On the plane home I noticed something that I just thought I'd mention here. If you are in a friend's house with a bunch of other people, and someone needs waking up (for whatever reason), it is usually the person emotionally closest who will do it. Just through observation, it seems that people are usually aprehensive about waking people they do not know well - maybe because while some people may be total angels in the day, if you wake them from slumber they may be liable to punch you in the face - and there is no way to find out without waking them up! I guess there is also a sense of being vulnerable while sleeping, so we prefer those who we know well to be around rather than strangers/aquaintances.

But to finally get to my point....on planes this is thrown out of the window (well not literally...) People with whom you have had a 10 minute chat with are totally fine to wake you up on behalf on the air hostess to see if you want breakfast, or even the hostess themselves. I know this is not out of choice, and I suppose is slightly different becuase you are on public transport...but I thought this change in behaviour was interesting none the less. I suppose it's related to the fact that you are all so close together (in economy class anyway) and in effect, when you fall asleep you are almost as close to the person next to you as if you were sharing a bed. That person is in your personal space (and vice versa) and you can either choose to try and ignore them (hard on a 9/10hr flight) or chat to them a little.

Incidentally, the guy I was sitting next to was an anthropologist, so he was probably thinking similar things - what are the chances of that!