You live in darkness, see only the oddest of people, and run on a constant stream of caffeine. No, you're not some evil villain, you're a night-shift worker. Night-shift workers can unite on so many things that there are pages of memes about their struggles. As a night-shift worker myself and as a child of a night-shift worker, let me tell you about the night time life.
When you come on shift
There are only two ways you come in for the night shift. The first is trudging in to work, praying for someone else to miraculously tell you you're not needed. You know you look ratchet and you just don't care. Maybe you needed to be a real person that day so you didn't sleep before your shift, maybe you're in a sleep hangover, and maybe you're just so done with life. Regardless, you know you look five minutes away from death but does it really matter when you won't talk to a real human being for the next eight hours?
Or you are the following, a person so ready for doing nothing all night long and so pumped on caffeine that their excitement is torturous. Like this.
Either way, both will hit a brick wall of tiredness and boredom that even the most coffee-filled employee cannot overcome.
When the caffeine buzz wears off.
Oh you know that brick wall I was talking about, well here it is. This is the moment when you ponder life's most important question, why doesn't Dutch Bros. deliver? Sometimes you bring an extra back up Red Bull, but if you're like me, nothing does the trick quite like a steaming hot cup of Joe. You start to feel a headache, your stomach makes you feel like a beached whale, and your eyes start to droop.
When time inches by.
You look up to the computer screen thinking that your coffee has put you through the first four hours of your shift just to see that it's only been 30 minutes. Oh, no, how are you going to make it through? These are the times when you wonder why are you really here. Most likely it's just in case of an emergency and you are left wondering if you could get away with putting a cot on the floor and rigging a bell to wake you if someone came in. But no, you'll be strong because you have too much pride to give up. Or you just don't want to be seen with drool dripping from your mouth.
When 3 AM hits.
If you have ever seen a scary movie about ghosts, murders, zombies or anything taking place at night, or especially 3 AM, then you know the fear that I am talking about. God forbid if you have to go to the bathroom during that time, or if an especially creepy creeper walks in, because your fear is just too damn high. You know you'd be the first to go in a zombie apocalypse; you start to believe that ghosts are real and that there really is an ax murderer about to walk in at any second.
When you see the sun rise.
You have that feeling of hope, maybe you're going to make it through this. Unless it's the summer months, because you know it's still only 5 A.M. You know the end is still so near and anyone can tell you that power hour will fly by. You start tiding up your desk, erasing all evidence of the thousands of food wrappers and coffee cups you have gone through, along with the note pad where you counted down the hours, minutes, or seconds until your shift is over.
The next person comes in and asks your favorite question, "Anything exciting happen last night?" you respond the same as every other time "Nope, didn't see a soul." You practically jump out of your seat, ready to go home to your soft, comforting bed. You've made it through another night shift and mentally prepare yourself the next night.
