Night Shift Dining

59 Diner in Katy. The only ones there were me, the night waitress, the night manager, and a cook.

IHOP at 3 in the morning!

I was recently transferred to the graveyard shift at work. This isn't the first time I've worked the graveyard shift. I'm hoping to live the life of a night worker smarter this time than I did back then but that's another post for another time. The life of a night worker feels like living backwards. When you're up and working the majority of the population is asleep. You drive through neighborhoods past thousands of people who have no idea you are there. When you sleep the rest of society is functioning "as normal." Most services that people take for granted aren't readily available and require a sacrifice of sleep for you to use. Anyhow, dining on the night shift is very limited. Bigger city night workers have more options than small towns or even rural areas. Fortunately I live in a metroplex so there is always something open and ready to use. However the dining experience at 2, 3, 4 in the morning is quite different than when the sun is up. Often times the establishment is bare (excepting Saturday and Sunday mornings after the bars and clubs close), the workers are bored and tired, the cook staff aren't supervised as much and can make or break the quality of your meal depending on their mood, motivation, level of intoxication (sometimes), etc. On the plus side you usually have more attention from your server and depending on how easily you make friends can have a pleasant discussion and better than average service (plus they can help make sure your food is done right). Night workers share a bond of living and working apart from the rest of society so conversations come easily. It's our own little world.