A dressing room in a Lord & Taylor.
I sat down to relax in a dress I was trying to zip up and went out like a light!
@MICDEE_
In a New York City subway station.
I was awakened by a rat tugging on my shoelace. True story.
@CLAUDINE_OHAYON
I was traveling in Italy. Our train was three hours late and it was 11 p.m. I crawled under a bush and went to sleep for two hours. It was a great nap.
SUSAN BREAUX LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA
On the boardwalk in Alaska at Brooks Falls.
My husband had taken me to see the bears fishing for salmon—a lifelong dream of mine. I’d taken medicine so I wouldn’t get sick on the float plane, and it knocked me out flat!
PEGGY RIDEOUT GREELEY, COLORADO
On the floor of my office.
I was working in communication sales and had to stay all night to answer emergency calls, but no calls were coming in. I woke up the next morning with the phone beside my head. Luckily, no one walked in!
DEBBIE THOMAS LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
In Paris, on a bench, in front of the Arc de Triomphe, while my now ex-husband climbed the arch with a guide. I was too tired from jet lag and walking around in the sun all day!
PANSY CHENG STONY BROOK, NEW YORK
I fell asleep standing in line for It’s a Small World at Disney World. I took my napping skills to varsity level that day, discovering I’m able to sleep upright! Who knew?
COREE CORNELIUS ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
On the commode in the middle of the night. Whoops!
SHIRLEY KERSTIENS CHARLESTOWN, INDIANA
This may not be the weirdest, but it’s certainly one of the unsafest: In 1975, I began dozing off on the back of a BMW 750 motorcycle while traveling from Montreal to Manitoba, Canada.
KATRIN THOMPSON DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
In a bar. Luckily, I was with my friends, so nothing bad happened to me!
DENISE PRATHER BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
In an MRI machine. I kept falling asleep and moving during the procedure. The technician had to wake me up to ask me to stay still.
@RLISADAWN
Standing up in the cockpit while working as a first-class flight attendant on an overnight flight. All my passengers were sleeping, so I went to chat in the cockpit to stay awake, but I ended up falling asleep.
LAURA STRAHANOSKI NEW LENOX, ILLINOIS
In an operating room when I was a medical student.
ROCIO FLORES SAN DIEGO
During the 1960s, I attended the University of Pittsburgh. Its Cathedral of Learning is 42 stories high, and if I were going a long way, I’d often doze off in the elevator. Back then, there were elevator operators who would kindly wake me up when we got to my destination.
DIANE GUSTAFSON BONITA, CALIFORNIA
In a bowling alley.
I took some cold medicine, hoping I might feel better to be able to bowl. By the fifth frame, I was sound asleep.
@PATTIMCGILLEN
As a single mom of three, I’d been burning the candle at both ends. One day, I had to drive more than an hour to take my mom to a doctor’s appointment, but I was so tired, I stopped to take a nap. I pulled into a cemetery, figuring people would either think I was crying or praying and leave me alone. They did!
CONNIE KERSH WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
A canyon in northern Thailand. My best friend and I were hiking and ran into the daily rain - storm. We decided to lie down under a covering to “rest our eyes.” Next thing we knew, we were being gently poked awake by a police officer who wanted to make sure we were OK.
MEGAN HUTH LOS ANGELES
READER OF THE MONTH
CLASSICAL CELLIST & TRAPEZE ARTIST SALEM, OREGON
@EMILYBUSYBEEE
The weirdest place you’ve ever fallen asleep:
In the front row of an orchestra concert. I was on stage as the principal cello, and we were performing for 650 people.
Most organized part of your life:
My vast collection of sheet music.
Least organized part of your life:
The random items I’ve chucked to the back floor of my Honda CR-V. I don’t know what’s back there, but it lives there now.
What’s on your bucket list?
An international tour of recreational cliff diving.
The cleanest thing in your house:
My face—I love skin care. The rest of my house is clean enough.
Something you’ve recently stopped doing:
Exercising to change the way my body looks. Now I exercise to maintain my health so I can keep doing the things I love. I’ve realized that my body never needed to change in the first place.
What’s the brightest, most colorful thing in your home?
Send an email (and a photo, if you want!) to yourwords@realsimple.com and let us know your answer. Your response could appear on these pages.
COURTESY OF EMILY RODGERS