Stay away from the Night Shift at All Costs...Dec 17 '07 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Pets
The Bottom Line Night Jobbing is simply not worth your time, money, health, or relationships. Over time it will destroy them all. In many ways it's even worse than prison. Period.
Intro Let's face it, we are stuck in a 24-7 world. It's no longer only New York City or Las Vegas anymore (these are the two big cities in America that never sleep). Everyone demands around the clock service, stores and restaurants that conveniently remain open 24-7 or at least until 1 AM, processing and factory facilities that deliver goods much faster, and casinos and bars and strip joints that continue their activity until the break of dawn. Add to that nurses and paramedics that operate on patients after dark, cops and firemen who drive around to crime scenes and emergencies at a dispatcher's call, and bus drivers and subway and train operators who continue to work their routes (in NYC and many of its suburbs they actually have conductors who work at 1 AM). And don't forget the truck drivers who haul their goods across hundreds of miles as late as 3 AM just to meet deadlines for distribution of their products to customers. But is it really worth it to you? Is it worth it to the hundreds of thousands of mail handlers, distribution workers, truck drivers, bartenders, emergency nurses, bartenders, convenience store clerks, McDonald's drive-thru employees, casino employees, and customer service reps who work while the rest of us are sleeping? It depends on who you ask. Currently I work in a US Postal Service facility from 8 PM to 5 AM as a mail handler, one who processes bags and boxes of mail for further distribution to customers. Some boxes and bags and buckets of mail are as heavy as 60-70 pounds. A typical mail handler must pick up and toss such big items, often right over his head, from one container to another as much as 2,500 times in a typical 8-hour shift, usually in spates of 2 hours between breaks, and such people must continue doing this nonstop as long as they're on the workroom floor. Such activity inevitably tires people out much faster than usual. I for one often suffer from stomach and muscle cramps even before I hop onto bed. Even with an alarm clock I often cannot get up even when it's dark and quiet. A full half of the Postal Service's 60,000 mail handlers work on this shift. And I'm only one example. Statistics show that anywhere between 5 and 15% of American workers start their shift after 6 PM and and are still working by 11PM. Often they continue working until as late as 8 AM. The effects on such workers are becoming more and more obvious by the day. It's destroying people's health, their relationships, disrupting work, and affecting their mental health, and even leading to car crashes. Of course there are some amongst us who are used to night jobbing and enjoy their work, but after three years of misery, I'm no longer one of them. If you're demanding 24-7 service to get food, mail, deliveries, a cold beer, and customer service over the phone at 1 AM, then this article is required reading. People have to understand what such demands are doing to such people, in both the industrial and service economies, and whether it's worth it. The persons you depend on late at night to get you your package or letter or CD case or whatever within 48 hours may be killing themselves just doing it. The nurse you see in the hospital late at midnight might be exhausted and dizzy from overwork and may occasionally bang her head against the wall in frustration. The fast food clerk you may spot at a McDonald's drive through may be nervous from drinking Colombian coffee (and occasionally meth) just to stay up during the wee hours. The bartender or stripper you pay for may cry offstage due to being unable to see their young child do his schoolwork and go to bed. And the truck driver with his tractor-trailer may be longing for home and looking with tears in his eyes at a picture of his wife and kids as he drives 600 miles cross-country at 2 AM. How you interpret what I just said is up to you. The negative effects of night jobbing on all those who engage in it (unfortunately including myself) is as follows: Time: As expected a night jobber's biological clock is turned in reverse. A person who worked from 8 PM to 5 AM as began doing three years ago will find his sleep patterns disrupted. Night jobbing disrupts a person's normal sleep cycle, known medically as the circadian rhythm, and thus such people are more likely to suffer either from extremes of chronic insomnia or chronic fatigue, depending from person to person. Typically I come home tired in the morning just as virtually all retail establishments are opening. By 9 AM I am fast asleep while rush hour is occuring, kids are in school (luckily I'm childless as of this writing), and businesses of all types are bustling. By the time people wake up, the sun has set or is about to set, many businesses have closed for the day or are in their last operating hours; the afternoon and evening are the busiest times of the day, which results in long lines and crowded establishments- and crowded roads and sidewalks. In short a night jobber, even if he wakes up around 3 PM or 4 PM, has missed much of the day. Because of the night schedules, these people cannot go out to eat, drink, smoke, or dress fashionably and look presentable at parties or in the bedroom. Those with kids are unable to sit with them at dinnertime or help them with schoolwork. Money: It's great for those who want to save a lot of money over time and not have to spend much of anything. but when you're tired in the morning and end up sleeping until the afternoon you'll find that there is little room for shopping, dining out, or spending any money on anything meaningful until your next shift. Also the opportunities for career advancement in any night position are limited; most corporate jobs except for telemarketing are daytime positions. Whether one works as a mail handler, as a worker on an assembly line, a waitress in a bar or casino floor, a nurse, a cop on patrol, or a clerk in a fast-food drive in, night jobbers will be out of luck when looking for anything. Near my establishment, virtually everything shuts down after 9 PM, which means virtually nothing is open except the occasional 7-Elevens, McDonalds, Taco Bells, Dunkin Donuts, gas stations such as Exxon, Shell, Hess, and Sunoco, and the occasional late-night diner or strip club. In other words, night-jobbers get to buy food but little else during "lunch breaks". Over time, night jobbers will get a lot of money in their piggy banks but next to nothing to spend it on except food and gas and rent and energy bills. They can only shop for anything proper during their days off, which they don't always get. Health: This is where the night shift hurts the most. It wears down a person's muscles, brain activity, and immune system over time. It's also a proven fact that night jobbing, especially when working under artificial lights, disrupts the body's production of melatonin, a hormone that is proven to inhibit the development of cancer cells. It also tends to hurt a person's overall sleeping patterns as previously mentioned. And I'm not even getting started on the graveyard shift effect, where workers tend to get the chills and end up with clammy skin, cold bodies that don't shiver, and spaced-out brain cells. One of my acquaintances called it being like a vampire, and that's certainly not irrational. The list could go on and on but these are the most obvious examples. Mentality: The effect of the night shift on those who work it is typical of what happens to Frodo when he wields the One Ring; it slowly but inevitably corrupts a person's mindset, and only the hardiest souls can resist that evil power. Over time the multiple effects of poor relationships, a disrupted sleep clock, social and physical isolation, and deteriorating health gets to people's heads. Night jobbers have a bad tendency to neglect their personal hygeine and dress very sloppy. Only casino waitresses and strippers dress up nicely (and erotically) at all. Not surprisingly night-jobbers of all occupations and marital status have high rates of depression and mental disorders than the general population. They also have a much higher rate of drug abuse; for example meth use (to keep people up at work) is common amongst night jobbers, especially industrial workers, bartenders, and truck drivers, and illicit drugs are most readily available at night. Work Conditions: Night jobbers, especially those suffering from sleep disorders, have a bad tendency to get tired and disoriented very quickly, and this increases the risk of bad judgement, errors in detail, missed deadlines, and feelings of outright frustration. Also people working at night get exhausted quicker, especially when very busy (it's a proven fact); with physical exhaustion comes mental exhaustion, and this leads many night-jobbers to forget important details and start making mistakes. There are endless news reports of sick or injured patients dying needlessly in hospitals because of overworked night-shift nurses who were either too busy doing something else or ended up giving the wrong treatment because they were too "spaced out" for obvious reasons. Relationships: Night jobbing tends to disrupt people's relationships, making them think that nothing and no one cares about them. It also disrupts relationships of all types by making those who are day jobbers think that their night-jobbing relatives or companions care too little about them or are simply not fit to help in any way. Obviously many night-jobbers have too little time to tend to household chores, play with their kids, or get laid by their girlfriends. Often they do not have the physical energy or mental werewithal to do so at all after a hard night's work, especially if they're in positions that require plenty of heavy lifting or non-stop customer service. Travel: Depending on what time one starts his shift, the roads or rails or buses can be crowded, deserted, or just normal. Those who start their shift in the evenings will be out of luck, since rush hour in my case does not fully end until about 9 PM. Driving in darkness tends to make people sleepy and give them muscle cramps, which I obviously have. Unfortunately very few people on this earth have the superhuman abilities of Superman or the gritty determination of Batman (who is the quintessential night-shift superhero). Inevitably night jobbers have a much higher rate of drowsy driving, which kills an average of 1,500 Americans every year. It happens most often in the early morning hours when night jobbers are heading home from work while day jobbers are doing the opposite. I define it as struggling to keep one's eyes open and arms and legs from going cold and numb while driving, which actually happened to me several times (One time I narrowly missed hitting a lamp post while going 50 miles per hour). Recently New Jersey passed a law turning driving while drowsy into a punishable offense with penalties similar to DWI, and those who fatally hit someone while drowsy can now be charged as a felon with vehicular manslaughter. The hit-and-run drowsy driver whose actions left a young person dead and his family crying out for justice (which in turn led to this new stringent law)- that driver was a night-jobber, no surprise there. Conclusion Even if you're desperate or broke, night Jobbing is simply not worth your time, money, health, travel schedules, or relationships. Those who hope to earn extra money on night differentials will quickly learn to regret it, like I do. Like the Ring of Sauron wielded by Frodo as he struggled his way to Mount Doom, over time it will destroy them all. In many ways it's even worse than prison. Period. There is nothing like the warm sun beating on you when you wake up, a fresh cup of coffee, plus a glare out at the sun, trees, and bright sunny day, plus the warm table, bed or bath tub at home after the sun sets. Don't forget the wonderful evening out with friends plus a chance to meet a girl and start chatting with her before bedtime... All night jobbers like me, don't you miss it all? I know I do. PS: As of this writing, I have vowed that I will start making plans to break into a well-paying day job when I can find one. I'll update you all soon.  |
| Read all comments (1)|Write your own comment |
