Part 1: Etcetera (My shifts)

My nature of work includes working by shifts. Morning shit, er shift, is 6AM to 2PM. Afternoon is 2PM to 10PM. And night shift is 10PM til 6AM of the following day. The former is commonly called the graveyard shift, obviously because of the time range.

When I was re-assigned to the Switch, I have requested to skip the graveyard shift when the schedule rotates for the reason that I need to be with my son at night time. And I have been so lucky that my officemates didn’t raise much hell with this issue. Knowing that this might pose a little glitch in our schedule since an adjustment has to be made with somebody filling in my place during rotation, I am always grateful to the guys I work with for allowing me this breather.

In short, I’m down to 2 shifts only—alternately, that is.

Morning shifts aren’t much trouble for me apart from the fact that it’s just too early. I would always blink a hundred times per sec just to shoo away the cloud of sleep (an exaggeration of course but i hope you get the pic). Sometimes, being in a hurry makes one tend to forget basic necessities to survive the day. But other than that, I love morning shifts. First, because I get about 3 hours of free time before the office is buzzing with activity (which is usually at 9AM). Second, I can get home earlier and have time to take part in my son’s activity before he goes to sleep.

Now afternoon shifts are entirely a different story. True, I get to be more productive at home before I go to work. But in the office scene, PM shifts are the busiest. And then I get to miss the “sleeping time” ritual I have with my son. Normally, if I commute after the PM shift, I’d get home about past 11PM (with son already off to Dreamland) and find myself already asleep by midnight. But that is if I get by with some luck..