10 to 6 Blues

I have been looking around for a topic to write on for ages so that I could start blogging and could not find it… for the past some days I have been keeping company for a friend whose been doing a lot of night shifts lately… I was discussing something bout blogs to her and she was telling me to start blogging I started my usual excuses bout not being able to find a suitable topic and my preferences . It was then that she suggested that I write about night shifts… Although at that time I thought of it as not at all suitable, on second thought I was like why not!! I mean this is a very common and contemporary topic. Today, with so many companies outsourcing and the upcoming need to work in sync with American schedules , it is not surprising to see more people working on night shifts. Personally speaking I am one of those people who love the night. I love staying awake at night, I love night rides, I prefer studying in the night. for me night gives me some sort of freedom. I love the serenity of the night, the stillness, the way it allows you to feel you are the only human alive. But then whenever I am awake at night its almost always by choice not out o obligation so I wouldn’t be actually be correct at comparing myself to the people working night shifts. that is partly because when I am awake at nights I am mostly doing things I like doing .So when it is not much of a compulsion it is ok with us I guess. But then the truth is that staying awake at nights has serious repercussions on your body. it affects you physically, u keep ill , u become lethargic, become less sociable, there are serious disruptions in your body clock, and so on so forth. My idea is not to a pro/con account related to night shifts. I just want to share what I feel about it. there are a lot of reason people work on night shifts. The first reason is of course obligation. sometimes you have no choice but to work nights. but a major chunk of people do it because of the money. getting paid more than one and a half times just because you are doing it in the night is a very lucrative proposition. Believe me when I say this. But depending on the intensity of work , the work conditions, like the ambience etc, and of course your co workers, night shifts are often quite manageable.. there are lesser people around and the absence of people higher up the ladder is not at all regretted.. If u are used to it then it becomes just another day working, but that is a big if considering the fact that u have to adjust to the fact that u are working when other people sleep . But the other side to it is that you are sleeping when the other peopleare working so the optimistic point of view is a lot better in my opinion. also there is a drastic change in lifestyle so that needs to be adjusted to. All this is just an outsiders point of view so forgive me if I sound all positive about night shifts . believe me i am not. I have a lot of friends working nights so I know the dark side of it too. but then all said and done , I think this is a consequence of globalization and that it is jus going to get more an more common. I personally wont be surprised to see global software companies working shifts. The bottom line however remains that whatever people do to earn is fine but it should be sustainable it the long run. earning a bit more today and spending thrice the amount on health expense 20 years down the line does not make a lot of sense ,at least to me. This not a very concludable topic but its a very personal and conditional choice whether to work in night shifts or not but then personal happiness health should be a very prime priority.