Guest Post #6- To Sleep Perchance to Dream

Hello, fine readers and friends of the lovely Julie! How are you? Good? I'm glad to hear it.

It's me, Elise, from All Or Nothing. Yeah, I know I guest posted on another blog earlier this week. Yes, I really SHOULD try writing on my own blog every once in a while. OKAY, YES, I HAVE ABANDONED IT A TEENSY BIT. I get it.

Geez. Nice welcome.

Anyway, as you probably know, Julie is on vacay and she has asked some of the better bloggers out there to take over her site while she's gone. And then she asked me, too. I'm still not sure why she would subject her blog (and, more importantly, HER READERS) to my ramblings, but she did, and so now you're stuck with me. I did, however, think that we might stay somewhat on theme and discuss an aspect of traveling, since Julie's out gallivanting about the country. So, without further ado, how well do you sleep while traveling? No really, I want to know, because lately (read: today) I've been thinking about sleep habits, and how strange they can be, especially when you're thrust out of your normal sleeping zone.

For example, today I was traveling by air, as I made my way to the greater Los Angeles area for work. Any of you who frequent the airlines know this drill. You get your boarding pass, wait for your "group" to be called, and then slowly inch forward in line through the jetway and onto the aircraft. You try to stealthily avoid ramming your bulging carry-ons into the heads and elbows of the already seated passengers, and you always end up stuck in the middle of the aisle, waiting while that one lady tries futilely to ram her gigantic, wheeled suitcase into the overhead bin. You finally find your seat, pray that you're not next to any...especially well-rounded folks, and squeeze your way in, attempting to be as graceful as possible while hauling yourself and your huge bag over the metal armrests and into about three square inches of available leg space. You make super-polite conversation with the people seated near you, trying to appear interested and engaged in a riveting discussion of...say, time zones, but you're all actually looking around slyly, hoping that another row has empty seats so you don't have to sit three deep.

Today though, on my full flight (no chance of moving to an empty row), I settled in and was happily sitting in my (middle) seat, reading a book, and listening to my iPod. After about an hour, a great wave of sleepiness overtook me, and since I had nothing to do and nowhere to go, I figured a nap might be in order. I laid my book down, glanced to my left, and saw that window-seat dude had beat me to the nap. He was already dead asleep, with his neck cranked awkwardly against the window, mouth open, drooling just a little. A quick look to my right let me know that the older man sitting in the aisle seat was politely reading his book, sipping his water and minding his own business. I closed my eyes, leaned back, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up with a crick in my neck because my head had rolled dangerously to the right and was precariously balanced about an inch above Polite Elderly Man's shoulder. I shook myself awake, disturbed to find that I had nearly made the PEM a bit more than just my seatmate, but the whole thing reminded me of one of my worst airline sleeping situations ever.

It was a situation much like the one described above, except that when I woke up, it was because I was drooling ONTO the shirt-sleeve of my (stranger) seatmate, as my head rested directly upon his shoulder. The poor guy had obviously been made SO uncomfortable by my inappropriate (accidental!) cuddling that he just kind of froze. Instead of waking me up, or even just moving his shoulder in a way that would WAKE me up, he sat there, miserable, drooled upon, waiting for me to finish my nap. And when I finally DID wake up, it was with a jolt and an immediate, red-hot wave of embarrassment washing over my face. I was too sleepy, though - stuck in that half-daze where the fog refuses to completely lift from the brain - and instead of just apologizing like a normal human, I did this awful, terrible PETTING thing, where I rubbed his shoulder not once, not twice, but MANY TIMES. And as I rubbed, I apologized profusely, saying "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over. He looked stricken. I looked like a crazy lady. And all because of a stupid nap.

See, this is what happens when we abandon our normally PRIVATE sleeping habits and instead make them not only public, but also conducted within mere inches of total strangers. There's something about that overwhelming, enveloping feeling of total drowsiness that makes even the most stoic and mannerly of passengers abandon all pretenses of appropriate public behavior and start snoring, drooling, stretching, and then snorting awake. It's awkward, and I'm pretty sure no one enjoys watching a total stranger sleep weirdly all over the place, much less all over THEM. But it matters not. The sleep beckons, and we all answer, powerless to refuse that siren call.

Now here's where you play in: Please, PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who has had a shameful and uncomfortable public sleeping situation. What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen or done regarding Public Sleep? And don't hold back. Goodness knows I'll drool all over you given the opportunity.