The Whole World Turns Nocturnal, Work Nites, Sleep Days, Pluses, Minuses! (introvert, parent)

[tijlover]

Wasn't sure where to put this thread, here or Great Debates. I'll let the Moderator decide!

I've been working the night shift for close to 13 years, 10p-6a, sleep 10a-6p everyday of the week, and I've often wondered if the whole world went this way, we all worked nights, slept all day, if this might, perhaps, make this a better world, or would it make it worse? How would this effect the world, from every standpoint?

I've grown to love this way of life and have come to pity those who work daytime hours!

I know it will never happen, but would be the pluses and minuses if this were to occur?

Breakfast at 8-9pm, Dinner at 7-8am, neighborhoods all but deserted during the daytime!

One big plus to living here in the desert in the summer time: I sleep away the heat of the day!

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Wasn't sure where to put this thread, here or Great Debates. I'll let the Moderator decide!

I've been working the night shift for close to 13 years, 10p-6a, sleep 10a-6p everyday of the week, and I've often wondered if the whole world went this way, we all worked nights, slept all day, if this might, perhaps, make this a better world, or would it make it worse? How would this effect the world, from every standpoint?

I've grown to love this way of life and have come to pity those who work daytime hours!

I know it will never happen, but would be the pluses and minuses if this were to occur?

Breakfast at 8-9pm, Dinner at 7-8am, neighborhoods all but deserted during the daytime!

One big plus to living here in the desert in the summer time: I sleep away the heat of the day!

its weird for me to think about working at night rather than day time. I have worked so long daytime that night MUSTBE for sleeping.. If I am working at night I feel like that's wrong!

one advantage that you have that I wish I had was the fact that a lot of doctors and places only have daytime hours, since I work days I have to take off work for any doc appts. also there would be less lines and crowds of people where I want to go so I'm jellus of you for that!

[Nepenthe]

I did "graveyard shift" for three years and really enjoyed it. I would wake up at 10pm, get dressed, walk to work for 30 minutes, and work 11pm to about 7:30am, then walk home and be home by 8am. I never suffered from any of the ill effects that little articles on CNN like to point out. I thrived. But the job itself wasn't that great (convenience store clerk).

I think we could alleviate a lot of the stress on our infrastructure and the overcrowding if there were a lot more second shift and third shift positions, and I've *always* thought it was assinine the way we all commute to work at around the same time each morning and commute home at around the same time each afternoon. I feel like such a doofus if I have to sit in traffic. I feel embarrassed for modern humans.

The shift I really loved was 12:30pm to 11:00pm four days per week. On a work day I would wake up at 11am, get home at 11:30pm, stay up till 3am or 4am. Then I would usually have two days off during the week -- when everyone else was working! It was fantastic -- you can get things done, avoid some traffic, go to a restaurant when they're not busy, take little mini-vacations, etc. I also usually never worked more than two days in a row! So every day was either the first day after being off, or the last day before being off. I was a relaxed human being. I never had to fight crowds if I didn't want to. The world didn't feel that overcrowded.

Now I work Monday thru Friday about 6:30am to about 4:30pm and Saturday for about four hours. I hate it. I can never get anything done. I'm constantly fighting crowds. The work week is long and draining.

[Katnan]

There are a lot of studies out there of the dangers of working night shift, from health ailments to higher risk of accidents, etc. There isn't anything I can't fit in after my 9-5 job that would make it desirous to work that shift.

Here is one article of hundreds about it. Shiftwork - health effects | Better Health Channel

[Nepenthe]

Originally Posted by Liberty2011

There are a lot of studies out there of the dangers of working night shift...

That is true. There are also a lot of risks in working the "rat race" shift with every other stiff. For an introvert it can be a curse.

Originally Posted by Liberty2011

There isn't anything I can't fit in after my 9-5 job that would make it desirous to work that shift.

Hmm, I find I can't fit anything in. It's difficult to get anything done on the house, anything delivered, appointments attended, restaurants experienced without long waits, etc. It just drains me to know I'll never have time off when other people aren't off too.

[rural_urban]

Hmm...this got me thinking now if everyone did what they usually did but 12 hours later (or earlier):


One concern that comes to mind is having children out during the nighttime hours. For instance if school was from say 8:30 pm-3 am children would be walking from the bus stop in the dark which could be a hazard for people on the road. However maybe more parents would find more creative ways to pick up and drop off their children to keep them off the roads.

Another concern is in rural areas. Many rural streets do not have street lights so driving could be difficult. Older people for instance would have a harder time getting around preventing them from running various errands. Deer or other animals would be getting killed more frequently due to the poor visibility and increase in traffic during these hours of poor visibility. Also the increase in traffic on roadways (rural or not) during these hours would likely lead to more accidents.