Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Choose To Snooze

Standing in a shop in San Miguel de Allende last summer, I noticed the shopkeepers closing the doors and shooing people, including me, outside at about 2 p.m. I thought it strange until the idea of "siesta" was explained to me. Until that point, I thought it was a cultural reference made in Speedy Gonzalez cartoons (we were sheltered growing up in the Midwest!). Of course, the stores reopened an hour later and stayed open until 8 or so...thus, the siesta made sense. Now, it may be a phenomenon which is becoming global. If the Japanese do it, can we be far behind?
Remember, the typical Japanese is characterized as a workaholic who barely gets 5 hours of sleep a night...to all accounts, this seems accurate. Even high school students at Meizen High School get little sleep due to long commutes and heavy homework schedule. The solution? Nap time! This endeavor has taken over Japan, from the Toyota plants where napping workers are thought to be more energized for the afternoon work after a lunchtime nap, to board rooms and high schools where students are strongly encouraged to take a 15-minute nap after lunch. Business ventures have been quick to see the profit: "nap salons" are popular places with businessmen at lunch where they can catch some Zs for as little as $4.50. And you thought the oxygen bar was a wacky idea? People are buying desk pillows at department stores everywhere.
Now, if I were doing this, I'd probably fall asleep and wake up the next day...the ingenious Japanes have a solution for that as well: they serve a cup of coffee just before the nap. Caffeine takes about 20 minutes to get into the blood stream effectively so in 20 minutes, one wakes up raring to go! Their studies have shown that a nap of more than 30 minutes makes one feel less energized so the coffee trick is perfect.
Sleeping on the job has taken on a whole new look, but who cleans up all the drool on the desks?

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