As an older gentleman like Donald Trump and Joe Biden (though I’m younger at 72), I would like to speak in praise of naps and in defense of Trump’s naps on Monday and Tuesday during court proceedings in Manhatten.
Naps, like a good night’s sleep, are nature’s way of helping creatures stay healthy in a dangerous world. A wide range of critters, big and small, are known to nap – all the better to recharge their batteries. That’s what I do, and if I say so myself, I am an accomplished napper, able to snooze while traveling on trains, planes and automobiles. I can slip into nap mode while reading or watching TV – just ask my family how often they find me nodded off in my big “grandpa” chair with a book in my lap.
I even nodded off once at work, when I was assigned to intercept shoppers in front of a cheese shop with cheese samples. I was pretty good at this, as I have a wealth of stories and anecdotes about various cheeses, but on this occasion I hadn’t slept well the night before, reading late. I had a tray of cheese in front of me, I was leaning on a cheese display stand, and the store was not very busy.
I told myself I’d just close my eyes for a few seconds. Sometime later, my boss noticed a couple of shoppers walking by, giggling. As I am somewhat notorious for bad dad jokes, the boss decided to see what I was up to.
I was asleep, standing up.
“Brodie,” she said quietly.
No response.
“Brodie,” she said in a normal voice.
No response.
“BRODIE!,” she said louder.
I woke up, with a jolt of adrenaline. And went back to work.
Trump’s nap
You probably saw news accounts, from various news reporters, that Trump had nodded off Monday and today in the midst of courtroom hearings on whether he violated campaign finance laws by falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star during the 2016 election.
Given the many stressors in his life, I think Trump needed that nap.
To start with, he is not a paragon of healthy living. He’s angry during campaign speeches and wee-hour rants on social media. That can’t be good for his blood pressure. Then there’s his age (77) and weight (200-plus-plus) and diet (cheeseburgers and Diet Coke) and exercise routine (riding a golf cart around a golf course isn’t very challenging for anyone, at any age).
Politically, he’s forced to attend court sessions, so there’s no time to campaign or hold rallies where he’s worshipped by MAGA fans. In the past few weeks, Trump is watching national polls that used to give him a slight lead, and now that slight lead is shifting to Biden.
Legally, with this trial, Trump has become the first former president in history to be prosecuted for felonies that could — if found guilty — send him to jail. And there’s three other, major trials on the horizon, and polling data that some former supporters might walk away if he’s found guilty of various crimes.
Personally, I doubt Trump is getting much support and comfort from wife Melania, who reportedly is pretty frosty over hubby’s allegedly boinking a porn star.
So what’s an angry, fearful, frustrated, and isolated Trump to do in the face of the above stress points?
Nap.
