Do you open both eyes on waking?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Hmmm. Interesting question. Never thought about it.

Slightly Zombie-esque, but not so much…don’t remember how I came across this odd thread.

It’s extremely unusual for me to sit bolt upright, both eyes open, and ready to begin the fresh hell new chance to have a stellar day, best day ever.

No. Extremely rare.

Picture a hermit emerging from a cave and encountering sunlight for the first time in recent memory.

And, yes, pretty often there are vocalized curse words. “Oh shit, goddammit, fuck, my knee fucking hurts, what the hell time is it anyway? Well they can just eat me at work, I’ll be there when I’m good and damned ready.”

“OK. Going back to sleep for another hour. Best not be much damned traffic. Fuckers. Go to hell.”

That might be one reason I’m currently a bachelor who lives alone these days! Not a real charmer often.

22

When I wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I only open one eye. In fact, “opening” would be overstating it: I mostly go with both eyes closed, except for blinking my left eye open for a millisecond every three seconds or so to make sure there aren’t any unexpected obstacles along the way. The way my sleep-addled brain sees it, the less I open my eyes, the less I wake up.

23

Forgive me for “othering” you, but that sounds extremely odd!

Yeah, I can get around in the dark OK at home…and I have some little LED lights here and there such that I don’t have to turn on the full-blast hospital-style lights. If need be, put on a headlamp with a red LED.

I’ll allow it! I suspect your household might be a bit more orderly than mine (less tripping over errant shoes or such), but I admire your ability in that respect.

24

That’s OK - I’m cool with being weird.

25

That is the essence or the quiddity or being weird!

Personally I prefer binocular vision, but, you know…one manages!

OK, so I saw this one just now.

Yeah, since a small child I’d often be asleep — as in sound asleep, nothing could rouse me — with both my eyes open.

That’s what they said, anyway.

But then again, as I got older, various women tried to convince me I snore like a hellbeast…which cannot possibly be true, being a delicate flower and a sensitive plant.

Ahhh…one just never knows.

/* Actually…being a man of a certain age, and one who doesn’t much care for wearing a wristwatch to bed…pretty often during the evening I’ll curse my damn luck and open one eye to see what time it is on the clock.

It is a damnable task, but it must be done.

It is fortunate for me that I don’t need glasses to see my alarm clock (yes, I use one, for I am old as shit)…never have glasses nor phone in bedroom, for some reason…earplugs, alarm clock, and a woolen cap, those are my essentials when sleeping alone. Headlamp/flashlight, a few books, and usually tote a notebook computer with, but those are more extras. */

26

Oh, I don’t sit bolt upright the moment I open my eyes. I open them, consider the degree of light and what time of day that light means at the time of year and the state of my bladder and what I have to do that day, and decide whether to get up or to close my eyes again and try to get back to sleep. Then, if I’m going to get up, I sit up somewhat slowly, trying to minimize disturbing whichever cats are on the bed.

If I have to get up in the night to piss, I use a little flashlight kept in the nightstand right next to the bed; and cover most of the lens with my hand and point it down toward my feet, so I can see well enough not to bang my feet up but minimize the light exposure to my eyes. If the moon’s near full and the clouds not too thick, I don’t need the flashlight. – I might sometimes squint my eyes partly shut, but it’ll be both eyes, not just one of them.

27

I’m pretty sure it’s both eyes, unless someone flicks the lights on.

Speaking of, I have this trick I do for turning on the bathroom lights in the middle of the night, when my eyes are still only acclimated to the dark:

When I get to the light switch, I close my eyes, then open them at the exact moment I flick the switch. I can’t tell if it’s physiological or psychological, but it seems to make my eyes adjust to the bright light almost instantly. Anyone else do this?

28

Nope. But if I do have to turn a light full on when it’s dark, I’ll turn it on with my eyes closed, then wait a few moments for the light to leak in through my eyelids before I open my eyes. That seems to help adjustment.