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Plight of fans: to watch Cup or watch health
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JIN Hanjing, 40, gave birth to her first child recently. According to Chinese tradition, she is supposed to stay in bed for a month, stay away from any electromagnetic radiation, including television and computers, and sleep as much as possible.
But Jin, a local nurse, is a hard-core soccer fan, and skipping the once-every-four-years World Cup is not in her book. Now, like many Chinese soccer fans, Jin is living in the Brazilian time zone, despite her family’s protestations.
“I have to get up constantly during the night to breast-feed the baby anyway,” she said. “So why not take advantage of it and watch as many games I can?”
At least Jin gets to make up for her sleep during the daytime. Wang Wenbin, 26, is not so lucky. Working for a media solution company, Wang is yawning his way to work everyday with dark circles under his eyes.
In the Beijing time zone, the three games in each group stage start at 12am, 3am and 6am. Wang said he usually watches the first two games and takes a nap between the two. After the second game ends before 5am, he will have his daily four hours’ sleep.
“Beer and sashimi are now my best friends in the middle of the night,” said Wang. “I’ve been late for work for a week. Up to now my boss hasn’t said anything but I’m wondering how long my lucky time will last.”
Wang and Jin are the epitome of hard-core soccer fans’ lives since the World Cup started last Friday. Although the Chinese team is nowhere to be found in Brazil, having failed to reach the World Cup, fans are still crazy about the greatest soccer feast in the world. This, however, drives company bosses crazy.
Supervisors at many companies are having headaches as employees are either late for work or don’t show up at all. Many companies had to make new rules regarding the event.
Employees’ new rules
Spring Airlines said it will check the fatigue level of its employees, especially pilots, maintenance and operation control personnel. Anyone caught napping during work will be laid off immediately. China Southern Airlines prohibits employees from watching or talking about games during work.
“We do not deprive employees of their rights to enjoy the World Cup,” said an official with Spring Airlines who preferred to remain anonymous. “But we will not tolerate anything affecting flight safety.”
Suning.com, a rising e-commerce platform, has banned employees from watching games at night. The company texted all its workers, stating that anyone staying up late to watch the World Cup would be punished.
The company explained that it is going through a big online promotion for five days this week, and it requires employees’ full energy.
“The ban is real, and we only want employees to arrange their time reasonably and make a balance between work, hobby and health,” said Li Bin, executive vice-president of Suning.com.
He said the company has set up a game-watching area in the meeting room, and employees can enjoy two hours’ lunch break to watch the rerun on TV.
Some companies, on the other hand, give extra days off to employees during the World Cup. UC, a leading mobile Internet company based in Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong Province has allowed each employee three days off during the event. In a notice on the company’s bulletin board, UC says soccer fans can apply for a day off if they feel too tired after watching the World Cup until dawn. Games will be played live on a big screen in the company cafeteria every night throughout the tournament. Beer, soft drinks and snacks will be provided for fans.
Another issue raised by people staying up all night centers on health. The consequences were disastrous for one family in Shanghai when a man in his 30s suffered a stroke and died after watching World Cup games for three straight nights. He had a seizure and was in a coma after reaching the hospital. CT showed that he had a brainstem hemorrhage.
“He has high blood pressure history,” said Gao Liang, director of neurosurgery department of Shanghai No. 10 People’s Hospital. “And brainstem hemorrhage is the most extreme case of high blood pressure. Several hours after (he was rushed here) his condition worsened rapidly.”
Same tragedies also occurred in Liaoning Province and in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Li Mingqiang, a 51-year-old amateur soccer player in Liaoning, had a heart attack when watching the game between the Netherlands and Spain. The next morning, a 25-year-old man in Suzhou was found dead in his room as the game between Chile and Australia was still playing on his computer screen.
“We suggest people take a nap before and after watching the games, and when watching the games, they should not eat junk food or spicy food, or the heart and blood vessel will suffer extra burden,” said Yang Xiaoqian, an emergency room doctor with Suzhou Xiangcheng People’s Hospital.
Yang also said seniors over 60 years old and people with heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes should get plenty of sleep at night.
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