# What Would YOU Do? \[Co-working napping on job\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 9, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998 "2014-09-09T19:18:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/81 "2014-09-12T04:03:49Z")
> [@Cryptic\_C62](#):
>
> This happened to me during an internship. I was sharing an office with the marketing intern, who was a very lazy, unprofessional individual. He fell asleep on a bean bag chair in the corner of the room one day, so I texted his boss, “Approximately one half of the people in this room are awake.”
Bean. Bag. Chair.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/82 "2014-09-12T04:13:43Z")
From 1992-1993 my wife worked in a hospital darkroom developing films for the radiology department. She would sit in a chair while she waited for a cassette to be dropped into the pass-through box. Most days (usually in the afternoon), she would be struck with lethargy, and have to lie down on the floor next to her dog, where she would often fall asleep, until she heard another cassette drop.
Six months after she left that job, she was officially diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
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### Author:  [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/83 "2014-09-12T05:15:53Z")
OP: How long do the naps last?
> [@GrumpyBunny](#):
>
> I sit in a small pod of low-walled cubicles with five other analysts. One of them is new and very young.
>
> For the past couple of weeks, she has put her head down and (apparently) taken a nap around 2 pm every day.
>
> What would you do in this case?
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### Author:  [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/84 "2014-09-12T09:59:26Z")
If it’s obvious to the office you may want to be nice and explain the politics of napping to her. We don’t know your office environment and how this is perceived. Suggest she take a nap at lunch.
You DON’T report her to any authority. That would be very un-teamly of you and likely remembered on your next review. And your boss would get the credit for “dismissing a non-performer” anyway - either 1) they tacitly sanction the behavior or 2) they don’t know yet and you would be telling them how to do their job.
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/85 "2014-09-12T13:16:17Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> It’s funny to me that you are calling him unprofessional when I would consider you incredibly unprofessional if I received such a text from you.
Why exactly is notifying you someone is asleep on the job MORE unprofessional than sleeping on the job?
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/86 "2014-09-12T13:20:04Z")
Nefario: Why shouldn’t you bring unprofessional behavior to a supervisor’s attention? So being a “tattle-tale” is worse than sleeping on the job?
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/87 "2014-09-12T13:46:26Z")
It’s not ‘worse’, it’s just that it reveals something unbecoming about the tattler. More so than an employee desperately needing a nap, (for quite possibly some valid reason, that the boss likely really doesn’t want to delve into!) and putting their head down on the desk for a time.
That it impacts the tattler not at all, but they simply MUST run tell the boss, communicates something to everyone who will hear of it. And they WILL hear of it.
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/88 "2014-09-12T14:03:22Z")
> [@monstro](#):
>
> Because I’m not their parent or their boss, and they didn’t ask me to give them career advice.
You are their co-worker and should have their (and the company’s) best interest at heart. As a manager, I expect all employees to be part of the solution. That means if you are aware of a potential issue and take no action, you are culpable as well when the deficate hits the wind dispersion unit.
> [@](#):
>
> I stopped being a goody-two-shoes in the seventh grade.
You say “goody two shoes” where I would say “friend”, or at least “concerned co-worker”. Whatever.
> [@](#):
>
> Of course I would warn a newcomer if getting caught sleeping was a serious offense. But I wouldn’t tell them it’s unprofessional. I’d just say, “You may want to be more discrete so you don’t get fired like the last guy.”
I’d say, based on the OP, that sleeping at their place of employment is a serious offense, at least serious or unusual enough so to spawn the topic. I suspect that would hold true at the vast majority of jobs. Use whatever words you see fit, but I do advocate talking to the “offender”.
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/89 "2014-09-12T15:17:38Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#):
>
> You are their co-worker and should have their (and the company’s) best interest at heart. As a manager, I expect all employees to be part of the solution. That means if you are aware of a potential issue and take no action, you are culpable as well when the deficate hits the wind dispersion unit.
If a fellow coworker is sleeping out in the open and I hear coworkers from other programs citing this as an example of how slipshod our operation is, I might be willing to pull the coworker aside. But again, I’m not going to scold the coworker in some school-marmish way, because that’s not my style. I’ll say, “Hey, man. They were laughing at you. Maybe close the door next time.”
Otherwise, I’m going to let the boss hande stuff like this. I was not hired to police and lecture. If I’m going to pull the sleeper aside, I’m also going to need to pull the guy who practically lives in the breakroom aside, as well as the lady who goes to the toilet eleventy-billion times during the day and the other one who wears bright, garrish clothing. I choose to save my stern lecturing for something that actually impedes my productivity, like loud talking. That’s how I show my value to the “unit”. Not imposing my ideas of professionalism on other people.
> [@](#):
>
> You say “goody two shoes” where I would say “friend”, or at least “concerned co-worker”. Whatever.
If it’s a coworker I’m friendly with, I may start off by asking them why they are tired before lambasting them about how unprofessional they are. They may have a good reason for laying their head on the desk. Furthermore, the boss may already be aware of what’s going on and be 100% okay with it.
> [@](#):
>
> I’d say, based on the OP, that sleeping at their place of employment is a serious offense, at least serious or unusual enough so to spawn the topic. I suspect that would hold true at the vast majority of jobs. Use whatever words you see fit, but I do advocate talking to the “offender”.
Sleeping on my job is a no-no, but there are a lot of “no-nos” that people do. Like right now, I’m taking my coffee break thirty minutes after I usually do. That’s a no-no. I also have a non-approved device plugged into my USB port. Yesterday I wore open-toed shoes. I may work over the weekend on a project at home, which isn’t an approved alternate work location. I’m supposed to walk around with my work ID on me at all times, but I don’t.
If I’m not a perfect employee, I have no right to call someone out for not being perfect either.
But like you said, whatever.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/90 "2014-09-12T16:15:33Z")
> [@etv78](#):
>
> Why exactly is notifying you someone is asleep on the job MORE unprofessional than sleeping on the job?
That anecdote was someone trying to get another worker in trouble. You do that around me, and I will despise you.
If someone came to me with a real concern and could point to how it affected them? That’s different. There was nothing like that in the poster’s story, and certainly not in the phrasing of their oh-so-clever text.
The fact that it was the other intern’s boss and not his own is just icing on the cake. Vicious, snotty, backstabbing attempts to discredit others are disgusting.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/91 "2014-09-12T16:20:10Z")
nm
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/92 "2014-09-12T16:27:48Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> It’s not ‘worse’, it’s just that it reveals something unbecoming about the tattler. More so than an employee desperately needing a nap, (for quite possibly some valid reason, that the boss likely really doesn’t want to delve into!) and putting their head down on the desk for a time.
>
> That it impacts the tattler not at all, but they simply MUST run tell the boss, communicates something to everyone who will hear of it. And they WILL hear of it.
What you forgot is the fact that taking a short nap in the afternoon is NOT unprofessional behavior. It’s good for the company, it increases productivity, decreases errors.
Thinking it’s unprofessional is outdated, like thinking women are unsuited for any profession but teaching and clerical.
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/93 "2014-09-12T17:34:11Z")
Getting along well with coworkers is more important than being the self-appointed school marm, IMHO. The coworker who I decide to shame for sleeping may be the coworker who becomes my boss one day. Or he may be the coworker who I need to bail me out of a jam or cover for me when I screw up.
I don’t believe in “snitches get stiches”, but I do believe in the street wisdom that created that credo. Bosses come and go, and they can have short memories and fleeting preferences. But a coworker who has your back is priceless.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/94 "2014-09-12T17:49:34Z")
I am fine with assuming there is a valid reason to nap, my remarks were in regards to the tattler appearing unprofessional actually.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/95 "2014-09-12T18:10:19Z")
> [@butterfiles](#):
>
> OP: How long do the naps last?
Honestly, I haven’t timed it. I noticed, thought “Huh?”, and then went back to my own work.
I had considered that she could have a medical condition or be pregnant.
I posted about it here because I’d never seen anyone do that openly at work before and wanted some opinions. Apparently along the way I became a busybody biddy meddler, a schoolmarm, and a goody-two-shoes snitch, to boot. :smack:
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/96 "2014-09-12T18:14:08Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#):
>
> I posted about it here because I’d never seen anyone do that openly at work before and wanted some opinions. Apparently along the way I became a busybody biddy meddler, a schoolmarm, and a goody-two-shoes snitch, to boot. :smack:
If you try to hurt her for no reason other than to feel good about yourself, sure. Deliberately hurting people sucks.
I don’t think asking the question here is a problem or troubling.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/97 "2014-09-12T18:14:41Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#):
>
> Not really. The thread is “what would you do?”. There’s clearly an implication that this is a situation that one might reasonably do something about. If the thread was “Can ANYONE think of a good reason to give a shit about this?” then I’d agree that mine was an over reaction.
>
> The fact that you’ve decided to ultimately do nothing makes you merely a busybody, instead of an insufferable busybody. It clearly bothered you so much you needed to start a discussion on the Internet about it. I didn’t mean to be insulting but I guess I can’t deny it’s “name calling”. Still, “a person who pries into or meddles in the affairs of others” seems pretty accurate to me.
The thread title was in reference to the NBC show. Sorry you didn’t get the reference.
I was perplexed. Hence the discussion. Because other perspectives are good.
And I don’t think I’m a busybody if I notice something unusual (to my working background) while walking by an open cubicle. That’s like saying somebody is a busybody for noticing someone’s changed his/her hairstyle, or was screaming about hating her job. It would have been impossible not to notice.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/98 "2014-09-12T18:15:50Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> If you try to hurt her for no reason other than to feel good about yourself, sure. Deliberately hurting people sucks.
>
> I don’t think asking the question here is a problem or troubling.
TY for the feedback.
I’m disinterested in deliberately hurting people. I’ve had it done to me and it sucks.
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/99 "2014-09-15T13:45:19Z")
> [@monstro](#):
>
> If a fellow coworker is sleeping out in the open and I hear coworkers from other programs citing this as an example of how slipshod our operation is, I might be willing to pull the coworker aside. But again, I’m not going to scold the coworker in some school-marmish way, because that’s not my style. I’ll say, “Hey, man. They were laughing at you. Maybe close the door next time.”
See, that’s the thing. Unless your corporate culture allows naps at your desk, it does look bad. Forewarning someone, in a friendly manner, that they may face cansequesnces for such behaviour is not a bad thing.
> [@](#):
>
> Furthermore, the boss may already be aware of what’s going on and be 100% okay with it.
The boss may well be, or there may be a valid reason for the naps. Again, just a friendly “Hey, I saw this and it may come back to bite you” is appropriate.
> [@](#):
>
> If I’m not a perfect employee, I have no right to call someone out for not being perfect either.
By that logic no one gets “called out” for anything because there is no perfect employee. No much of a way to run an business.
I’m presenting the management view here, which may well be different from your view. If this did become an issue, and I as your manager found out you knew about it and did nothing, I’d be having a talk with you as well.
> [@](#):
>
> But like you said, whatever.
Indeed.
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### Author:  [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/100 "2014-09-15T14:06:52Z")
Next time you see her asleep you could go in and say ‘hey, are you ok?’ and see what sort of response you get.
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