To NAP or NOT TO NAP

by Ruth Sheets

The media and transportation officials are hot now to do a “gotcha” on Air Traffic Controllers. It is like a rerun of 1981 when the ATCs tried to get a good contract and President Reagan shut them down (in the interest of public safety, of course). ATCs work under conditions most people could not begin to do and they have more lives in their hands every day than any other workers I can think of.

Instead of a acknowledging that the reason Air Traffic Controllers might fall asleep on duty is not related to character flaws or incompetence, they are suspended or fired when it happens. That leaves fewer people to do the job and puts more people at risk. When it is suggested that a brief nap might help relieve fatigue and stress, our Secretary of Transportation blurts out that they are not being paid to nap and that it won’t happen on his watch. 
 
I guess the word “nap” sounds wimp-ish, and if one just “bucks up,” one won’t need that baby rest. Words like “overwork” and "poor scheduling” sound like whining and can easily be dismissed as the complaints of the lazy.

Taking a brief refreshing nap during an already scheduled break could significantly increase alertness, but "if anyone finds out . . . " Maybe we could begin with such a simple, elegant, FREE partial solution to this challenge, but I suspect someone will be receiving a large paycheck to “study” the situation and will give the exact same “nap” a grown-up name like “temporary withdrawal from environmental stimulus,” that is, if anything is done at all.

There is always a rug to shove the problem under, and it will stay there despite the current “concern,” until there is another incident, or worse, an accident, due to overwork and poor scheduling. Of course, it will be the Controller’s fault.

Peace,
Ruth