The morning after a late-night rendezvous with a new love interest, Nathan Cromwell of Nashville, Tennessee, got into his car to drive to his job at a call center downtown only to fall asleep at the wheel - fortunately before turning on the ignition.
"If it had happened while I was driving, it could've been a real problem," said Cromwell. "But as it was, no harm done."
The only down side, in fact, of Cromwell's unexpected catnap was the loss of three hours' pay.
"But my manager said I can make up the hours next weekend," said Cromwell, who'd coincidentally been seeking an excuse to skip his friend's ten-year-old daughter's ballet recital that Saturday. "So this actually works out great."
Cromwell said that, while he is going to do his best not to fall asleep at the wheel in the future, his positive experience with napping in the driver's seat has removed a major fear that had been holding him back from getting his Commercial Driver's License. "I'd been worried I didn't have the stamina for long-distance freight hauls, but now I know that it's not really end of the world if you fall.asleep at the wheel. Facing your own worst insecurities can be so freeing."
And now, with a promising new love interest and a new career at his fingertips, Cromwell foresees all of his dreams coming true. "And I look forward to having a lot more dreams, too. Safely to the side of the roadway, of course."
