meeting misadventure

Today I re-discovered the un-enviable position of falling asleep in a meeting. Or rather, trying NOT to fall asleep in a meeting. There were only three of us, so no dozing in the back of the conference room for me. No legs out in front of me, arms folded high on my chest and eyes delisciously closed for a nap.

No, no, I had to contribute, or if not contribute, at the very least I had to keep my head where it should be: on my neck and not on my chest. For a while I tried keeping notes to keep me awake. But that had me looking down, and down meant chin on chest and that was just a natural position for a nap, may as well just have laid my head on my notebook.

Second I tried flexing my calf muscles, I have heard that getting the blood flowing will keep you from falling asleep. But how do you clench your calves without clenching your buttocks? It started to look like I was desperately holding in a pee and was getting some worried looks from my boss. So I decided I would practice that one when back to my desk and no one would be concerned with me gently bobbing up and down in my seat.

Third I tried the deep breathing trick, get oxygen to the brain and all that. Well, either I was breathing wrong, or I don't have a brain, but that just made me feel more like taking a nap.

So, maybe I should allow myself to have a cup of coffee before going into a meeting. It's just so embarrasing when your head suddenly jerks up and you blink and squint at the same time and the other two people in the room seem perky and smart.

yours in continued caffiene deprivation