You really have to admire Dagwood Bumstead. Not only did he marry way out of his league by landing the voluptuous Blondie, but now it seems he has been ahead of his time when it comes to maximizing his productivity at work.

More and more research is validating what most normal, red-blooded American men have hoped to be true for a long time—that napping in the afternoon is not only a good thing, but it is much more natural and good for our health than forcing oneself to stay awake.

In other words, all those times Mr. Dithers screamed at Bumstead or threatened to fire him for sleeping at his desk, he instead should have insisted that his other employees file past the Dormant Dagwood—quietly and reverently, of course—for an example of a model executive, snoring his way to the top.

Quoted in the Nov. 17 Wall Street Journal, Bob Stickgold, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, says “You’re phenomenally stupid when you’re sleep deprived, and you’re too stupid to realize it. We are certainly the only known organism that sleep deprives itself.”

Whoa, ease up, Bob. If I weren’t so tired, I’d figure out a way to argue the point with you.

On second thought, no I wouldn’t. The article goes on to explain the somewhat strained relationship between the human body and the 9-to-5 grind. There’s just something about that routine that runs contrary to a human’s biological rhythms. Some researchers maintain that eating at midday can contribute to this desire to curl up on the nearest credenza, while others aren’t sure.

Anyone who have been in the workforce more than a month (when the adrenalin of starting a new job has evaporated, often to be replaced by frustration or malaise), has experienced it. Perhaps you’re sitting at your desk when, all of a sudden, you cannot keep your eyes open. This isn’t good ol’ fashioned boredom, in which you realize you’ve chosen a career that holds no interest for you whatsoever, so you spend the day cruising the Internet, playing solitaire on your PC or working the Jumble in the newspaper. Nah, that’s something you can manage.

What I’m talking about is that sudden, unexpected inability to keep your eyes open; when, no matter how you fight it, all your body wants to do is shut down. It can happen while you’re alone at your workstation, in a meeting … anywhere. In fact, as bad as it is to fall asleep while gathered in the boardroom with your colleagues to hear the CEO ramble on about some sort of strategic vision, it’s worse if you’re piloting an airplane, defusing a bomb, or perhaps performing open heart surgery.

The biggest culprit in all of this, supposedly, is productivity and it spun out of control with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Assembly lines keep churning. If you fall asleep, you could become part of a three-piece living room set on display at IKEA.

Yet evidence supports the belief that people in the Middle Ages took afternoon naps all the time. Some European societies still encourage long leisurely lunches and siestas. And one only need stroll through the zoo to see that the members of the animal kingdom basically rest when they want to, feed when the have to, and never ever wear a wristwatch or carry a Palm Pilot to keep their appointments straight.

Despite the logic of allowing—no, mandating—afternoon naps in the workplace, don’t look for it to become common anytime soon. To see this dream become a reality, it would have to be championed by some influential business leader willing to challenge conventional thinking and encourage American business to lay down on the job. Someone like Dagwood Bumstead himself.

Ron Cichowicz writer and lecturer, is a contributing writer for Pittsburgh Boomers and Hospital News. If your business or organization would like to invite Ron to present a program on the “Positive Benefits of Humor” contact him at rontc@sprynet.com.