three hour one though. It seemed like a great idea to me!

Stephen Blackmoore said...

Hammocks. All cubes should have hammocks. And be next to a pearl white beach in the Pacific. With native girls and palm frond fans. Some supermodels, too. And large froofy drinks with umbrellas.

Okay, that's going overboard. I can lose the umbrellas.

Christ, I need a vacation.