3rd Shift #2

Big Phil's Notes From The Cube continue . . .

Working the 3rd shift has it's own rhythm and world.

Basically, you are on your own most of the time. Even it there are five, a dozen or a hundred others working around you, 3rd shift is "abandoned" by the bosses -

- except for that last hour when the daytime, main shift is prepping up and the honchos come in full of fire and energy to tell your shift what it will do the next night. That's always an awkward moment, because 3rd shifters are tired, they know no one cared what was happening to them at 2 a.m. (as long as there were no emergencies requiring a daytime boss to wake up), and they are having their independence impinged upon.

Independence - that's probably the key word to 3rd shifters. 3rd shift may be few people's first choice for working hours, but if one can take it the bonus is that the midnight is yours. Not quite vampires we are during those hours, but knowing how Dracula and his "children of the night" feel.

As a Cube dweller working overnight, you know that your productivity is probably twice as much as the socializing 1st shifters. But your desk is always borrowed and your supplies are always someone else's leftovers and the daytime bosses are rarely going to leave any decision-making in your hands. The temptation is to goof off - who will see? - but the quiet and isolation make you more focused so that, even without trying, you work well.

Except for that last hour, when the daytimers come in, hanging around, getting in your way, talking about what "needs to be done" as if you weren't doing it already.