Graveyard shift as work option....

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I have read several posts about people who are looking for work and just wanted to mention it as an option...it isnt perfect but has alot of upsides...


In college I tried waitressing...pretty much of a nightmare...was told I didnt smile enough and was fired when I refused to get my hair permed(1984)...I tried hotel room cleaning but took "to long" because I actually did the cleaning instead of just smoothing out the bedspread and emptying the garbage(also, didnt socialize enough with other staff so they thought I was stuck-up)fired...
Fired from a carpark after I was robbed because I should have defended the bosses money(I s**t you not)...I was tld I was one of the best workers at several manual task jobs(factory and landscape)but I couldnt handle the heat or the noise and most of the guys I worked around were really rude to women.I was one of the best workers because many of the others actually thought the point was avoiding work and getting paid to do nothing...they were proud of "screwing the man"...except the man didnt have to pick up their slack...I did...

So,about 12 years ago I stumbled apon over night work...It helps that I have always been a night person,naturally going to bed between 3-4am and getting up around noon...There are times during the night when I would lve to curl up and sleep but I can ussually manage to stay awake until its time to wake up the clients at 6am and then I feel awake again....ussually dont go to sleep until 12pm and wake up at 7pm.

The advantages for me...

less traffic on the roads going to work and in the morning they are headed in the other direction...no rush hour for me...

the stores have few people in them in the am so I can get my shopping done after work...

it is quite and ok to keep the lights at work very low...

while the clients are sleeping I can feed my obsessions(reading and computer)

I get to sleep through the brightness of day and the heat

I only have one other staff to work with for a few hours in the morning(anymore then that and I would have killed her or myself by now...she is pathalogically lazy,ignores the clients and likes to gossip....arggggg)

I can be my annoying self with less worry about being fired because it is so hard to find people to work this shift!!

I can work at my own pace as long as the work gets done

I am currently working with 4 clients in their house who are DX developmentally delayed...but they also have alot of health issues..so I have actually learned some applicable skills(not just laundry)
I have managed to stay here for four years though I have been close to quiting several times due to my issues with how management runs things and the apathy of co-workers...really makes me crazy...
I worked overnight for 8 year previously at a resedential treatment center for teens...I had some of the same issues with staff but management was ussually good until the founding women retired then things went to hell and I had to leave.

Anyway, I just wanted to mention this option ...I know there are other areas of work for overnight...stocking shelves,cleaning,hotel clerk...but I havent done them so I dont really know what they would be like....

And let's not forget the best part of overnighting...depending on where you are, less work is worth more money! Overnights are worth a 15% differential where I work, and while the responsibility is the same, the workload is a little less. My tasks are done in about an hour...more time to sit back and watch for things to go wrong. Small price to pay for offbeat Circadian rhythms.

About 20 years ago I drove a light truck from 5pm to 5am, round trip 5 nights a week Tallahassee>Orlanda>Tallahassee, bringing the Miami Hearld up for distribution. It was great!

I'll never get a job that would have crazy schedules or night shift unless if I don't take meds by then.

my aspie father did night jobs menial cleaning, anything o avoid people contact.

I could work that shift. That would be fun.

I have been order picking and forklifting for Sysco food service now for 4 months and love it. I work 6:30pm-3:00am, often with overtime beyond the 3:00. The co-workers seem to accept different types with open arms and my bosses are awesome. I think the HR and office staff are somewhat typical ignorant and arrogant but haven't had many run-ins with them. I get a great workout, avoid the 9-5 stressed out, dangerous rush of speeding cubicle people. I also do my grocery shopping in the very early morning hours at 24 hour stores. There's NO lineups in the stores... it's great! It's the perfect shift because you aren't working the WHOLE night (unless there's alot of overtime) so you still get alot of night time to sleep.

I work nights in a supermarket and it's great

I start at 11pm and finish at 8am.

I get paid more for the same amount of work.
I don't have to wear the uniform, which is extremely uncomfortable.
I don't have to see customers.
There are fewer staff in.
The staff who are in are mostly quite unusual personalities, so I don't seem so odd.
There is a lot of work to do, so it is not expected that we will chat a lot.
It is important to leave all the shelves looking neat and tidy - lining things up!
There are less lights on.
I can go and do my weekly shop first thing when I finish work, and the shops are quiet.
I can fit in a part time course with my hours.
I get the bed to myself, except on weekends when my husband stays up late and sleeps in.

The downsides are:
In summer the days are very hot, and it can be difficult to sleep.
It can be noisy outside during the day (earplugs can solve this, but sometimes they get uncomfortable after long periods).
It can sometimes be difficult to sleep in the daylight (blackout curtains will solve this when I finally get round to buying some).
It can be difficult to arrange to have a day out because I need both the night before and the night after off.
I miss seeing the sunshine sometimes.

yeah aspie vampires are cool.

I work nights as a dishwasher at my hometown's finest restaurant, and I LOVE it, it's fun, and there are not that many idiots to deal with.

I have never been fond of days, so I prefer to work nights. I've been offered a lot of good jobs through friends in very high places but I have always turned them down, cause I would rather work nights, and I would rather not deal with idiots, and I like my job.

I like being active at night, and I like where I work, so it all works for me, I guess.

I have one bad shift on Sunday afternoons, cause they have no one they can count on to do it, so I get stuck with that shift, but I deal with it.

WildThing121675

I've done a lot of "Swingshifts" Starting in the afternon and finishing about midnight or later. Its actually a good shift to work because you can wake up in the morning with a full day of daylight to do what you want!

I've also worked thrid shift as well, at several gas stations. The only problem that I had was dealing with all of the drunken obnoxious people who came in from nightclubbing. Oh, there was also the time that I had a gun pointed at me, however, for the most part, I could do what I wanted.

As a University student, the graveyard shirt expect for the 3 months I am away from studies during the summer is not an option for me.

I'm not sure it's that good an idea in the long run... yes it avoids many of the difficulties of living in an NT world, but facing and adapting to those difficulties is probably a wise thing to do. Also, I think people need interaction with other people or they start to go off the tracks, as it were.

In my case, I was on permanent midnight to eight shifts, 4 of them a week, pretty much never talking to anyone. I lasted 6 months, at which time I smashed a vending machine with a fire extinguisher, it having stolen my money for the third time in as many weeks. Seemed like a perfectly sensible response to me, and it's not like I actually hurt anyone, but others around me took a somewhat different view, and I almost lost my job.

My point is, social alienation led to me losing my grasp on exactly what is considered appropriate behaviour. So that's why I don't work permanent midnight to eights anymore, and only have to do them once every 3 or 4 weeks now, when I can't weasel out of it.

_________________
Diagnosed but unconvinced... I reckon I'm just a rude and arrogant wierdo

I am leaning toward this myself, because the graveyard shift is least likely to affect my studies.

Tim

I used to work Monday - Friday with normal business hours. Still on the same job, I was able to shift my schedule to Thursday - Sunday, with myself being alone on the weekends. I've been working this new schedule for about 5 years and love it. The rest of my team loves not having to worry about being called in on the weekends and I get to be free of the stress from having the entire office full of people for half of my work week. I'm also available for my family when they have appointments and such Monday - Wednesday and never have to burn vacation time for those things.