nightclub-nic

Here I sit at 5am, just home from work. I am officially a night owl.

I recently got a job helping manage a nightclub. I didn’t think it would be much of a stretch, having always been a night person in general. I was the teenager in school with the bags under his eyes from 3am sleeps and 8 am rises. Damn school always got in the way of me truly embracing my inner owl. It wasn’t though, until after graduating, that I found I could get away with it. I chose night jobs, got into the hospitality industry for the last 7 years of my life, and haven’t had to deal with early work-related rises since. You’d think this would have warmed me up for working in a nightclub.

It really is a whole different monster, for more reasons than I could ever list. But jebus-almighty I never thought it would change my life. I mean a 6am laydown for me changes the entire pattern of my day. I make sure to get enough zzz’s to function through the course of my Monday-Fridays and then catch up on my days off. My rises now determine a sporadic course of eating patterns whose time of the day makes it vaguely recognizable as any traditional meal. Waking up when I do gives me a will to do something active in the evenings, something I look forward to during the summer months. They also determine a moderate to completely non-existent social life, wherein I cram a week of socializing to the degree in which I like to socialize, into 48 hours. My moods are even different from everyone else’s. I’m tired when they’re awake, and awake when everybody’s ready to tell you to shut the hell up and calm down. My life is just damn plain different.

But I love what I do dammit. I get a thrill from having a completely different life. I’m doing something that fulfills me in a way I couldn’t have predicted. Even if it meant becoming a full fledged owl now.

Here though are a few tips for everyone who is considering going from human to vampire:

  • Having a hard time sleeping? Well you also probably have found that the time to drink during the week is now slim to none. A single bottle of beer can now be seen as the ultimate in cutting edge valium for the sleep deprived. That’s right kids. Just a few sips and you too can be snoring before you can say “Pale Ale”.
  • Shower in the morning. Seriously. Give yourself enough time to SHOWER IN THE MORNING. You think a shower felt good and woke you up at 8am? You don’t even know how enjoyable a 2pm shower can be instead. There’s something about showering at a time that’s related with already having been doing something with your day, that causes your mind and body to echo the sentiment, “You’re already traditionally supposed to be being proactive, hence you clearly have nothing else to do today, so take your time and relax…” You will never feel as zen brain.
  • Don’t feel guilty for the course of your day changing dramatically. Guilt is for Catholics, You now worship the night. Wow did that sound pagan. Really though, own the fact that you have just as much time as everybody else during the day, it’s just been scooched into different hours. Don’t panic. Just do the things you should be doing, at said different hours. You will find you get just as much done but see people less. The latter of these two cannot be helped. You knew what you were getting yourself into jerk.

So please for the love of God, next time you see me on the street at lunch time, and you’re already boppin’ to the beat of life’s drum, I’m still waiting for my caffeine to kick in and will not respond well to high decibel levels, deep questions about my personal life, or anything that doesn’t end with, “Do you need room for cream?”.

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