The Old Coot is a “read-dozer.”
By Merlin Lessler
I have acquired a new pastime. I call it “read-dozing.” I’m
a reader, primarily books and newspapers. I’m also a napper. When I first
started working, and getting paid for it, I found myself a little sleepy between
2 and 3 in the afternoon. I worked for Compton Industries, an electronic firm whose
primary business was calibrating oscilloscopes for IBM corporation. After we
finished adjusting the devices, we set them up in a test room to “age” the
calibration since some adjustments would wander out of spec after initial use. The
room was warm, from the heat generated by a sea of oscilloscopes. They also emitted
a gentle hum, produced by their internal fans.
I had to go into the “aging” room to check and readjust the
calibration every afternoon. Between the warm temperature and the hum of the
fans, it was difficult to stay awake. So, I didn’t. I napped, just like I did
in high school study halls, with my forehead nestled in my hand and my elbow on
the desk. I figured the teacher thought I was concentrating on reading information
in a text book on the desk. Once in a while, my arm would buckle, and my head would
come crashing down on the desk, waking me up and scaring the kids around me.
Anyhow, my naps in the “aging room” started a lifelong
habit of dozing in the afternoon for 10 minutes or so to snap me out of the
doldrums and let me be more productive than I otherwise would have. Now that
I’m unemployed (retired) and out of high school, there are no impediments to my
napping routine. I read a few pages; then doze off for a few minutes. I often
dream about the story I’m reading and move the plot along. When I wake up and
start reading again, I discover that my dream version was way off. I read; I
doze; I dream - I read and doze again. It’s a great pastime! Try it; you’ll
like it.
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