National Public Sleeping Day
We have a lot of different National “Something” Days, so it’s likely not a big surprise there’s a National Public Sleeping Day. And this year, it’s today, Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
According to Days of the Year website, “National Public Sleeping Day was founded with the purpose of encouraging people to be sure they get enough sleep.”
Getting enough sleep is pretty much what Sleep Satisfaction is all about. If getting a few extra winks away from the privacy of your own home is how you’ve got do that, it may be better than nothing. We like to encourage good, deep, quality sleep in a quiet, dark, peaceful environment. That being said, people have been snagging a little catch-up sleep in public places for…well…forever.
Have you ever fallen asleep in public? As an adult I mean. Little kids do it all the time. Lucky souls, they have absolutely zero inhibitions about simply conking out whenever and wherever they are.
As adults, we sometimes do a version of that without knowing it. We talked a little about very short, seconds-long sleep in last month’s You May Be Microsleeping post. But what about truly and fully falling asleep for a few minutes – or longer – at a time?
Different Kinds of Public Sleeping
Maybe you’ve involuntarily dozed off somewhere when you just couldn’t keep your eyes open. It can happen in a class, a meeting, in church or at the movies. It can come over you while commuting on a bus or a train. If given the choice, you probably wouldn’t. It’s startling and embarrassing when you open your eyes, surprised to find yourself in a public place. You wonder how long you were out and whether anyone noticed. That may be about the time you realize people are looking at you, smiling and chuckling.
The sleeping felt good. The chuckling didn’t.
Sometimes, though, public sleeping is voluntary and purposeful. You might settle in with your n
eck pillow on an airplane, ready for a nice long nap. If you’ve had the bad luck recently to be stuck in an airport because of a cancelled or delayed flight, you may have had no choice but to curl up on the floor to ride out the night.
Another common way people enjoy public sleeping is by getting comfortable in a public park or on the beach. Spreading a towel or blanket on the ground and drifting off while families picnic and kids play around you can feel great.
Some people even sleep at work, on purpose. Finding an empty conference room or vacant office can provide for a quiet lunch-hour snooze. You can even try using your break to put your head down on your desk, if you don’t think your boss or co-workers will call you out for sleeping on the job. Which – don’t do that!
Whether or not you’ve ever imbibed in public sleeping in one form or another, we can all get a little enjoyment out of the concept while wide-awake. Enjoy!