Third Shift

I have worked third shift off and on for the last 8 years, and continuously for the last 4. A lot of people wouldn't do it, but I really enjoy it. Working at Wal-Mart in the daytime can get very crazy. Some times third can, but it doesn't last long. We do a little business on this shift, mainly the start of it, but then we can do our thing with minimum interruption. One thing I insist on is I need my two nights off together. If they are not it doesn't seem like you get any rest. I know a lot of my co-workers go home and go to bed, but I stay up until about 2:00 P.M. My reasoning is if you get off at 5:00 you don't go home and go to bed. I also keep those hours on my days off. Sometimes I do get to bed later if I have a lot to do, but it is so much easier to keep rested.

The first time I ever worked third was a two month period in the early '90's when I was working at a hospital in Springfield, Illinois. I worked in Environmental Services, which is a fancy way of saying housekeeping. We had one person there overnight. The man who did it had to take a leave of absence, and I was asked to fill in. I really enjoyed it, but my wife didn't. When he came back I figured I was done with third, but flash forward a few years later, I was now in Georgia working for K-Mart. My position there was replenishment supervisor. It was a day time job, but a couple of months before Christmas they decided to go over night. The nice thing there was K-Mart was not a 24 hour store, so there were no customers to deal with. After Christmas the decision was made to leave replenishment on third. My wife wanted me to go back to days. I asked and was told I couldn't. I have never been one to demand, so I went and talked to Wal-Mart. I had an interview scheduled. K-Mart found out and amazingly a day time position opened up, so I stayed with them. My wife passed away in June of 2000. In October of that year, K-Mart decided to expand the number of assistant managers in the store. I applied and was accepted as the overnight assistant. I figured that would help me keep my mind off my home situation and it worked. I will go into it later, but about 4 years ago K-Mart weeded out a lot of their experienced help. I was a little disgusted with retail, so I worked 5 months making rubber floor mats, again on third shift. I quickly realized I was much happier in retail and the applied at Wal-Mart, where they quickly hired me. One advantage of third shift there is it pays an extra fifty cents an hour. The only way I will come off the shift is if I can get a a department head job. Until then, I am up all night, and enjoying every minute of it.


Todays Distinguished Hero is this guy named George Herbert Walker Bush. I wonder what he did after the war?
From the card: "Before he became the 41st President Of The United States, A teenage George Herbert Walker Bush served his country during World War II. George, the son of Connecticut Senator Prescott Bush, joined the Navy on his 18th birthday, and was not yet 19 when he earned his commission as an aviator in 1943. He flew many missions in the South Pacific during the conflict, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross."