American society is not nap (午睡)-friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,"There"s even a prohibition against admitting
we need sleep". Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a
prov
erb:"Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven."
Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them."We have to
totally changeour attitude toward napping,"says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the
godfather of sleep research.
Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an"American sleep debt" which one
member said was as important as the national debt. The commission was concerned about the
dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may
be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, President
Clinton is trying to take a ha1f-hour snooze (瞌睡) every afternoon.
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have"a
mid afternoon quiet phase," also called "a secondary sleep gate." Sleeping 15 minutes to two
hours in the
early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born
to nap.
We Superstars of Snooze don"t nap to replace lost shut-eye or to prepare for a night shift.
Rather, we "snack" on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself
have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices
and museums.