What's even worse is the low blood flow to the brain after we eat a meal. for over 3 hours blow flow is redirected to the stomach for it to do it's job properly.
Ever sitting after you eat, say, watching TV or on the computer and you start to feel tired, feel like sleeping sluggish, almost faint?
Blame your body for that. so, why hasn't a study been done about this and it's obvious dangers to the brain? Gotta hand it to scientists and the times for cherry picking stories that are that important to our health.
My former boss retired at 68. I am older and still working in my 70s. He would sit at his desk for hours without getting up and moving. I am wriggly and walked down the hall at least every hour to use the powder room. I thought he must be an elephant to sit for so long. He was overweight, coughed from meds and retired after a quintuple bypass. I am thin and fit and active. My back hurts if I sit too long. Now I am remote and take walk breaks during my day, laundry breaks and dish washing breaks.
1
Informative, and mostly common sense. It surprises me how these articles (along with all the comments) never mention this issue with respect to long air flights. Nowadays, planes are often packed to capacity; seat widths are narrower, and generally feature less leg room. The ability to take occasional two minute walks during a 4-7 hour flight are essentially impossible. I'll shake my legs on occasion or tighten my leg muscles for some relief, but the options are limited.
11
Having a standing desk with a flat circle on a half-ball would make you use leg muscles and improve your balance. This actually over time would improve your posture. We use a standing desk frame with a hand crank from Ikea (169€) added our own top of furniture grade 3/4" plywood, because we work side by side.
That the study is small is a so what for me. They were looking at an idea and found it accurate. I personally find it amazing how many New Studies are things I have know for the last 60 years.
You can push for these things inside your company from a very easy place, it makes workers more productive and this means more profit. There are a number of new studies, but also a few places where they are going to a 4 day 32 hour week and finding employees get more work done.
I have done small things to keep fit, taking breaks to dance at my desk one 3-5 minute song gets you bouncing and it fun. Move your arms. I am 67 and biologically test out at 42.
A study done back when science was far more caveman, found that symphony conductors were the longest living profession followed by other worker who moved their arms. So wave your arms around. Maybe make it something the entire office does every hour. Healthier happier folks, less lost work = profit.
People with coordination problems can use programs like MyBodyzBetter.com which was originally designed to treat back pain, well still is, but this work on your brain's coordination. Yes, it is teachable.
So get up and move.
6
@TheBackman Great comments! Thanks for sharing. I couldn't agree more. This is what I'd call living a more meaningful life. :)
1
@TheBackman The standing desks have been disputed. It's not the actual sitting vs standing that is the problem: but not walking and moving around. Sit and enjoy yourself, then take an active break. Don't waste your money on a 600$ standing or moving desk.
1
I think that Reynolds has a point talking about the way staying in one place affects the brain. I feel that it’s absolutely right when we’re constantly in one place for multiples hours at a time without moving or getting up to get new blood flow that can cause negative damage to not only your body but your brain . As we move around and do activities your brains is constantly sending signals back and forth between your cells and muscles being used but as that stops for a certain amount of time that can cause many issues.
Brain Fitness. When you are sitting, standing, or even lying down: Do those brain crunches. That will develop your brain, and not let them go limp. By challenging your quality of Thought, thus plans for Action: You are improving the strength of that Brain Muscle of yours. You are improving your IQ Score and your Level of Education. One is not born Brilliant, one becomes Brilliant. Same thing with Intelligent... which is a lower, but still pretty good IQ Score. I'll take that, until I work up to Brilliance. ----- This article just tackles the superficial. My Brain Fitness tackles the substantial. My Mom who was a NYC Phys Ed Teacher in the Public School System would just recommend what this article says to do. This is not good enough.
Sehr gut!
Very good!
So why do we expect students to sit almost all day? That made little sense to me when I was a student, less sense when I was a teacher, and no sense now that I read about this research.
11
As a high school shop teacher, I was always on my feet. Even if I tried to sit for a few minutes, I had to get up to assist a student. (At the start of the school year, both my feet and voice hurt.) I always found that to take ...extra... time to exercise was futile. It was boring to walk or bike around the neighborhood. So I incorporated my exercise into my daily activities.... I parked my car a couple of miles from school. I walked back and forth. With all that walking, I found I was walking between 6-8 miles a day. Now that's the way to move!
12
Never ever accept findings from tiny teeny studies like these as having any real applicability to your life. They are best useful for determining whether or not real study should be performed.
Of course sitting still slows movement of blood to the brain -- sitting still slows movement of blood to every part of your body -- any first year human physiology student could have told them this.
"Of course, this study was small and short-term and did not look into whether the small declines in blood flow to people’s brains while they sat impaired their ability to think."
That said, despite that this is one of the silliest recommendations from a new study that I've seen here in a long time -- the recommendation to get up and stretch and walk down to the water fountain or cafeteria or a colleagues desk and back every hour or so is a fine idea for lots of other reasons ---- Just not based on this little study -- which tells us nothing we didn't already know.
19
@Kip Hansen
I think that is absolutely right - how can the author of the article or the authors of the study expect any conclusions to be reached from such a small sample?
I expect a better standard of journalism from NYT. It seems we are descending into a world where studies can prove anything you like, and conclusions are broadcast to the world. Why is there no reference to the original paper?
4
@Kip Hansen
I always find it interesting how many people grab onto these kinds of "scientific studies" as matters of faith with nary a wisp of skepticism.
Of course the other way of looking at this "analysis" is to note that it simply endorses "stretching your legs" every once in a while.
Kind of a natural reaction anyway....
The Times has printed various versions of this "sitting is bad for you" article over recent years, which are individually and collectively compelling. It puzzles me, however, that the articles don't make reference to previous pieces about relevant studies, or articles about other proposed solutions. In this latter category, there have been a lot of articles about standing desks and even treadmill desks. Very odd that they're not mentioned in this context. I have a standing/treadmill desk, and am very happy with it. It's much easier to concentrate while walking: really excellent for writing or paying attention during boring conference calls.
10
At home, I have a mini-trampoline and light (12 pound) kettlebell next to my desk. At my office, I keep an 8 pound kettlebell next to my desk. At least once an hour, sometimes more often, I get up and just improv/dance on the mini-trampoline, or do a few gentle swings of the kettlebell. If i'm in a more energetic mood, I might do some squats, mountain-climbers, etc - which do wonders for clear thinking and creativity.
I usually spend 2 to 3 minutes and the experience is strikingly different from days I don't take the time for breaks.
But now science tells me I only have to do 2 minutes!
I think I'll get up right now and do it!..........
Ok, did it! Wow, that felt great. Danced around on the mini-tramp, did some jumping jacks, kettlebell squats, kettlebell one handed and two handed swings.
so, stop reading and try it!!
www.remember-to-breathe.org
19
@don salmon You're right! Stopped reading, got up, danced for a few minutes, breathed, and... it works!
Our local high school holds classes for about 80 minutes--(adult-sized students sitting in those dreadful chair-desks).
Our educational systems are continually spending tax-payer dollars trying to implement "new" avenues for achievement, with negligible results.
Yet we ignore so many simple, many free, tweaks that could make big differences--another is refusing to have a later starting time for high schoolers. Very frustrating.
19
One of the first things we do with out patients in the acute care hospital I work at as a physiotherapist (just as soon as the patient is stable enough to do so) is to get them up-right and out of bed. I note that even after only a few minuets, the blood pressure of many of our even extremely involved patients seems to better stabilize, their oxygen up-take raises by several percentage points, their heart rate evens out and the patients start to become more cognizant of what's going on around them, and even more communicative.
I have long believed that humans that from the many, many millennia in our history as a species we spent in our tribes and clans as hunter gathers following the migration of the game animals throughout the year are somehow, via natural selection, biologically hard wired to be moving and walking almost constantly throughout our lives. And that once we humans stop moving, our bodies and minds begin to deteriorate or break down at an accelerated rate. So the benefits to the average individual in trying to stay active and moving throughout the day (unless cautioned by their physician to do otherwise) even if its only from room to room - is incalculable re: longevity, mentation and optimum health. Cheers!
15
Utter nonsense. The smartest man of the last century, Stephen Hawking, was seated for most of his life.
6
@Reasonable Stephen Hawking believed in science, and would probably take issue with your citing one contrary anecdote to discredit a scientific study. Further studies may credibly challenge the findings of this one, but you have not.
8
@Reasonable. Being smart in one area doesn’t make one smart about everyting. Hawking was almost as philosophcially illterate as the msot truly illterate scientist of the late 20th century, Richard “we dont’ have the slightest idea what energy is” Feynmann.
4
@don salmon Sigh, still no edit function after you've hit "Submit."
Being smart in one area doesn’t make one smart about everything. Steven "what is it that puts the fire into our equations" Hawking was almost as philosophically illiterate as Richard “we dont’ have the slightest idea what energy is” Feynmann.
And don't get me started on Steven "science doesn't really explain anything it only describes but hey I don't like that so i don't give a darn what philosophers have said for several thousand words about what constitutes an explanation so I'll just redefine it, so there, science 'explains' things just fine thank you very much" Weinberg.
(well, I just did start on it. You know what, don't worry about the science and philosophy - just get up and move about!!)
1
I think the old timers had the right idea with rocking chairs, rocking, rocking, rocking.
My Dear Old 87 yr Dad sits in his recliner all day. I believe that contributes to his cold feet and weak legs.
6
Up next...Why Standing May Be Bad For Your Feet.
9
@FJR Probably not.
4
I think I’ll take a walk and come back to read this other times article posted right near this one. Now, what could the two together teach us about well-being . . . ?
https://nyti.ms/2nM6STR
1
Agreed, any type of moderate exercise is good.
The extremes get you in trouble ie couch potato or gym rat.
Ironically they result in the same type of problems, body aches, sprains, back, knee and feet problems etc.
3
I've learned to Just Stand Up during meetings. (You have to "train" your colleagues to get used to this behavior on your part: there's a kind of body language and gesture-set you can use to assure people that you're not walking out; for instance, you shrug, step directly behind your chair, stretch a little etc.) It's surprising how unacceptable it is to stand up during a meeting.
My other hint is that I finally discovered that you can kind of stand up and stretch in an economy window seat by turning around and facing the back of the seat. This gives your legs and back room to stretch. (Again, people think you're weird when you do this, but body language reassures them.) In the meantime, when I'm in a window seat I always get up to visit the head whenever I need to do that; if people next to me are sleeping, etc. I will eventually interrupt them. This can be mitigated by letting them know ahead of time that this will happen, and if possible getting up the same time they do.
6
What about people sitting in cars for long periods or truck drivers? Would they be more accident prone?
2
It’s difficult to overstate the necessity of maintaining a healthy circulatory system. Blood flow is what keeps the beat pumping.
2
What is the impact on people who can't get up and move around, like ones with mobility issues or in wheelchairs?
3
Thank you for pointing this out. I'm a paraplegic with few options for exercise, and I'd appreciate one sentence in articles like these that acknowledge motor limitations, or offers evidence that the author has looked into studies that may include research or ideas that could benefit persons with no choice but to sit for long periods.
11
How about we apply this to public education.
5
As a septuagenarian I have noticed difficulty when standing after too long, so I have a timer by my computer set to go off every hour and I walk around the house for a few minutes. I also do some exercises involving stretching. The problem is at night watching TV.
9
@jeremyp Try doing light aerobics and stretching while watching TV instead of sitting?
1
The article seems to imply that we do not understand why quiet sitting has such a large impact on brain blood flow, but this mechanism was worked out many years ago. Sitting (or quiet standing) allows gravity to pull blood down into the lower body. If the blood is not being returned to the heart, cardiac output falls, and correspondingly, blood pressure falls, and so flow to the brain is reversed. The soleus muscles in the calf of the legs is responsible for pumping this pooled blood back to the heart, so the answer is not standing desks (which can be worse than sitting) or irritating your boss by getting up from your desk every 30 minutes, but rather, maintaining your soleus muscles through squatting exercises, Tai Chi, or other passive exercise modalities.
20
I hope schools will get the word on this! We've known for several years now that sitting is bad for us, but schools seem impervious to innovation on this point.
What a lovely fantasy that children's health might be considered; their need to move, recognized; their Ritalin and related drugs, reduced. Boys, in particular, with their early developing spatial reasoning (rather than fine motor skills like girls) and corollary need to move and explore to develop that faculty, would benefit.
6
Better yet, create your own standing desk. Set your computer on a stack of books high enough so the computer screen is at eye level (if you have a laptop, you can do this by purchasing an inexpensive holder for it). I did this a few years ago and now routinely spend half of my day standing rather than sitting. Aside from the obvious health benefits, it helps me concentrate because when I sit for long periods of time I get antsy.
2
We’re animals. We’re meant to move around. Ever see a sedentary fox? Many of our health problems are directly related to sitting in chairs for long stretches.
Wordsworth walked about 180,000 miles over his lifetime. Beethoven was a walker.
Set a timer for every half hour (Pomodoro Method is great) and get up, walk around, and rejuvenate and restore. And watch your productivity go up!
8
This confirms my personal experience. I gave up my chair in 2015 because my back couldn't take prolonged sitting and I was gaining weight. I soon added a www.UnSit.com treadmill under my desk. Now I'm walking over 5 miles a day while getting MORE work done. My back pain is gone, I've lost weight, but most impressive, I'm alert and clear all day with less caffeine! I'll never sit down on the job again.
~ I walked 384 steps while typing this post
21
Interesting study but the sample size is very small and makes the conclusions less generalizable. They really should have recruited significantly more participants.
4
Agreed. Too small to qualify as scientific! 15 subjects, each tested for a total of 12 hours, is little better than an anecdote. I would draw no conclusions.
When I was a proposals coordinator at a large company I got up and took a walk every hour. A few people in the department complained to the boss about my frequent breaks. He told them that their complaints were falling on deaf ears because I got more work done in a day than any of them.
35
The Japanese have known this for a long while: in many (or some) of the offices a leader conducts periodic stretching exercises during the day. I have also been aware - for decades -
that if I have some kind of dilemma or problem that I'm working on fruitlessly, I often have a breakthrough either after an exercise session or a night's sleep.
8
When I read this article, I realized that I almost sit on the chair for hours. Because I'm in the third year of senior high school, I don't have time to take a break, not to mention visit the restroom. Time is precious, the most important thing I need to do in this period is to study hard and enter a good university. However, when I read this article, I know that I can't sit on the chair for hours any longer. It's vital for me to take a walk every 30 minutes. No matter how important the study is, it's more important to take care of myself. Now, I will try me best to remind myself that it's time to take a walk and take a break. All in all, I really thank this article for making me know such the important things and it's really helps me a lot.
39
In future Hollywood films, the cool, devil-may-care, noir anti-hero who formerly smoked in the shadows with the smoke writhing upwards in the moonlight will now be depicted sitting at a desk for hours at a time. Because who cares about the effects of sitting when we're all going to die anyways?
1
OK OK, However if you have ever been really concentrating on something, then sitting a long time is just what has to happen. You have to sit for a few hours. Get up then and you have a sore back and swollen ankles, however if you have ever had the pleasure of being that engrossed it was worth it.
Go into any office these days and the kids are standing, moving around, with at least two devices on, flicking between activities, screens, places. Cant help but think that its a dumber way.
14
“Taking a walk every 30 minutes can restore blood flow to the brain when you’re sitting for hours.”
I bet standing on your head works even better!
12
If there are eyes staring at you as you're trying to communicate on your computer, you may find it uncomfortable. You try to avoid the gaze, even though there are some vocal disruption and body movements that are intended to interrupt your concentration.
My female dog knows how to get my attention along with others of her gender, she has motivated me to move many times.
Dogs are one of the best reasons to begin your moving process, they demand attention, they motivate, when you are not, they make you respond, then enjoy the response rewarding you with physical and positive brain activity.
11
I ca see how sitting too much can affect the back or other musculature. But if sitting slows the blood flow to the brain, implying that it makes you a bit more stupid, how do we explain all the great works of science and literture that were written by sitting persons? C’mon, and be a skeptic.
12
After spending most of the last decade of work life at an improvised standing desk (plastic file box inverted on the desktop) to protect my back, I'm with that instead of "planning" to get up and stroll. As a practical matter, when concentrating on a project (or a even game, for some) it's very easy to lose hours at a stretch. Hare brain people don't have problems with extended sitting, hard workers do. There's a natural tendency to step and flex while standing that doesn't break concentration on a task at hand.
2
Whoever invented the chair has a few things to answer for. I'm ordering an adjustable standing desk riser now for my vacation property in the mountains. I have one on my desk at home. But I'm in the Rockies for five weeks. I'm revising the first draft of a novel. That would normally involve a lot of sitting down, trying to be creative, while the fact that I'm trying to be creative while sitting down is making me less creative. It becomes psychologically hard to stop trying and just take a walk. But that is the answer. A standing desk is an even better answer. This is so true, what you're covering here -- and thank you. This will save lives and maybe even give us better novels.
9
There have been many studies of extended sitting with proven negative results for our physical health.
This study proves the obvious results for diminished brain activity which asks the question, why not just use common sense, saving time and money for some of these many studies that we all experience in life.
Ok, the study was interesting, so now we know the specific reason for brain fog, I wonder how many people will change their habits?
5
@Moverme I already have. What makes it easy is all the much better mind and body feelings that result from the change.
But now we need to address this problem for the disabled community. People who can't walk.
9
@Patricia, For the last 45 + days I could not do any aerobics due to a foot problem, so I increased my anaerobic workout with weight training to compensate. I increased reps with lighter weights to keep the blood flowing.
It's difficult to interrupt exercise addiction,, looking forward to getting back on my Me-Mover.
As far as recommendations for the disabled, there are alternatives, if possible such as arm powered mobile vehicles to consider among other devices.
I know for a fact, exercise- induced higher heart rate outperforms the anxiety alternative.
1
We evolved to stand on our feet. It is our natural state. We are the animal that was meant to stand with our hands free to do work. The opposable thumbs add to this advantage. We haven't had time to evolve either mentally or physically to our recent development of technology and total domination of nature. Even our recent ancestors had very physically laborious lives. It is only very recently that so many people have been able to sit on their butts all day. So, physically we are meant to stand, and walk, and work. It shouldn't be a surprise that our bodies need to do what they evolved to be able to do.
17
So the old fashioned water cooler, with its breaks, was a really good thing!
39
@S Fin And employers have been shooting themselves in the foot by discouraging these breaks and measuring their employees by how much time they log in sitting down hitting keys on the keyboard.
Maybe that measure of productivity has a fatal flaw in that it makes employees less able to do their jobs well, even as they appear on paper to be more productive.
11
I use ah old wood desk chair that I found in the trash even though I have two modern desk chairs. I found that my back never hurts when I use the wood chair, I think because I squirm more and it has no arm rests. It's not a dining room chair--there is a bottom and thigh shape carved in the seat.
7
Steve Jobs made many of his business decisions during long walks.
11
I think that this article is great and I would like to add a tidbit to it that may prove very useful to many people. I do sit for hours at my lab PC every day. However, I try to make it a habit not only to get up every so often but to actually do strenuous muscles flexes that help keep my muscles in tone.
Doing short bursts of exercises seems to give my heart a little pep as well. I am an older person but my physique is that of a person half my age. I do not go to any gym or have any training person, just now muscular in my old age as I watch all the overweight people around me committing SMS - Slow Motion Suicide. We have to break from our comfort zone of doing nothing but sitting most of the day. 15 reps of flexing will take 20-30 seconds and pump 1/3 more blood through your body for several minutes, burning calories and feeding that nutrition hungry brain. The brain consumes 20-25% of all the nutrition in the body, according to doctors on the Great Courses.
24
@WorldPeace2017
So, what are these great exercises, please? I want to know your secret!
2
@Italophile Indoors, weight training. Outdoors, highly recommended, walking, walking fast, graduating to self-powered vehicles such as one of the best alternatives to running, a stepping machine called a Me-Mover for low impact on your joints and tendons with one of the fastest increase in heart rate leading to welcoming endorphins and to a great workout when your time is of the essence.
This article instantly stood out to me because I sit at my desk doing homework or using a computer for hours each day. I find it very interesting that by sitting down your brain loses blood flow, but if you just get up and move your brain receives sufficient blood again. I wish it showed actual health or thought benefits to inspire me to get up and move more often. However, I will still start to get up and move approximately every 30 minutes in the future to benefit my health. I hope it actually does improve thought processing and focus, because that would help with school work and my focus in games. Even if only being slightly beneficial, I will take the opportunity to improve my long-term brain health. I also wonder if the same happens while we sleep, since our body is not in motion for hours at a time. Would that hurt my long-term brain health as well? But to learn that by doing such a simple task can benefit your health. is amazing to me. Something that also came across my mind while reading this is the opposite of the experiment. Does exercise and constant activity pump more blood to the brain than usual? And does that come with any health concerns or benefits? In the end, I really hope that getting up and walking around a bit every now and then does help me focus and think so I can get my homework done more efficiently and possible improve my answers and train of thought.
7
@Tyler Sakamoto
Good sleep is best for the brain as scientists have found out. NIH-funded study suggests sleep clears brain of damaging molecules such as beta-amyloid, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/brain-may-flush-out-toxins...
11
@Tyler Sakamoto
"I also wonder if the same happens while we sleep, since our body is not in motion for hours at a time. Would that hurt my long-term brain health as well?"
It's easy to determine the effect of sleep on brain health in the short term. Just compare the answers to these two questions: How does your brain feel after a good night's sleep? How does your brain feel after not sleeping at all for one whole night?
This makes me wonder though about the recliner. If I'm reclining in a recliner watching TV, is my blood flow being blocked like when I sit at a 90 degree angle in a regular chair?
3
Note to the several commenters who advocate getting a stand-up desk: Standing in one place for a long time is not much better than sitting. You (we!) need to move around and stretch our muscles and get our heart rate up a bit regularly throughout the day. Our bodies simply are not designed for the sedentary life style that most of us now lead. Move around more and do your body an immense favor.
Skeptical? I heartily recommend the "Younger Next Year" books co-authored by Chris Crowley and his medical/specialist colleagues. They explain in easy-to-understand detail why movement is so important, and what types of movement will keep our bodies healthy, long into old age. Very motivational--you'll never look at dreary "exercising" the same way after you read these books.
13
@cfluder
Sadly, Dr.Lodge , coauthor, died last year of prostate cancer at age 58.
2
Consider getting a standup desk.
Regarding sitting and its effects on the brain: Perhaps sitting too long is what's causing the problems within the "prez" and his troops in the White House. NO! The problems are caused by them sitting on their brains, constricting the blood-flow and starving their brains.
41
@Dr. Mandrill Balanitis
Witty Comment Dr., but can we please keep this area clean of prez talk. We are a bit overloaded.
3
Last month a German study reported that neckties decrease cerebral blood flow. Putting that together with this finding makes it surprising that male office workers can put two thoughts together and stay upright.
63
@BenR. Hey! I resent that. I’d write more, but, uh, (let me adjust my necktie) I can’t think a second thought right now.
3
It seems that scientists pay too much attention to the blood system (tap water system of our body) in comparison with 'glymphatic system' and lymphatic system (drainage and sewage system of our body). The blood system has a pump (heart), but 'glymphatic system' and lymphatic system don't have one, and therefore, our muscle movement is the only way to activate the systems. Moving our body every half-hour may activate the drainage system of our body. Scientists have found out that our brain starts cleansing activity during deep delta sleep, and the liquid will be drained through 'glymphatic system', then down to lymphatic system. It is matter of time that our country will enter the aging society like Japan, and, therefore, we need lots of research for the drainage system of our body. I am attaching the research summary on 'glymphatic system' since this is not known even to most of doctors.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4636982/
34
@Wind Surfer Thank you. This is new information to me. The link you give here is an excellent introduction to the subject.
4
@Wind Surfer
Thanks for the info and for the article!
I found this article very interesting especially since I have just started an interning job for this summer that is very similar to a desk job. My father also works as a desk job and we both feel like sitting for long hours actually inhibits our creativity and work production. However, recently my father started to take walks in between his work hours and feels a lot better. He feels more awake and productive when he started to walk around instead of constantly sitting. The research in this article explains this phenomenon which is why I found this article interesting. However, what solution can we come up with that can help the millions of people that are working in desk jobs constantly sitting down without interfering with their daily tasks and duties?
28
@Nitish Get a standup desk.
3
This is interesting...but you'll need to reach employers, especially those that are charging hourly for their workers to be parked in a chair...attorneys and clerical workers for instance.
When I worked long hours at a desk job I found that my breathing slowed, pulse slowed, and temperature lowered, it was like being awake in a body that was asleep. This Pavlovian response seemed to start with the sound of the elevator closing behind me and by the time I was in my office chair the body was in sleep mode.
7
@SW
Attorneys and clerical workers? Who cares?
I'm more concerned about the people sitting for hours driving trucks, trains, subways, and airliners.
25
@Scott Cole
Its not an "us vs. them" issue. The article might have had better wording but in the end, everyone deserves compassion.
@JEM
Everyone certainly deserves safety as well.
It's much easier for office workers to get up and stretch their legs than it is for transportation workers. Attorneys aren't generally trying to land airplanes after long flights of sitting, especially sitting in the 7000 foot density altitude of typical cabin pressures.
1