Friday, March 5, 2010

What shift for you?

I know, don't all fall over because I post more than once in an entire day. It's just been one of those days.

Today I finally got some info about the upcoming shift change at DH's department. I've added a poll so you can vote on what YOU would choose; you can choose more than one, but I assume you'll pick weekdays OR weekends, AND one of the times of day ~ days, swings, or graves (overnights).

We are less than six years into this and already I'm "so over" the whole shift change thing. Interesting to note, I recently heard someone say that only the people who still have a hang up about "X" ever say "I'm so over 'X' " ... and that would be true in this case for me! More appropriately I should say "I'm so fed up" with the whole shift change thing. Every time it feels like playing Russian Roulette, choosing blindly and hoping that whatever shakes out works for us as a family and for my husband as an employee. Things like:

Who's your sgt?
Who else is on your shift?
What is going on at home?
Which kid is doing what?
Is it spring, summer, winter, or fall?

More things that I can't think of right now, but it just seems complicated when it feels like you can "control" your destiny (i.e. choose your shift) when in reality you -- rather, *I* as the stay-at-home Mom -- feel completely out of control and royally screwed no matter which way you look at it.

So I'm wondering, where should I aim when I pull the trigger and make a request one way or the other this time? And can I convince DH?

5 comments:

Simply Complicated said...

Oh I love/hate that time of year for us! My husband's dept does shift picks once a year based on seniority. So you hash over all the combinations of shift, rotation, who you work with (if they pick what you think they will!) and who your sgt is etc... and every time I can't wait for the "new" shift to start - yet I absolutely know that by the end of the year I'll be wanting him to work a different shift! Good thing we talked about this very thing being an issue before we even got into law enforcement! But yes pros and cons to everything every way you look at it. Good luck!

KD said...

SC ~ All I can do is laugh at your comment. You *totally* get it! I love community. :)

Genesis said...

I feel so fortunate because OH's department doesn't do shift changes ... they work really hard to get the officers on the shift they want and then they keep them there. When he first started FTO he did three weeks of nights and then was working with a day crew. He kept saying "Don't get used to this" until he finally finished FTO and his sergeant said, "Here's your desk". Next year they get a new chief though so I may not get to live in wonderful land much longer!

Meadowlark said...

I'm almost embarrassed to post this.
Husband works M-F 8-5 and the next week M-TH 8-6. Repeat. Yes, I know I'm spoiled beyond belief. But the first 13 years in law enforcement was 4-on, 4-off, 6a -6p the first two days then immediately flipflop to 6p-6a the next two days. Yuck. And terrible for their health.

This department does not use seniority for shifts. They finally switched to a normal rotation (swings, mids, graves, etc) and after the initial picks, every officer (90-100) will just continuously rotate every 3 months throughout the years.

MJ said...

My hubbs works 12 hour shifts. M,T,F,S,S one week and then just W,R the next. He just moved to days from nights, and he is having trouble adjusting, but he will get there.