Siesta Time
July 27, 2011
BY DICK METHIA
With the cost of health care skyrocketing, many 50-somethings are boxing up their golf shoes and staying in the work force. But for those older Americans worried about being able to sustain the withering pace of a 9 to 5 job, I’ve got great news. The afternoon nap has joined child care as a worker perk!
Japanese companies have long championed the afternoon catnap as a way for workers to maintain their agility. Now corporate giants Nike and Google are offering their “team members” places to snooze during the day. Workers in the software companies that dot Silicon Valley enjoy “sleep pods” outfitted with lounge chairs, soothing music and soft lighting.
In midtown Manhattan Wall Street brokers can take a 30-minute break in one of the many neighborhood “sleep boutiques” that offer quality nap time—for a quality price. There’s even a small industry growing up around the corporate catnap. Boutique firms are selling high-end “sleep capsules,” a cross between a Barcalounger and a space capsule. The pricier devices include massage and aromatherapy. Sadly, no models come equipped with soft, furry slippers.
In a 2007 medical report the Archives of Internal Medicine reported that a 30-minute nap in the afternoon may be good for heart health. In a study of more than 20,000 Greek workers, AIM researchers found that nappers—people who snoozed at the office for at least 30-minutes a day three times a week—suffered over 30 percent fewer incidences of coronary disease than their peers who slogged through the workday eyelids pinned open with paper clips.
If subsequent studies confirm this good news, we could see a major reengineering of the American work place to make it more comfortable for older workers. During the late afternoon we wouldn’t have to pretend to be as energetic as our younger colleagues in the next cube. We’d be able to enjoy a siesta on company time as our contribution to a healthier workplace. After all, federal workers have enjoyed this perk for as long as I can remember. How else do you explain the interminable wait on the Social Security Help Line?
We older workers shouldn’t be embarrassed about taking the occasional “power nap”—even when it’s unintentional. Some of the world’s most famous people get caught napping. Last April at an open-air mass in Malta, Pope Benedict XVI nodded off. Of course, the Pope is 83 and busier than most octogenarians.
Bill Clinton is a serial napper. He’s been photographed napping during a NY Mets game and at former president Reagan’s funeral. CNN caught vice president Dick Cheney chin on chest during a cabinet meeting in the White House while his boss was talking. But then no one ever called “W” a scintillating orator. Even legendary baseball manager Yogi Berra boasted, “I usually take a two-hour nap— from one to four.”
When I feel the urge to snooze midday, I remember what distinguished Columbia University professor Mason Cooley said. “When you can’t figure out what to do, it’s time for a nap.”
Dick Methia began his writing career at nine as a war correspondent. He covered the clash of rubber Union and Rebel armies by pecking out dispatches on a rusty Smith Corona in a backyard tent made of an old bed sheet. When the war was over, he gravitated to less serious pursuits: award-winning educator and speaker, non-profit executive, nationally-known consultant, author, and (almost) astronaut.