Good Morning and Good Night

Knowing what time of day it is and how to greet someone is usually something most of us never think about, it comes naturally, " Have a good day!" or "have a nice night." Working someplace where everyone is a shift worker makes things more complicated. I have noted and understand why night workers pass you and say "good morning" and why night workers who are leaving ( in early daylight) say "have a good night. No matter the shift, day, swing or grave, as they enter the building they say good morning as they pass by.

Then add patrons to that mix. There are almost no windows in a casino, they don't want you to know what time it is, also there are no clocks. As someone leaves, you take into account the amount of light there is in the sky( peeking into the garage) , and the time on your watch, and try to give the appropriate wish upon their leaving.

It's 3am, it's still dark, and someone passes you to exit. Do you:

a. Wish them a good night

b. Wish them a good morning.

c. It depends on the person.

**C is the correct answer. Most of the time someone corrects you after you wish them a....

After a night of wishing everyone good morning or good night, it sometimes feels like you are in a time warp. You walk out the door to sunshine, it's 7am, and you will be going to bed in a few hours, your night is everyone else's day. Then you lay down to sleep. Throughout your night you wake up and glance at the curtains to see what time of day it is. Several times I have woken with a start thinking that I somehow overslept since I can see daylight creeping in. Or I look at the clock and think 8am? or 8pm? Because the damn sunlight is messing with me.

I am not sure if I will ever adapt to my grave shift hours, it just does not feel right. I still battle dark circles under my eyes because I don't think my body understands either. On swing I had 9 hour days 4 days a week, on graves 7.5 5 days a week.(plus mandatory OT). I do not recall ever reaching 1030pm on swing and feeling exhausted. On grave, at 6am, I am fading. It's not from lack of sleep, I try to get a good nights rest as much as possible, likely more than I did on swing.

I've talked to more than a few folks about working grave, and the general consensus is: it takes a long time to adapt, and some people never do. Good grief...good night..er..good morning.

what time is it?

k