The Down Side of Working
A Very Unpopular Shift
When I applied for this job I offered to work evenings and weekends. I got the job because of my willingness to do so. I work the swing shift, 15:00 to midnight, on Wednesday through Sunday.
Most of the technicians working with me are young people who want to party on Friday and Saturday nights. Having me there allows them to do so.
There aren't very many of us, just enough to provide coverage all day, every day, plus a bit for training and emergencies.
Once, the person who works graveyard shift, midnight to 8:00, had to take off his usual Saturday and Sunday slots. Our supervisor asked me to fill in for him. At first I refused because of my health. Then, knowing that I wasn't sure how badly it would affect my health, I reluctantly agreed to fill in.
It was worse than I expected. I am incapable of functioning at those hours.
The surprise was that the other technicians were upset that I had been taken off of my regular Friday, Saturday and Sunday shifts to do it ... and they had been asked to fill in for me.
They would rather do the graveyard than the swing. I can manage the swing but not the graveyard, but I wasn't doing the complaining. As long as I would cover those three nights, my fellow technicians didn't want my supervisor changing my schedule.
Call it job security. I was surprised that it became an issue, but I did expect to have to work at unpopular times in order to keep the job -- times like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
My family is upset with me. They think I can ask for Thanksgiving off. I can get Thanksgiving off -- by quitting -- but if I want to continue working there, I had better plan on working there at the hard times.
As I knew would happen when I applied for the job.
I'm not young. I've made mistakes, although many of the customers like me. They've called my bosses to tell them so. The work isn't hard or demanding or tedious, although some of the customers get frustrating. The pay isn't very good, but I'm doing it more to fill the gap in qualifying for Social Security than for the pay itself (working for the federal government didn't count towards my Social Security).
I only have to last a few years, not make a career of it.