We are a sleep-deprived society, I tell ya.

I was watching this 48 Hours news special a few weeks ago and one of the stories gave me quite a shock.

Well, they all did. In one, a lady woke up in the middle of the night to eat. They filmed her as she sat up in bed and ate a can of Pringles while still technically asleep. Spooky stuff, huh? Wonder why you gain weight when you sleep? Maybe you eat when you sleep!

In another story, a little boy would sleep for days, weeks, sometimes months at a time. He woke up on occasion to eat and poop while in a semi-consciousness state. Then when he officially woke up, he was jumpy and active like any normal kid.

Spooky stories, sure. But the story that gave me a real jolt is about a college guy who fell asleep at the wheel and killed two other guys.

He woke up early in the morning to go to school. While driving, he drifted off the road, and off to sleep.

When his car ran into the shoulder of the road, he awoke and jerked his car back onto the highway. Unfortunately, he turned too much.

And hit an oncoming car.

He was sentenced to prison. 48 Hours interviewed him and he argued that he didn't deserve to be treated like a common criminal. "It wasn't intentional," he pleaded. "There isn't a day that I don't think about the two men that died. But it was an accident."

Then they interviewed the wife of one of the dead men and she had a different viewpoint. "He knew he was tired when he got into that car. That's as good as driving drunk."

Tricky situation, huh?

At first, it seemed like 48 Hours was on the college guy's side. They reported that he was going to be the first in his family to go to college and other wonderful things. They explained what a bright outlook he had in life.

During his interview, they gave him a different image. He was cast as a shmuck. The widow, by contrast, was shown crying and holding her fatherless child.

Who do you think is right in this situation? I'm not so sure. I can see both sides. The guy wasn't on drugs or alcohol; it was an honest accident. Accidents do happen and lots of people die from things like this.

Then again, falling asleep at the wheel and hitting someone else happens more frequently than you'd think. So much so that another parent is pushing for a formal law against this (don't remember what the proposed law is called though).

The widow now has to raise their child alone. She's angry and heartbroken and wants retribution. This was an accident that could have been prevented. The risk of such accidents can be minimized so that there don't have to be more fatherless Of course, it's arguable that ALL accidents are preventable. But falling asleep at the wheel seems so much less disagreeable than drinking at the wheel, doesn't it?

I don't know. All I know is that we are one sleep-deprived society. We eat in our sleep, we sleep for months, and we kill in our sleep. Something ain't all that kosher in that, I tell ya.

. . .

Are you sleep-deprived?