Sleep

It seems to have become a badge of honour in our society to not require very much sleep to be functional the next day. Even way out in the country and way down on the farm people seem to brag about not needing to sleep very much. Coffee shop conversations that feature sleep as the topic of conversation begin with somebody saying that they can get by pretty well on six hours of sleep. Pretty quickly somebody else'll chime in that they only get four hours a night and if they lay down for six they'd feel awful from oversleeping. The "winner" in these discussions manages to get by on catnaps after dinner in his favourite chair with an hour or two spent in the bed once a week.


Well boys and girls, this ain't me. Not by a long shot ! I need at least eight hours in the bed to feel like I've had a night's sleep and I'll take as much more as I can manage or get away with.


I've probably slept four or five hours a night the past couple of nights which for me is an awful night's sleep. Given how tired I feel combined with my "fragile" mental state, I'm led to wonder, and not for the first time either, how much inexplicable antisocial and otherwise wierd behaviour is directly related to lack of sleep ?


For instance, I wonder how long it's been since the dude who went the wrong way up a clearly marked freeway exit ramp earlier today has had a good sleep, or is he so brain dead that it wouldn't matter ? Or the one who started yelling at the checkout girl at the market ahead of me over a supposedly shortchanged nickel ? He didn't seem real appreciative when I loudly offered to pay him his {insert word of your choice} nickel if he'd shut up and move the {see previous instruction} away but after getting a look at my face he did pipe down and leave pretty quickly.



Ahem. Haven't slept much lately ! What's your excuse ?