I've been a sleepwalker ever since I was a young child. The first time it became known, I was eight - but there's a big chance I had done it before. I still sleepwalk quite often. Usually, I'm just going to the bathroom and I wake up fumbling for the doorknob.

So, why do people seem to freak out so much when they find I'm a sleepwalker? I've never gone outside (to my knowledge) nor have I done anything dangerous. I did cook once. However, those scrambled eggs were made just the way I would make them every morning. I didn't burn down the house.

I have had to make some changes. All alarms clocks must be difficult to reach because I've been known to turn them off thinking that they were alarming. Also, friends and roommates are warned that even though I may be engaged in a conversation doesn't necessarily mean I'm awake. This is especially true if I begin to make no sense.

Yet, people still freak. You say, "I sometimes sleepwalk," and you'll get the strangest looks. Suddenly people are wanting to offer sympathy as if you suffer from some sort of rare disease or ask, "How do you cope?" How do I cope? Most nights, I'm not even aware so there's really no coping. I might find a new bruise the next day where I ran into something, but that's no big deal.

I sleepwalk - and it's no big deal.