nincompoopery*

•••

In overachiever snoburbia we relish our ability to stay awake. It's the subject of discussion at parties. "I sleep only four hours a night..." (subtext: "...because the global economy would collapse without my efforts," or "...because the Scouts would cease to exist without my selfless toil.") The counter to this is: "Yeah, I know, I only slept three hours last night."

I, however, do not engage in this competition. I am a sleeper. If I don't get enough sleep - and I mean at least seven hours - I become:

a.) grouchy

b.) a total nincompoop

There have been many sleep studies in recent years. And they generally show that a person who doesn't get enough sleep has increased depression and stress levels, as well as reduced cognitive function. In other words, he becomes:

a.) grouchy

b.) a total nincompoop

•••

* This is a real word, and it sounds especially funny when you haven't had enough sleep.

Comments

[Mara]

Does it count if I follow up "I only get four hours of sleep a night" with "because I'm an idiot who can't get her life organized"?

I mean, it's not that the rest of the world would collapse if I went to bed before uh, now, but somehow I can't get things done while the kids are awake.

[Christine]

Thank you, thank you...I sleep, too. And I have a huge complex about feeling like I'm not working hard if I only do it for 16 hours a day!

[Kathy J, Washington Gardener]

I think 8 hrs of sleep a night (min) should be the law - it would be a much kinder, more polite world if we all get a full night, every night - sleep is one of life's greatest luxuries and neccesities and, on top of that, it is FREE!

[Ksuccess]

I can't help but to wonder if my lack of sleep coupled is related to my snoby addiction to coffee (correction: Tall Coffee with one espesso shot and soy milk =Red Eye).

I don't try to win the competition for Queen of All Things Domestic, but I do find myself up later than I should be on most nights. To balance out this trend of fatigue I always balance it out with a simple cup of coffee from the local coffee shop. Interestingly enough if I am on schedule I tend to see the same exact people getting their coffee fix while I am there as well. THe funny thing is that I make coffee at home almost everyday but the trip to the coffee shop is still part of my daily itinerary.

[Mon mom]

I am also a nincompoop when severely sleep deprived. Like for some reason it will take me half an hour to make one school lunch for the next morning if I'm up really late continuing to do chores, but if I just go to bed it will take only 5 minutes the next morning. Wierd.

[Ri L.]

I did IB in high school (I'm from your area) and nigh on ten years later I still don't think I've recovered from the sleep debt. I am unabashed about my preference for sleep and lots of it.

[jw]

Nincompoop--non compos mentis. Nice eh?

[CMK]

I'm from the West and the thing my husband and I discussed for a good year or two after first moving East was that people get less sleep. All the TV shows are on an hour later, so if people are actually watching TV (not that anyone in snoburbia would admit to such a thing), there's one hour of sleep gone. Also, everyone spends 1.5 hours commuting one way to work, so there's another three hours from your life sucked away. Of course they get less sleep. Nothing beats saving the world by commuting!