Dear Ann Landers, Most of the world works by day and sleeps by night. But many people do their jobs while everyone else sleeps -- police officers, nurses, firefighters, waitresses, truck drivers, telephone operators, cab drivers, janitors, security guards and night-shift workers. I am a woman who manages a very busy bar, which means I work late hours six nights a week.
Some people have the crazy idea that I get paid to "party." Actually, I monitor the bartenders and have to decide which customers have had enough. I rarely get to sit down. Meanwhile, my husband seldom gets to stand up. "Mike" is a disc jockey. He is expected to be cheerful and funny and sound as if he is having a ball, even when he has a killer headache or the flu.
I get home around 4 a.m. Mike gets home about 5:30 a.m. We eat supper together and go to bed when the sun comes up. Then, the phone starts to ring. People think because we work at night, we have the whole day free. Some of our friends and family members have actually said, "You sure have it easy. You can sleep all day." Where do people get that nutty idea?
Night workers are just like everybody else. We spend eight hours at work, a couple of hours commuting and running errands, a few hours doing marketing, cooking and household chores, and if we are lucky, we get six or seven hours of sleep. Will you please say a few kind words for us night owls? We could use a little sympathy. -- Sleepless in New Orleans
Dear Sleepless, God bless you night owls. If it weren't for you, the world would come to a screeching halt at sundown. I'm a bit of a night owl myself -- preferring to work late into the night and sleep until noon. My energy level peaks around midnight. The phone is off the hook when I retire. If people think I'm "peculiar," I don't give a hoot.
Hi! It's Margo here. I'd love to know what you think of the letters -- and the answers!
Also, any additional thoughts you might have. Thanks!
Reader Comment
"Shankia", you and your phone Dr. Odunga can take a long walk off a short pier. You are an idiot for believing his garbage and you should restrict your stupidity to your Facebook page.
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Dear Readers, , along with 16 of her classmates. The boys were talking about school and vacation plans and telling jokes. The girls were having a heated discussion on who was “fat” and who was “skinny.” They dis-cussed diets and were critical of the girls with weight problems. I was so disgusted I left the room. I wanted to tell those girls that it’s what’s inside a person that counts, but I realized there was no way to undo in a few sentences what our culture has done to them since the day they were born. When will the media and other powerful elements in our society stop insisting that thinness is ideal? Why are women judged by what they weigh while men are judged by what they accomplish and how much money they make? It is estimated that one out of five female college students suffers from an eating disorder. I do not want my niece or any other young girl to become a statistic. Female students with eating disorders can-not concentrate on schoolwork. Working women with eating disor-ders cannot concentrate on their jobs. The equality women have fought for won’t mean a thing if there are no healthy women around to enjoy it. These young girls learn from television to emulate supermodels who weigh, on average, 23 percent less than a normal American woman. My 9-year-old niece is not interested in boys. She is trying to be thin because society has taught her that she will not be accepted any other way. Please address this issue, Ann. -Concerned Aunt in N.J.
