I’ve worked 2nd (afternoon), swing (evening), and 3rd (overnight) shifts for the majority of my life. I recently moved into a training position where I’m Monday through Friday, 8am to ~5:30pm (I get OT while I’m cleaning up and writing reports).

As much as the 2nd/swing/3rd shifts screw with your life in other ways, the difficulty in scheduling any kind of life services outside of working hours is maddening. Doctor’s appointment? Nope. DMV? Maybe Saturday, if you’re lucky. Chaperone your kids field trip? Hahahhah no.

I don’t want to burn sick time for a doctor’s appointment (I need to save those for when my kid is actually sick), and I sure as hell don’t want to use up a “vacation” day for it. How tf are you supposed to get anything done?

  • neidu3@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    10·
    2 hours ago

    I haven’t got a fucking clue. I always hated normal jobs, but I do enjoy having both food and shelter (how decadent of me, I know), so I did what I could to scrape by. And what I “could” usually translated to “could find”.

    Then my proper career started in 2008, and it was an offshore rotation. Give weeks offshore in various corners of the world, followed by five weeks at home. It paid well, and I got to see the world.

    Then came 2011: The company wasn’t doing too well, and I had contracted a family. I wanted to spend more time at home, and while I wasn’t completely prepared to change careers just yet, I was mentally toying with the idea.

    In spring 2012 I decided it was time to find a “normal” job, so I could spend more time with my family. M through F, 0800-1600, mostly at a technical workshop, sometimes at clients’ places, and once in a blue moon at an office.

    It. Was. Miserable. But having a normal job was what I was supposed to do, right? Well, the money wasn’t bad per se, but it was nowhere near what I used to earn. Plus, when I got home from work I was so exhausted I rarely had energy left over. The family life I was aiming for was severely limited by my stamina.

    In 2019 I concluded that nor.al jobs are for normal people, so I reached out to some old colleagues of mine, and suddenly I found myself in a job interview. Got back offshore, and never regretted my change of heart.

    It’s worth noting that I don’t really go offshore any.ore, as I have since ended up in a supporting role, where 90% of my job is done via email or VPN, from home, saving up energy for when my kids (now plural) get home.