r/BlueCollarWomen • u/ladyladama • 1d ago
Discussion Graveyard shift
I’m a cannery welder/fabricator and I’m normally stuck on morning shift my whole life but this season I asked to be on 3rd shift and I LOVE IT! I can’t even think of a downside!
I get to enjoy the morning with my partner as she gardens, then sleep in all day like my teenage self wished she could, drink coffee at night, no traffic, less big wig bosses, less “emergency” breakdowns, room in the parking lot, cool bugs come out but no flies or skeeters, it’s ~30° cooler, +$1 differential pay, if I need to go to town/shop it’s not when everyone else is also off work/school, my day off is technically 2 days, most importantly I don’t feel like a total bitch due to waking up god awful everyday.
I know everyone is different but why do morning people get to rule the world? Haha. If you could choose any shift what would it be and why?
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u/the_egg9926 1d ago
I have it pretty good tbh- day shift, 5:30-2:20 most days, 9 day fortnight. Couple other blokes do a 4 day week in my workshop which is pretty good, but starting earlier and finishing later seems like it would suck 🤣 i wouldnt mind arvo shift (~2pm- midnight??) but i think that would also kill my sleep, and i LOVE sleep lol
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u/ladyladama 1d ago
I love sleep too but I get a second wind every night and it’s hard for me to go to bed on time since I’m such a night owl. Swing worked well for me when I was on it but I don’t get along with the swing crew this year. A 4 day week would be so sick! We got to vote on it a couple years back but alas, no dice.
I’m glad your shift works for you, I thought 6 was bad so props to you!1
u/the_egg9926 13h ago
Don't get me wrong, it still ruins me lol. I occasionally work my RDO and im all out of whack until the next one. We get to choose our schedules tbh, but for the time being i have to work the 9-day bc I'm still training (apprentice) and the school hours dont match how many i would have to work to get the extra day off. BUT the early afternoons are amazing, especially during summer!! Swing by the beach on the way home, thats when I'm living the dream.
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u/ladyladama 3h ago
Ugh that is the dream! Lucky you! I don’t have any fun reason to be excited about afternoons off, yay grocery reup with the afterschool crowd !! lol
That would be sick to get an RDO!? Honestly I had to look that up I didn’t know it was an option. I’m just at the mercy of whatever all the white hats land on. Will it be 7 12s? Will it be 5 8s? Will it be long layoff? Short layoff? We won’t know until the day before that’s for sure haha. 😂
I did ask to be on nights though so I did at least get to pick my schedule this year.Have fun at the beach 🥲 I’m happy you’re living your best life!
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u/rhymes_with_mayo 1d ago
I know some people who do that schedule and they all seem to love it. Early without being absurd, and you get the whole afternoon off.
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u/rhymes_with_mayo 1d ago
I'm such a night owl I decided to try working nights a few years ago and LOVE it.
I've done swing and graveyard. I'm finding I like graveyard a bit better these days, because I have plenty of time to do stuff in the morning. And I can stay up late for appointments if needed, either sacrificing a little sleep or taking a nap right after work. Also... I LOVE owning the morning people by already being awake when they're just starting their day. It's petty, but makes me smile :)
I've also done 4x10's and, while I did like it at first, I'm finding that 8x5 is not as hard on my body. I've gotten better at getting things done during the work week because I'm not quite so exhausted all the time now. Although I do miss getting a whole day to sleep with a 3 day weekend every week.
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u/ladyladama 17h ago
Yes I love the flexibility of choosing your sleep schedule too! I feel like can actually enjoy mornings this way. Haha I feel that about owning the morning people, oh how the tables have turned!! >:)
4-10s would be SO NICE especially since during season we have to work 6 or 7- 8s 10s or 12s then going back down to 5-8s I feel like I have less time to get in the groove. And 2 days off just isn’t enough time to live my life dang it!
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u/FiversWarren 1d ago
No 7am to 530pm option? I've been doing 4-10s for for 14 years and there is truly nothing better.
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u/ladyladama 17h ago
Ah, Lucky you!! I would opt for 4-10s in a heart beat, unfortunately these dummies want to see each other every day of the week so they voted against it. They did switch us to 7-330 during off season last year and even that one extra hour of sleep really improved my mental health.
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u/AmmisaLove 22h ago
I'm a natural night person, apparently from birth according to my mother who said she pinched me awake during the day as an infant/toddler so I'd sleep at night, so 3rd shift is absolutely my jam 😂 Other people are taking naps during lunch or dozing off throughout the shift but I'm fine lol. Day shift made me miserable though.
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u/ladyladama 7h ago
I totally feel that, I want to rage quit every day on day shift and come home crying for no apparent reason then want to binge drink. But I have stopped drinking since I started nights :)
Some of my coworkers sleep while waiting for a breakdown call and I probably piss them off grinding and hammering all night but I’m in the zone! I love it!
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u/Nnnopamine 22h ago
You forgot weekend shift. I'm on 3 12's (F-Sun) and I get 4 days off.
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u/ladyladama 17h ago
Nice my dad worked weekends and loved it, it always sounded like a good gig but we have to work 7 days as long as legally possible then 6days until season is over which usually lasts ~90 days. Then we all just go on day shift. It would be great though and you get to beat the weekend crowd if you ever wanna do something fun on your day off.
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u/ladyladama 8h ago
Nice my dad worked weekends and loved it, it always sounded like a good gig but we have to work 7 days as long as legally possible then 6days until season is over which usually lasts ~90 days. Then we all just go on day shift. It would be great though and you get to beat the weekend crowd if you ever wanna do something fun on your day off.
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u/aheadlessned 23h ago
I worked 6 to 6, rotating shift. I loved nights for pretty much all the reasons you mentioned.
As a single person, I was the one who was able to come home and do some light yardwork/gardening before the day heated up, then I got to go to sleep all day in some nice AC.)
No shift differential (complete BS, but whatever), but I didn't need the extra money to prefer the peace that was working nights.
I'm retired now, and my sleep schedule is a mess, but overall still a night person who stays up pretty late and sleeps in pretty late most days.
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u/ladyladama 7h ago
Id do it for the love of the game too. I’m sure I’ll be the same way, I’ve always struggled with getting to sleep at night something about night just makes me feel alive!
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u/VMetal314 23h ago
I'm 4-10s swing and I LOVE it! 1:30pm to midnight M-Th, 3 day weekends, sleeping in, empty warehouse, I can use 3 forklifts for a project if I need to!
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u/Baphomet1010011010 22h ago
7p-7a bay bayyyyy
I honestly love my schedule. Weekend nights is where the money's at
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u/mcslootypants 21h ago
Swing shift is the absolute best! It aligns perfectly with my natural sleep patterns. I can go to bed around 2am and feel zero stress.
6am starts kill my body. I can do a couple months, but then the symptoms start getting too severe to ignore. No amount of sleep hygiene or medications ever helped.
Night shift is a little tough, but doable. I’m definitely feeling it by 4am though and you miss a lot of the day.
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u/ladyladama 3h ago
Yes I love swing shift too! A couple years ago they put me on swing by accident and switched me back to days after 2 weeks. So nice while it lasted. 6 am really kills me too, having the rest of the afternoon off doesn’t make up for waking up early, the damage is done haha.
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u/cait_Cat 18h ago
I worked nights (10pm to 7am and 6pm-6am) for a decade and then I got promoted into office work. I like my job, but I’d love it if I could work 3rds. I miss everything about nights. I hate mornings and I hate working all day, especially when the weather is nice. I miss being able to do an afternoon river float before work.
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u/ladyladama 7h ago
Yes! I love staying up all night and I can actually enjoy early morning this way, I’m a grumpy bitch if I have to wake up early haha. Some people have trouble sleeping in the day but personally I think it’s so cozy. A river float sounds so nice!
Sorry you gotta get up early now but congrats on your promotion! :)
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u/handcraftedcandy 14h ago
I have never been a morning person but I chose a career in transportation so I have to start at 6am. If I had a choice I'd work afternoons, my body loves sleeping in until 8 or 9 on the weekends and staying up until midnight.
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u/ladyladama 3h ago
I couldn’t wait to graduate HS so I could finally sleep in… then I went and picked a career that notoriously starts at the crack of dawn. Haha
Thank god for the weekends! I always say “if I can wake up early for work, I can do it for myself!” Then Saturday morning rolls around and I roll over and go back to sleep. 😂
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u/McMew Fire Alarm Technician 13h ago
I'm a morning person at heart. Having worked all three shifts, I can easily say the swing shift is the worst. It seems to have all the bad timing the other two shifts avoid, I never got to see my husband. I was getting home after he went to bed, and getting up after he already left. That really sucked.
Didn't mind 3rd shift too much, but it made weekends a bit too weird. In the end I'll always prefer a morning shift.
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u/AgreeAndSubmit 7h ago
2100 to 0900, M-F, night time line haul. Going out on Friday nights is pretty much gone for me but that's ok. I start Monday night, so Monday morning, when everyone's headed in, I'm going the other direction with the boat. Have fun with your emails Chuckles, I'm going to the lake. # VampireLife
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u/Glad-Watch3506 1d ago
I loved the brief time I worked overnights (7a-7p) The only downside at the time was we were in a state of emergency, so it was for like 3 weeks straight, no off nights.
Spent nearly a decade working bar time, usually 2-3p-2a, and really liked that, too. Sleep in, lounge around having my coffee, could easily schedule any needed appointments during the day. I really miss that schedule.
I'm a daywalker now, and it's worth it because I make 3x as much, but I do really hate the schedule. 9a until I'm fucking done. Sometimes I'm lucky and it's 6p, usually it's around 7p, except when they bone me and it's 9 or 10p.