You know you work nights when.......

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2006

When you're bundled up in August because your temperature has been dropping all night. I get the strangest looks in the grocery store.

banditrn · Aug 10, 2006

I used to have a boyfriend who would occassionally call in the middle of the day. And sometimes I didn't completely wake up, I would just incorporate him into my dream. After a few of my answers didn't make any sense, he would say "are you asleep?" "yes" "OK, call me later", "um-hum, ok." :sleep:

I took the phone out of my bedroom, but one time my son woke me up in the middle of MY nite - his wife (now ex) wanted to borrow my van. :madface:

At work the next morning - I called them at 4 or 5 AM - to chat! :devil: :devil: The phone even woke the baby, who wouldn't go back to sleep!!

The (ex) dil was really pi##ed off. :yelclap: :yelclap:

Kymmi · Aug 10, 2006

When you start calling relatives and friends at 3am and asking them "Are you sleeping...Im concerned that you might be depressed because thats a sign....people that sleep all day..so maybe you should talk to a therapist."

My mother used to do that to me all the time...she'd call me at 3pm and I'd be sound asleep and she'd voice her concern for me because I was always sleeping. One night I called her at 3 am ( I know its mean but it got the point across) and said "gee...are you sleeping? Its the middle of the day for me. She's now stopped calling me until later in the evening.

prmenrs, RN · Aug 10, 2006

He didn't do it very often, and since we didn't live together, he was never sure of my days/nights on/off. Not to mention that they'd pull me to days sometimes.

I just thought it was amusing--it always took him a few minutes to figure out I was still asleep.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Aug 10, 2006

you and your friends are crowded 'round the bar at 0800 -- right next to the unwashed alcoholics and degenerates. and you all know each other!

you've ever called your insurance agent (who works from home) back at 0200 to make a point.

you've ever hung up on your father because when he said "don't you know who this is? i used to change your diapers!" you thought it was someone making an obscene phone call.

your friends (the triage nurse in the er, the local sheriff's department dispatcher and a guy who drives for the mortuary) call you at midnight on your days off because they aren't sleeping either, but their families are.

you've ever woken up with the portable phone in bed with you, not remembering who called or what you may have said to them.

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2006

When work calls to ask you a stupid question they wouldn't dream of calling someone @ 03:00 for. :trout:

knockandhello · Aug 11, 2006

when the girls at the salon are amazed you feel no pain at a waxing session at midday and can actually fall asleep during it.When you fly into a tirade at the local concil for waking you up at the ungodly hour of 2pm to complain about the number of rubbish bins you have out for collection-this is despite a note pinned to the door stating do not wake shift worker.all ideas of a healthy diet fly out the door and your kids live on take a ways.(my boys loved this)Your family grows up telling everyone that mum cant cook.,that your speciality was frozen tv dinners.When you are too tired to care about shaving your legs and just wear trousers or long skirts all the time.when you actually make the effort to dress up to go out and when you arrive realize you are wearing bedroom slippers and it doesnt embarress you.tell your kids that as long as they are wearing clean underwear and socks nothing else counts as long as it looks clean and smells ok.When you pay someone to do your yardwork and housework.When being single and rearing 6 kids alone and working nights all you want is a man who would make a good wife.And all you do on your nights off is want to sleep during the daytime anyway.

aprilangel01 · Aug 11, 2006

You can sleep through the phone ringing, the TV on, and the dog barking all at the same time.

bwidlits · Aug 11, 2006

on the way home, you turn LEFT on red after a stop and it takes the officer 2 traffic lights to get your attention.

perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2006

I turned left on a red the other day! And it took a while for me to realize "that wasn't right..." And then almost did it again, like a week later. Lucky for me there were no police officers around... hope things went ok for you!

rn/writer, RN · Aug 11, 2006

I'm laughing hard with recognition and appreciation.

You have two basic types of clothing--sleepwear and scrubs.

You go out for breakfast with co-workers and any "normal" friends you can haul out of bed that early.

During the winter, you can go for days at a time without seeing the sun.

You don't adjust your schedule too much on your days off. I personally sleep from 0400 till 1200 so my body doesn't go into shock.

You get to know cops, firefighters, cab drivers, security folks, all-night cashiers and waitresses--the other creatures of the night.

You tell your friends and family members with newborns to give you a call if they hit a rough patch during those wee-hours feedings.

You know the line-up of all the 24-hour cable stations. And you can rattle off the names of half a dozen or more infomercial products. Double points if you remember the phone numbers. Triple if you've ordered recently.

You wish you could find (or in my case, could have found) night school for the kids.

You try not to resent the fact that your kids' school conferences, athletic events, band concerts, etc. are cutting into your nap time before work.

You would like to kiss the person who invented vcrs and dvrs (TiVo), allowing you to actually watch prime time TV.

You scratch your head over people who can't stay up past ten o'clock.

You have to slap your own hand to keep from calling a friend at midnight.

It isn't the next day until you get up--even if it's not until four o'clock in the afternoon.

Breakfast isn't a time of day--it's a state of mind.

You wish doctors, dentists, hair salons, mechanics, and the rest routinely scheduled appointments until 11:00 at night.

You wake up in your driveway an hour after you got home. And this is despite the fact that your door is open, one foot is on the ground, and the keys-in-the-ignition bell has been going off the entire time.

You pray that you will remember to take the half-eaten sandwich out of your work bag before you stumble up to bed. Especially if you're off the next two days.

You have to have the TV on to fall asleep and you know what a whole bunch of TV shows and movies sound like but you've never actually seen them.

You don't balk at spending a little extra on foofy comforters and pillows because your bed is your best friend.

I could go on and on, but I just got home from work a little while ago and it's beddy-bye time for me.

Keep it coming, nocturnal ones.

tvccrn, ASN, RN · Aug 11, 2006

I thought I was the only one who had ever called up family at (what they considered) an ungodly hour just to make a point. :lol2:

I called my exMIL up at 4 AM one morning to ask about borrowing some flour because she would routinely call me despite repeated, and increasingly rude, requests not to call until 6 PM.

tvccrn