Beach(es) Beat

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Every once in awhile Canada's industrial leaders start worrying about what they describe as a lack of productivity on the part of this country's workforce. If indeed this is true, I believe the answer to the situation lies no further away than the nearest pillow and let me explain why.

The pillow is where one puts one's head when one is having a nap, and the restorative powers of naps have been used by generations of men and women.

In prehistoric times, a hunter would plunge into the forest just after sun up, track down and kill a dinosaur then retire to his cave for a short nap. Half an hour later, he would be back on the trail again, all bright-eyed and looking for a woolly mammoth to slaughter and the credit for that burst of energy can be traced directly to the healing qualities of his nap.

Nowadays it is all different.

In many workplaces, employees are herded to their work stations, mooing and stomping their feet as they go and there they stay until it is time to head home. Some of them use their one-hour meal break to head off to the gym for a session in the weight room and I question the common sense in that. They are already tired from slaving away at the computer so how is hoisting a couple of tons of iron going to make you feel refreshed is what I want to know.

Better you should stay at your desk, curl around the keyboard and have a nap. Remember, there is no membership fees in the Nap Club. You just close your eyes and let nature take its course.

In some quarters, workplace napping is viewed as a sign of disloyalty to the employer with those that hold the opinion maintaining that if you really cared for the well-being of the corporation you would not spend your time desk dozing. On the other hand, I see this as a magnificent opportunity for the male clothing industry.

They could manufacture a one-piece garment complete with little built-in slippers that a man could don as soon as he is ready for work. Then over that would go the usual shirt, tie and two-piece suit that is normal office attire.

When nap time comes, the outer clothes are neatly folded away leaving you appropriately clad for a brief journey into dreamland. And one more thought. The press is full of stories these days about scantily clad hotel guests sleepwalking into hotel lobbies around 4 a.m. looking for the next bus to Owen Sound or whatever. There has not been a single word about naked nappers engaging in such behaviour and having pointed that out I rest my case.