Sleepless in Seattle, Springfield, Southport, Syracuse, Santa Fe, Staten Island, Stockton and St. Louis

A number of people have mentioned to me lately how much trouble they're having sleeping. We have a polite rational conversation about how it might be the change in seasons, maybe it's because we're all growing a little older, maybe we're not getting enough exercise, perhaps it's ... whatever.

And here in the middle of the night, cozy in bed with my old friend insomnia, it occurs to me that we all must be missing a few obvious reasons it's a little tricky getting a solid night's sleep of late.

Like ...

You can go to work these days and get beheaded.

You can turn on the TV and hear all about how we are about to enjoy nuclear annihilation.

You can send your children to school and never see them again, instead watch them on CNN being blown to smithereens.

You can go to war and get murdered, cut up into a million pieces and hung off a bridge like Christmas ornaments for the locals to celebrate.

You can take a pleasure trip to the Bahamas which starts with an unsolicited strip search and might end with the plane nosediving into the Oval Office.

Having trouble sleeping?!?! Who isn't?!? Welcome to the new normal.

If I were a movie producer, I'd throw in the towel round about now, as fiction runs a very poor second to the drama of fact in our everyday lives these days.

And if I were anyone else, I'd buy a few case loads of Tylenol PM and call it a day.