Dear LPG, 

I was browsing yesterday and came across a phenomenon that many of us get used to as we get older. 

I have quite a few friends that will now admit to nodding off or, should I say, discovering that they have nodded off during the day when the deed is done, and it is too late to undo it. 

The rest of British society forgives us because we are old, and the younger older adults who get caught will often find their friends reminding them that it is a sign of the age that they are living through. It goes hand in hand with another rather unflattering trait which is perhaps more associated with the elderly, and which often makes it feel even worse for the ‘sufferer’. I am talking about falling asleep significantly beyond the confines of your house. 

In my experience, the worst part of being caught like this is the face of the napper when they wake and try to work out where they are, how long the nap lasted, how loudly they have snored, if they ended with their head on someone else’s shoulder and wonder what the people around them are thinking of them. Now and then, you see a younger person to whom it might have happened on the bus or the train despite the mobile phones.

Depending on where you do it these days, ‘40 winks’ seems to have been renamed the power nap, and in some countries, it is becoming much more acceptable.

In hotter countries like Spain, the siesta is acceptable and a tradition that most of us have heard about at some time or the other. The internet has also taught me that Italy recognises midday naps and calls them ‘riposo’. They are also accepted in Japan, where the average working day is often ten hours long. They take falling asleep in public to a whole new level, calling it ‘inemuri’. 

This is looked upon as a sign of how hard the sleeper works, and people will sleep rather than waste time waiting for trains, buses and appointments. From what I understand, it is apparently quite acceptable at work or school, although it is thought of more as thinking with your eyes closed.

So, if it happens to you, the next time you wake up in public after a nod-off moment and someone mentions that you are getting old, you can explain that you are just adopting a part of the Japanese culture and blind them with science by dropping the word ‘Inemuri’ into the conversation somewhere. 

HJ, Mottingham

HJ offers some related information…

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…and LPG adds some information on today’s celebration…

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