When my sister and I were younger we used to watch some movies over and over and over again. Grease, Adventures in Babysitting, Girls Just Want to Have Fun…the list goes on and on. Today the movie “9 to 5” is stuck in my head. Not because I want to put rat poison in my boss’ coffee, but because I wonder if there are people that work 9 -5. I have never worked those hours. Ever. I work in the food business, people in the food business don’t work 9-5. Ever. Not only do I work in the food business, I am “the boss” of my location. I have tons of responsibility on my shoulders.
I am home from what was my 10th day in a row. Now 10 days in a row isn’t horrible. If I worked 9-5 it would be fine. 10 Days in a row of normal shifts would be manageable. I don’t work normal shifts. Friday I worked 14 hours (add in a 45 minute commute and what you have is one long day). Today I worked 11 hours. Everything aches. I am so tired. I am off the day after tomorrow.
And despite this miserable work schedule, I love my job. I really do. Sometimes the pressure is too much and I think I should look for something else, but I don’t. Because I really do like what I do. And not every week is like this. I have a lot of down time for holidays and summer. I think being off 10 at Christmas is worth a few late nights.
Unfortunately, my job had a lot to do with why my marriage ended. He hated my job, who am I kidding he still hates it. It causes fights on a regular basis. He could never support me in my career. He could never be the only income earner in our household, he didn’t want to work that hard. But he could never support me, he never understood why I had to work so much, to put food on the table, a roof over our heads. I don’t know how he thought we afforded clothes, shoes, food, a house a brand new car…I paid for all of it.
He denies this of course. He thinks he was supportive. He says he only hates my work schedule because it hurts the kids. I always thought if he was more supportive, they kids would be fine. If he was more caring, and less on the phone with someone complaining about how much I work maybe the kids wouldn’t care.
I ask myself often how do the children of nurses and doctors feel? These people regularly work “non-traditional” hours. Long days, late nights, similar to what I do. How are their children affected? Do they survive without their parent for more than 8 hours? I am positive they do. I have to believe if you are with someone who believes in you and is proud of what you do, your relationship can overcome something like this. Do their partners feel neglected? Do the kids feel neglected? If 2 people have the same goals in life are work schedules that big a deal?
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