My mother occasionally worked overnight, when she was early in her nursing career. As a girl, all I knew is she was caring for the sick… those recovering from various ailments such as strokes, food poisoning, and the occasional AIDS patient or two who liked to sit near-naked on the bed and put on makeup. Hey, I grew up in a huge city.
I admired Mom for making a career change in her mid-thirties, even if it required her to leave her kiddies to nibble their daddy’s cooking. She rested while we nibbled to prevent harming her clients because of sleep deprivation.
I still admire Mom for pulling overnight duty in a sometimes stressful profession. And her daughter has followed suit, except no lives are in danger where I work… unless there’s a weather service tornado warning or some disaster information that we have to relay to listeners…
I would much rather be at home in my bed… or on the couch snuggled in blankets, watching old episodes of 30 Rock on my computer. But alas, an opportunity arose at my second job… an opportunity to learn the rhythm of another shift… And as an educator by day, I couldn’t resist the chance to learn something new.
And I also couldn’t resist the chance to be out of sync with the rest of the “normal” timekeepers in this world… I love the lack of traffic… a wonderful byproduct of a nocturnal work schedule.
I’ve been at the mercy of nocturnal workers before… during middle-of-night hospital visits. And I was thankful for the well-rested or red-bull jolted pleasantries of the nurses and doctors who cared for me, taking vitals, asking me if I wanted heated blankets, water, or juice, or if I wanted to watch hospital-network television.
Those people seemed okay. But for me, overnight working comes with a price. Yawning. Nodding. Half-closed eyelids. Half-open mouth. Incoherent thoughts… such as these… Oh and a messed-up circadian rhythm… at least for moi.
Here’s to all the nocturnal troopers… To those who can actually work through their shifts without half-open eyes, half-closed mouths and without yawns and nods. Oh, and with coherent thoughts, and who don’t need 48 hours of sleep following an overnight stint.
