When I looked at the graphic that purportedly supported this
assertion, what I saw was a first-grade textbook drawing of a stylized songbird
and owl, downloaded from some stock graphics site, asserting that “early birds”
feel less overworked than “night owls”.
Now this I believe, if we are to assume that the terms refer to those
who like to wake up early in the morning versus those who like to sleep in, and
that both groups have to report to work early in the morning. Surprise, surprise! Having to be at work early in the morning is not good for you if you're not an early riser by nature!
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At this time of year in Seattle, it's dark until 8:30 AM,
later if there are heavy clouds and rain. There’s something perverse about
having to get out of bed before it even starts to get light. There’s something
sadistic about making little kids wait for the school bus at some ungodly early
hour of the morning, standing in the cold and the dark and the rain, yanked out
of bed by a society that doesn’t want them to lie and dream, for fear they should have
original ideas, or sit and think, for fear they should question the values of
the society in which they live.
There’s a reason why owls are symbolic of wisdom. They keep
their own hours and make no apologies for it.
There are times when I complain about the academic life, but
that morning, driving in first gear in the pitch dark on clogged streets and a
clogged freeway, I was feeling infinitely thankful that I don’t have a job that
requires me to report to a workplace early in the morning. I tend to forget
that most everyone in Seattle who has a job is on the road between 5 AM and
8AM, scrambling to get there on time. I also forget that those same people are all
on the road between 3PM and 6PM, scrambling to get back home so that they can unwind
from the stress of their commutes by watching some mindless TV show and going
to bed early so they can get up and do it all over again the next day. That
morning on the road I vowed never to feel discontented with my job again. I was
happy to spend last night grading the last dozen or so term papers and
submitting my fall quarter grades online around midnight. That’s how we “night owls”
like to work! We would all be healthier and happier if we could set our own work
hours rather than being shoved into the “early birds” box and told that we
would be happier if we would just conform and climb into the torture device with
everyone else.
[Bird-owl stylized graphic handed off like a relay baton
from whatever anonymous source it originally came from; bird at sunrise, school bus, traffic jam, and modern
statue of Athena with owl all adapted from Wikimedia]
Posts
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI totally understand what you are talking about. Later is always better for me. Even getting ready to teach at 3:00 pm can be a major undertaking. In the mornings I have my own grooming and exercise to deal with, animal care, house and studio cleaning, e-mails, dog walking, post office and at least a couple hours at the piano. When I'm done teaching in the evening there is dinner to prepare and finally after nine I have some time for the things I really want to do, my little creative projects. I'm truly thankful that I don't have to commute and very happy that can chose to be a night owl or an early bird and still manage to get some sleep. Gail
Gail, I think having time to wake up in a calm fashion and "settle in" in the morning is really important. I also tend to work on my favorite creative projects late in the evening and night.
DeleteI can't stand Americans' hatin' on the owls! I'm a lark in a family of owls, and the entire culture is geared to me, not them. So unfair! But even I don't like getting up in the dark and living strictly by the clock, so I think our culture has really "geared" itself to machines/robots, of which we have been hopelessly enamored for over a century now....
ReplyDeleteMarla, I agree that the issue is as much "living by the clock" as it is over-valuing work done early in the day. The whole US school system and economy is geared toward making people into assembly-line robots who have to adhere to a rigid schedule dictated by their "masters", who are often anonymous corporations with no human face and no one to take responsibility for anything.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that to some degree even the human beings who hide behind the masks of the "masters" have bought into the whole robotic social scheme, becoming highly paid robotic drones intent only on amassing as much money as possible.
Totally agree with you about misunderstanding the data.
ReplyDeleteI've been a night owl since childhood, but luckily can function in early a.m. without much mental stress (and without much sleep!). Have to admit the functioning without sleep thing is getting harder with each passing year, and is, of course, highly unhealthy.
Best shift I ever worked was noon to 8pm -- time to loll, or do stuff, in the morning and still early enough in the evening to go out for dinner or a movie.
The people I feel sorry for, whether early birds or night owls, are those who have to work rotating shifts, especially in the insane circumstance of having to rotate backwards (nights, afternoons, days). Here in Canada there was a worker who won a compensation case for shift-induced health issues because of the backwards rotation.
I also do not understand those professions (eg. nurses) who chose to work 12 hour shifts in order to have more days off per week. Twelve hours is too much! Whatever happened to the struggle for the 8 hour day?
-- Lindaloo