Pay no attention to the dullards and cynics who just don't have any fun anymore because Obama's in the White House. There are people out there with joie de vivre and a sense of humor and a belief in the future. Proof: The National Prevention of Tiredness Act (NAPTA), to make a daily 15-minute nap optionally mandatory in every American workplace, received overwhelming support by e-mail to this columnist yesterday and last night and again this morning. A sample of comments follows, with one writer offering to take a seat on the big comfy couch as National Nap Czar.

"Sign me up as a staunch supporter of your NAPTA proposal.  Having gone
through life wishing I could take a nap, the movement comes too late for
my working years. It is still a great idea."
- Mitzi Tyrie

"I am writing you to offer my services as national nap czar. I would lead by example. I would even pen odes to naps, calling them my mistresses of mercy. Should my office be properly funded, I would hire assistants to also nap. I would go on your radio show to extol napping or even to nap.
"In this complex world, there are more bad things to do than good things, so a napper, by doing nothing, comes out ahead in life's moral combat. To me, napping isn't sloth. Sloth is when you accomplish little while awake. A napper is accomplishing what he or she sets out to accomplish, which is soothing refreshment. Napping is calorie free. It's nonpartisan, though in truth I can't quite see the virtue in that. Napping is free. In a quiet kind of way, it's fun. It's said that no one every died regretting not spending more time at the office. Surely, though, many have died regretting that they lived life tired.
" The energy drinks are pure bull. They may produce bursts of energy, but it is energy that, once spent, will leave the drinker in energy debt. Better to nap and thus to create and conserve energy.
"The perfect world is a combination of exercise (mental and physical) and naps. The body and mind need both.
"Naps are so beneficial and pleasurable that no one can remember his or her best one. They're all good. So says this nap czar applicant, a well-rested veteran of thousands of naps, who just this moment coined this slogan for sleepy drivers: 'Better rested than arrested.'  Please, make me nap czar. I can do it."  -- Patrick Lackey

"I love naps.  We may be the only culture in the world, that doesn't take a break in the afternoon."
-- Margaret

"Your column reminded me of an email I received not long ago from one
of your former colleagues, (Raphael Alvarez), whose subject line was 'things
I have fought for in middle age.' I'll paraphrase him here: "1. not answering the phone (I was a reporter for 20 years; had a phone stuck up my a**) . .  and 2. a daily nap."
He went on to say that those two things are the bedrocks of his
quality of life. I haven't figured out to work out #1 but sure as heck subscribe to #2.
Cheers!"
--  Lorraine L Whittlesey

"I Agree with you, Dan. Last Friday I was so tired that I said, 'If I had a million dollars I would be taking a nap right now.'  The best things in life are free but I don't avail myself to sleep unless I am at the end of my rope."
Patti Jo from Dundalk