It all started with my mother, putting me down for a nap a few times a day when I was an infant. My developing infant brain must have deemed mapping as a wonderful thing. In Kindergarten the teacher reinforced the napping tradition. And for reasons that I’ll never understand it was snatched painfully from my life as I entered the first grade. Putting you head on the desk and nodding off was frowned upon. As a matter of fact it would earn you a sharp rap across the knuckles with a ruler from your teacher. (They were allowed to do that in 1953) and somehow I grew into a productive (unscarred citizen) Do not attempt that now, the Politicaly Correct Police will pounce.
Wait a damn minute, for the first six years the nap was drilled into me, then cruelly removed, that in itself would scar any psyche for life, forget about the corporal punishment. But kids were tougher then.
Summertime; naps were allowed, unless a family outing was in the works, but a blanket under a spreading oak tree worked just fine. Then those pre-teen and teen years where your friends would chide you about napping, and we all wanted to be accepted as “COOL” so for a time the nap was abandoned as you matured into adulthood or what passes for adulthood.
I missed those restful naps, why had they forsaken me? The day has 24 hours, they surly can spare a few minutes here or a few minutes there for a nap, can’t they? I would wonder in awe over people I met who had careers that didn’t afford them a nap (or Nooner in Navy Parlance).
In 1964 Viet Nam was rampant and the draft was looming over my head. My father was a Navy man during the “Big One” WW-II So I meandered on down to the Boston Army Pier and volunteered for a hitch in the Navy. For the seconded reason I picked the Navy was you sailed on your hotel, vice carrying it on your back plus I never marched again after Boot Camp.
But there in boot camp in San Diego CA, I discovered that the Navy believed in and encouraged NAPS, Yes they had been returned to my life after a 12 year hiatus. March my ass anywhere you want, and the Company Commanded BT-1 John Bullock could thump my head with his white hat as often as he wanted, because I knew that at lunch, we would get to eat, and then a one hour nap. I was in heaven here on earth.
My first ship, USS SABINE AO-25 a squat dumpy Oiler home ported in Jacksonville Florida, I can remember humping my sea bag up the A-Com ladder to the well deck, and being told that I would have to wait until 1300 hours to check in as the crew was on a Nooner What, are they trying to reenlist me early and I only have four months in the Navy? Hi Honey I’m home!!!
The Shipboard nap, served a purpose, one important thing about napping, I learned about the second month on my new floating home, we had just dropped the hook in the harbor of Kingston Jamaica MON, and the Navy said: Go forth and earn you reputation as a sailor.” Aye aye sir is the proper response.
Liberty Call at 1600 hours, do you leave the ship, no said the old salt I had made friends with, you nap until 1800 and then take the 40 footer ashore. Party like its 1965 and head back to the ship at the designated time, in the desired condition, as determined by the fine rum that was served on the Island. The following morning you turn-to and commence ship’s work, lunch nap, back to work, afternoon nap, and repeat the previous night. You can rest when you die, or when the ship gets back to sea, but import…
In 1986 I retired, and opened a Night Club in Puerto Rico, the bar opened at 1700- and closed at 0500 hence the name: “The All Night Carnival”, the rest of the day was beach and sleep, being the former sailor in my storeroom at the bar was a cot, yes you can nap at night also.
Hurricane Hugo came along and nudged me in to a different lifestyle in Treasure Island Florida as an ABC Liquor store and lounge manager. What the hell are they thinking, 30 minutes for lunch, where the hell is the nap?
Of to Miami Florida to get my Merchant Seaman Document and Z-Card, as I knew that the Military Sealift Command, although crewed by Civmars (Merchant Seaman) they ran the ships on the same schedule as the Navy, Thank you Supreme Being for restoring my naps. Again following the same plan as I learned in Kinston Jamaica those many years before; order and the nap was back in my life, and the world was again spinning in its natural order once more. Suggested napping venues, the bed, the sofa, the Lazy boy, a hammock under that tree in your yard, the floor, the reclining seat in the car the list is endless and no matter where you nap you’ll wake up a better person for it. Now for a safety warning: You may not claim being passed out as napping in odd locations. Respect the power of the nap no matter what you call it, a lay down, power nap, battle nap recharging your batteries or in Great Britton it’s called kipping.
So now that I’m retired from everything, I’m teaching the power of the nap to a new generation, my grandson. Because if Lolo takes a nap, it must be what big men do? His mother loves the example I set. So my friends here on LiP and Facebook, when you notice that it is 0300 and I’m online here in the Philippines, have no fear, as the power of the nap allows this to happen, and to my Canadian friend John “C”, remember when you point out the time to me on Face Book, remember you also live in the Philippines and are just as awake as me. So there! (LOL)
I’m heading up to the second floor to read my android, and then…
Until next week.
Paul, while naps are a good thing, in fact almost a necessity if you are a retired person, there is an inherent danger of addiction. This is particularly true if they are taken at the same time each day. Then the day comes when you must depart from the normal schedule ad drive to town to take care of important business as dictated by the OIC (officer in charge) of the house hold. So you load up the family car with spouse some of her closest shopping friends and head down the narrow winding hilly roads of the mountain and nap time arrives this is not so alarming to you but will leave the rest of the people in the car with you in shear terror until they manage to disturb the much needed nap. The outcome is not always bad thought as one of two things is likely to happen. Either OIC will take on the responsibility of Taking care of business herself and leaving you home to enjoy your nooner Or will insist she does all the driving! That has particular benefits when business is being conducted at Texas Joe’s.
Joe;
The nap should never be planned, as someone will attempt to alter on interfere with it if you do, a nap is like eating in the animal kingdom, only when their hungry, and a proper “Lay Down” at times when the need is pressing. I can send the group in to the mall, and locate a nice bench for mini-snooze and know that when I awaken, there beside me will be a likeminded Filipino guy doing the same thing. That is being a Sympatric bonding between men of different cultures, finding that common bond together.
Paul. For some reason or other, I have never slept during the day, and still can’t. It’s like practicing to die!!!
John;
My heartfelt sympathy goes out to you, for never having known the power of the “Nap”!
Paul…I love you man..hope to meet you some day and share some beers..
Richard..
Richard;
That is something I would look forward to, albeit there would more than likely be a nap involved after the beer intake. (LOL)
Scott;
I was on the USS LY Spear AS-36, and while the boats were alongside for repair, our ship’s Sub berthing would ring with a great confluence of noise caused by the visiting crew snoring. I think we all passed that training course with the highest grades.
Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, 🙁 . You have been retired to long. When I went through retirement processing at Subbase San Diego, there was a 4 hour block of instruction on Nap taking. I paid very close attention. 🙂
Just like John Power…I can’t do this Nap thing. if it happens once in a blue moon, i wake up, totally confused and more tired.
It happens i am tired during the day and think: Wow…now a nap would be great, i try….but just rotating like a chicken on a barbecue..
Maybe when i get old(er).
Have a great day…and nap 🙂
Alex. I don’t know what it is with me. I just feel like it’s wasting time, which stupid, because I have plenty time now, being retired. Sometimes I’m nodding off in front of the TV during the day, and my wife says “why don’t you take a nap?”. I just make myself a cup of coffee! Just stubborn!
John;
Nodding off in front of the TV is nature’s way of saying,” hit the off on the remote and take a lay down”, listen to your wife; she knows what is good for you. (LOL)
Axel;
I have napped since birth to age 67 except those few years I pointed out, so I guess when I got older I refused to stop napping. I wake up refreshed, in a good mood and ready to plough on through the rest of my day. A nap does not interfere with living life; it just makes it more enjoyable.
A Nap is to be treasured for the bring renewed energy so that u can enjoy life. Since I retired, I am like you. Nap time is important.
Luke;
I could not agree with you more, you hit the nail square on the head.
Wasted time unless you are ready to die!
Heinz;
I reread your comment over 4 times to see if I had missed what you were trying to convey. I failed to see the relationship between napping and death. I failed to grasp it, unless one also feared sleeping at night too. BTW, I just woke up from a wonderful “Nooner” and never felt more alive..
Heinz, really, you **NEVER** sleep?
How are you able to stay alive without ever sleeping?
ED;
I was wondering the exact same thing.
Yes Paul, you bring a lot of things to mind.
My mid-50’s early childhood education was quite confusing – you MUST nap in kindergarten but a few months later come grade 1, the nuns constantly patrolled the classroom each randomly enforcing their own special set of secret new rules with their favorite huge strap. Perhaps the first thing I really learned in school was that strangely-dressed people espousing religion but not practicing it in reality were really weird. Any TV channel today in 2014 increasingly confirms that learning virtually every minute.
Most of my adult life consisted of working until you drop and sleeping until you are able to repeat, and if it’s possible to catch a few winks in the interim, absolutely do so though try to avoid nodding off while driving to the next venue.
Today, as an official “senior” living in the Philippines with my large immediate family of young kids and babies, and an extended family beyond counting, all in summation requiring my working all night every night (until I can’t), and way much stuff to do after the sun comes up, it’s really no different. Sleep when you can, nap randomly when that’s all you can manage.
9am Sunday morning now PHT, kids are being good, things seemingly under control – nap time! Someone will surely wake me up soon enough.
Cheers,
–ed
ED
I went to Saint Ann’s Catholic School in Boston, until I could begg my father to move me to public school. Even today the sight of an Order of Saint Joseph Nun will cause me to tremble.
But shipboard life where evolutions could very well happen at 0300 (Or oh dark thirty in Seaman Jargon) taught us to sleep when one can. During Viet Nam, the Marines could request gunfire support at anytime night or day, try to sleep during that noise. I could nap standing up in those days.
Here’s one 4 ya…EINSTEIN….He would sit in his chair with his keys in hand to take a quicky nap ….. “”all the time””” . when the keys dropped out of his hands he was thru
Lenny;
That is proof positive that Einstein was a genus. Some people use a TV remote nowadays..
So far I’ve found that if I lay down in the day time, I’ll sleep for hours unless something wakes me up hard. Clearly, I need more practice at this napping thing.
Take care,
Pete
Pete;
Until you get the hang of it, use an alarm, or ask someone to make a noise after the appropriate time. I no longer need that nor have I for 50 years. (LOL)
Paul,
I found that if I take a nap I don’t sleep well at night.
Randy;
Then you are napping to long. 20 to 30 minutes should refresh you and not interfere with night sleeping.
A nap, in my case best “at night”.if at all possible, is a whole lot better than nothing at all.
As I read this, I am yawning. It’s only 11:13am, but I think it is time for a nap myself! I think I’ll take cue from you Paul, and hit the rack for a nap.
I should note, that I am NOT yawning because of the read!! LOL!! Love reading your stories!
Alas,
My nap was but a pipe dream. I laid there for over an hour and NO NAP OCCURRED. LOL. I did remember what I was supposed to be doing today, but it was too late.
Maybe later I will succeed in the nap. Or tomorrow. I won’t quit trying.
Scott;
That is a tad early, but if tired you’re tired. As for boring I get bored writing this stuff. (LOL) If you took a lay down and didn’t fall asleep, then it might not have been nap time.
Paul, exactly!
I’m realizing that in my 60’s I just don’t have the stamina I had in my 20’s and 40’s, and that these days after working all night, awake all day with various family responsibilities, working again all night, then still awake half the third day as so often happens, I really *do* need a few hours sleep. *That* is “nap time”!
When my eyes get so blurry that it’s increasingly impossible to read anything let alone program, my head descends onto my desk, and I eventually fall out of my office chair, that’s usually a clue it was already nap-time a few hours ago. I also find that I’m a lot more productive after a few hours sleep.
I have no idea how people who claim to survive and work without *ever* sleeping can do it.
ED;
It sounds like you treasure nap time. Good on you.
Ed. I don’t think anyone said “without ever sleeping”. I’m sure they were referring to taking an afternoon nap.
My Sunday afternoon nap after I fix dinner is a religious experience. I don’t take one any other day usually but rarely miss Sunday.
LeRoy;
If that works for you, then more power to you. I never said that people MUST nap every day simply that I do. (LOL)
If i start my day early, the way it is supposed to be! I can start to nod off about 1pm, my wife and daughter likes to laugh at me when I say, NO i wasnt sleeping, just resting my eyes.
but i think i could get used to this Nap thing someday.
From my perspective, a nap is simply too-long-delayed and badly needed sleep whenever you can finally get a bit. When you finally have the chance and you’re so tired you’re already asleep by the time your head hits the pillow, it would be foolish and ultimately life-threatening not to take such opportunities to refresh, because you never know how may hours or days it might be before you get another chance to get a bit of sleep.
ED;
What you say is true, but I’m retired (And a lot of us are) so the nap is more of an added pleasure to our day, instead of a dire need.
Paul, no matter how anyone chooses to slice it, a “nap” is a short “sleep” and despite that one person wrote that he never needs to sleep (good for him!), most of us must at least every few days.
Honestly, if’s both a pleasure and a need with the only difference being individual circumstances dictating possible times of naps/sleep and duration possible. I myself can’t survive without; whenever I can manage it. My optimum nap time is at dusk, when the sun is going down, it’s a bit cooler and it’s getting dark and I’m typically already way overtired and in need to the point where I can’t hear our kids screaming as they play and enjoy the sunset. My eyes naturally really want to close for a little while.
My kids need to scream and play during their at-dusk “crazy hour(s)” and I need a nap, and I need to wake up soon enough and be able to work productively 🙂
ED;
Anytime one can slip in the nap is good, remember you can’t nap unless you need to, if not tired you won’t sleep. When that happens to me I’ll get comfortable and read, as I find that to be relaxing too.
James;
If caught while napping my response was always; I was checking my eyes for light leaks.” But I like your response too.
Paul, back in the States I would religiously take a nap every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Since retiring to the Philippines over five years my nappy times are completely unplanned and never at the same time. I get up between 3 and 4 am daily and go to bed by 9 pm. I nap three or four times a week now and absolutely love my beloved siesta time. Papa Duck is still a youngster and hasn’t reach my “old geezer fart” status yet. Maybe in in his twilight years he will be able to nap and enjoy this absolutely delightful joy of life.
….I don’t know!……all you old people……
John Powers;
As a matter of fact a lot of us old people don’t know you, so that seems fair. (LOL)
Dave;
I was taking two naps a day in my twenty’s, so geezer status doesn’t count. But the way you are napping is about the way I do, including the wake up times. The power of the nap will never fail you..
I read an article the other week that said taking a nap cuts down your life span. I thought ‘how did they work that out, seeing as no one knows when they are going to die’.
I don’t have a kip every day, but if the coal fire is lit early, I will easily fall asleep. There is something comforting about an open fire, reminds you of sleeping on the settee for that toddler nap in winter time.
Happy snoozing everyone
Marjorie;
Junk science pure and simple, but even if true those extra years they promise, if they are the ones that I’m in a walker, wearing a diaper and drooling out the side of my mouth, I DON”T WANT THEM. The nap has and will continue to work for those of us who respect its power (LOL)
So true Paul
Its dam SMB and Pussers makes me sleep Paul lol lol.
John J.
It has been many a year since I had a tot of “Pussers” I was on a beach on in the British Virgin Islands, and yes I also had a kip (Nap).
SMB! That’s my problem also John j. PUSSERS???
John Powers;
Pussers is a sailor slang from the word purser who in the Royal Navy issued the ration of Rum to the crew of a ship. Pussers Rum is made on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and is wonderful.
Thanks for the info Paul.
Paul –
I infer from your treatise on naps that most of your Navy time was spent at sea, where a nooner is, indeed, a pleasure.
I was fortunate to have a couple of shore billets, where the term “nooner” had nothing to do with snoozing, but was just as pleasurable. Perhaps more so.
-Peter
http://www.myphilippinechronicles.com
Paul. I’m amazed that so many people have found time to respond to your post. I thought they were all “napping”!!! LOL
John Powers;
We all wake up once in awhile. (LOL)
Peter;
That type of Nooner off times had a small nap following… Best of both worlds., but yes I tried to stay at sea as much as the Navy and Merchant Marines would let me.
Paul –
With the advent of computers in the last half of my working years as a Fed, a half-hour nap in the division lounge following lunch was a self-imposed requisite for me to be able to finish the rest of the afternoon in front of the computer without nodding off.
These days the word nap is as foreign-sounding to me as Mandarin, but that’s because I sleep no less than10 hours most nights. A glass of red wine after a supper of salmon and broccoli, and variations thereof, following a vigorous workout in the gym puts me to sleep within minutes of finishing off the last drops of the red wine, with a Redskins game in progress being the only exception, during which time I will my eyelids to stay open until the conclusion of the game. LOL
On the rare nights I have trouble sleeping, counting the proverbial sheep doesn’t do the trick for me. Sleep comes to me easily when I fantasize about camping in the wilderness with a snow storm raging outside my tent. LOL
See you at Texas Joe’s in mid-December by Victory Liner bus out of the Caloocan or the Pasay Terminal!
“Texas Joe’s” keeps popping up on this site. I’m curious!
John Powers;
It the best Texas Rib House this side of Texas, and it’s on the Subic Freeport.(Google it)
John,
I know you were happy when the Redskins beat the Cowboys last week lol. I think Pasay Terminal would be the closest for you. They also have a terminal in Cubao.
You’re right, Randy. The Pasay terminal would be the closest to the Sofitel where we will be staying the first week. We plan on making it to Texas Joe’s for a day during the first week before we go to Mindanao the second week. I mentioned the Caloocan terminal because it brings back memories of when I was a kid when we used to leave from that terminal to go home to Zambales.
The loss to the Vikings was typical of a Redskins defense that couldn’t protect a lead. It boggles the mind why they didn’t blitz the rookie Vikings QB as much as they did Romo, though.
John;
That is one heck of a sleep schedule, I’m good for 6 hours straight sleep, and the rest during naps. See ya at Joe’s!!!
Dam with all these comments your answering you’ll need more than a nap!!! Beer time
I’l drink to that!!!
John Powers;
There isn’t much that I won’t drink tp. (LOL)
Lenny;
Answer, have a beer repeat.
Interesting that you were on an AS, Paul. For a very short time, I was on the USS Sperry (AS-12). At the time, it was, I believe, the second oldest ship in the Navy. No, I’m not that old. It was on its way out. In eight months, we got underway a total of once to San Francisco (all the way from San Diego) for Fleet Week. After that, I went to A School. A short time later, it was decommissioned. Good duty in many ways.
Tom N.
The trouble with that type of ship is they must dredge the coffee grounds from under her before she can get underway.. But good duty.
Ah I recall with fond memories the countless nooners I enjoyed while sailing the seven seas. Yes I spent 24 years in the Navy and truly found my nap after having lost it in early childhood. As I approach my early retirement I find myself napping now right after work, I claim a spot on the couch and before long I’m in la-la land. I awake and am ready to tackle the evening activities. Can’t wait until i have the whole day to myself (sortive) when I retire and I’m certain the Nap will figure into my daily routine at some point.
Kevin Peck;
Hello shipmate, ah the healing powers of the Nooner or whenever you get to lie down. The Navy spoiled us, now that I’m retired I don’t even think about a nap they are as automatic as eating or that first ice cold SMB on a hot afternoon. When my friends call the first thing they ask; “Did I wake you? Because they all nap too, except this one guy who is always in a bad mood, he doesn’t take naps. (Retired Army)
Quoting Paul: “except this one guy who is always in a bad mood, he doesn’t take naps.”
How very true!
ED;
I wonder why it’s true?
Paul, I suspect you meant that rhetorically. Still …
Being way overtired absolutely leads to ‘grouchiness’ at best, or worse.
The last time I pushed my limits way too far, I got dizzy and fell down at exactly the wrong angle on the edge of a cement ledge. Result? Broken ribs. Not a good idea and my ribs still remind me of that fact.
I should know better, and got my rude reminder. Sleep, naps, however termed and whenever possible is a necessity, even if some people purport otherwise. People who perpetually do without will get their rude awakening and periodic reminders thereafter, and surely they’ll be super grouchy most of the time in the interim.
ED;
Be more careful I try to avoid face plants. My Army buddy is a bit of a cantankerous old guy to begin with, but I still know a nap would help him.
Yes Paul, given my recent forceful ‘reminder’ I’m learning to walk and turn much more slowly when overtired and my sinuses are acting up to make sudden dizziness even more likely. All of which wraps right back to your first posting on this thread – a nap is a must, especially if that’s one’s only recent sleep.