by Jude Coyle

Created on: July 27, 2010

The alarm goes off and the radio blares and I sit up with a jolt. I need both radio and alarm at times as I don't sleep well at night, and sometimes not at all. Every extra minute I can sneak under the radar is an extra minute of heaven. So as soon as the alarms screams and the music blares, I'm up in a flash. Just in time to hit the snooze button. The next seven minutes are the best part of my day.

Ah, thank you Lord for that snooze button. It's one of those pleasures I know I would be better off without, but it's so hard to do. It's such a temptation.

Sleep, blissful sleep. I return to bed and shut my eyes again, and before I know it, I'm asleep. I am here, though, and barely aware, but then again I'm in dreamland. I can see all those oddities in my mind's eye that forces us to ask if there really are meanings or prophesies in dreams.... Someone I know, my daughter, my son, a co-worker even, is wandering with me through Sherwood Forest. As we romp with the foxes and rhinos that call that part of Atlantis home, we meet a friend. Is it a neighbor, another coworker or the cashier at the convenience store on the corner? No matter. She had been hunting and was about to invite us to share her unicorn steaks with candy cane garnish. But just as she opens her mouth to say, 'Come with me,' Queen's version of Bohemian Rhapsody blasts forth for tinny, crappy speakers. A moment passes and I realize that that sound in the background is not the siren of a fire truck racing down the street to attend to that forest fire at the end of the block, but the alarm reasserting its command of my life.. 

One more time I rise from my bed, and blindly aim for the snooze button. Oh, glorious snooze button. What would I do without it? One more time, I return to dreamland, only this time to discover that the forest fire at the end of the block was actually built by giants who are intent on sharing giant size s'mores with me, my friends and the firefighters who raced there to put out the fire.

The next time the alarm goes off, I miss it entirely. An hour later I awake with a start and I realize that one more time, I slept right through the alarm, and if I don't get my butt in gear I will be late. No shower or breakfast this morning, I am on the run.

First thing in the morning the snooze button seems like the greatest gift God ever gave us. It's another seven minutes of sleep. It's another seven minutes of bliss. 

In reality, it's neither. It's a temptation straight from Satan himself, willing me to give in one more time to sleep the good sleep. To set aside an hour's worth productivity in the morning because I just can't pull myself out of bed and get my day started.

Word of caution here. If you see me on the train in the morning, it's late, my hair is a mess and my socks don't match, chances are I overslept. Just do us both a favor, don't smile and keep your good mornings to yourself. 

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