Current Perspective: wastewater treatment operator, night shift, 12hr shift, work 4 days off 3 days and repeat
Past History: about 23 jobs that I've bothered to track; general labor, retail, military (army/air force ROTC), office desk (once was a temporary transcriptionist for the CEO of AccuWeather, tank top and chewing tobacco amongst cubicles of suits and business skirts was a unique experience), customer service, outdoor adventuring (think high ropes courses), and a few under the table jobs, hello bouncer community.
With all that out of the way, what's wrong with sleeping at work?
Nobody, except perhaps one of the former mods of this sub, haha meta joke, will argue that sleeping at a work place and ignoring work that needs or should be done is a good thing.
Also nobody will argue that they should be able to sleep at a job that requires their constant attention, like food service workers when they're on the line, or retail workers in a busy store.
Also nobody will argue that they should be able to sleep when their job requires them to be on call or otherwise alert and ready.
Also nobody will argue that they should be able to sleep when it's fucking go time and I nor anybody else gives a shit if you're tired. Here's the military attitude, but don't be so hard on yourselves. I got mad respect for the boss lady who hounded my ass and wouldn't let me slack to hurry up and get a large shipment put away by the end of the day so no one had to work extra tomorrow, because that would really suck for whoever it fell to.
But people will argue that they should be able to take a power nap during their 15min or lunch break. You're clocked out anyway, but you still get yelled at.
But people will argue that they should be able to go lie down for a bit because their feet are killing them in this warehouse job and we won't get any more orders for another hour so why do we have to continue standing around doing jack shit?
But people will argue that they're on this job as a part of a team, and if something happens just punch my sleeping arm and I'll be there, but no that's way too much to ask of your coworkers.
I personally am arguing that I should be able to sleep at my job. I can confidently say that there are periods of one or two hours where there is nothing that needs to be done. There's always something to find of course, it's one of those work places, but nothing will blow up or catch fire if I don't exist for an hour. I work either by myself or with two others. I never sleep when I'm alone, but if I'm capable of waking up to the alarms on my phone at home, or with coworkers, I think I'm capable of doing that when I'm alone. I always inform my coworkers that I'm going on break, do they mind if I take a nap. They say no, but apparently they do, they took pictures, because I wasn't hiding, and waited for a social reason (3 weeks after) to send it to the boss. And I got written up.
So why are we doing all this arguing? Well, sleep is a very important component of health. Kinda need to do it like 6-8hrs a day to maintain. Yeah yeah I've been there where you get like 20hrs of sleep in 7 days, for years, and you crush caffine like it's your job, but that obviously ain't healthy long term, and going through it kinda really sucks. But also naps are pretty fucking great. Just chewed over a really complicated problem for half the day and your brain is mush? 15min power nap. Just hauled ass like a champ and moved like two pallets of 50lbs chemical bags and you can barely raise your arms? Stretch that shit, drink some water, and go lie down for 30min. From the individual perspective, you feel better and happier because you're not suffering, and from the company perspective their happy because it has been shown, and it makes common sense, that happy and healthy people do more work of a better quality.
But no. People who sleep at work are lazy bums who should be fired. Nah actually, they're probably just struggling. I work night shift, I work 12hr shifts, and I simply don't have the energy or time to properly maintain social relationships with day walkers, and to wait for businesses to open and do my business, and care for my cats (fucking cute ass fluffy toddlers who constantly need attention), and cook and clean my apartment and try to have hobbies like building cat towers or drawing and showering and all the things we do in our domiciles, and sleep. I don't have time at home, and the thing I have most control over, that only affects me, is my sleep. So I cut it out. But anyone who has been severely sleep deprived for a long time knows how it feels when you start becoming less of a person. No sleep, no energy, no fun, no positive, only sleeping through your alarms, only making dumb mistakes that get you written up or fired, only being able to do the bare minimum so of course you never get promoted or advanced, only failing to follow through on promises to do things, only feeling shitty and suffering. It takes awhile to get to that point, but every day of not enough sleep you can feel your own self slipping.
And that's why, when we are able to, when it is appropriate, without being judged, because it is judgment that fires people and puts them on the street, people will argue that they should be able to sleep at work.
Thoughts?