Why Do We Yawn?
We’ve all been there. You’re sitting in a boring meeting at work, or maybe an 8 AM lecture with one of those professors who just goes on and on. You’re trying desperately to keep alert when your brain just wants sleep. Suddenly, the unmistakable urge to yawn overtakes you. You know that it’s rude to show your utter boredom outwardly, so you do everything you can to fight it. But then, just as it seems to have subsided, the person right across from you breaks into a full-fledged, mouth-gaping yawn, and you just can’t hold it back anymore.
You yawn right alongside them, and soon half of the room is doing the same. It’s embarrassing, but the next time this happens, and your boss/professor tries to call you out on it, simply look them in the eye, shrug, and say “I’m only human”—because your yawn is as much an indicator of your humanity as your opposable thumbs.
