THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601260250
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JOHN HARPER
CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
``The night cometh, when no man can work.''
John 9:4.
HUMANS BY NATURE are creatures of the day. But for a lot of workers who keep the world going, night rules.
Welcome to the graveyard shift.
The shift varies from place to place - 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., midnight to 6 a.m. But no matter how you measure it, it's the time when most of us are in downtown Z-Z-Z-city.
While we sleep, police continue patrols, doctors continue to heal, radios continue to play and convenience stores continue to sell. And the people who perform these tasks move society along until morning.
Shift work takes its toll on workers, both physically and mentally. The problems caused by the late shift are in many ways similar to those caused by jet lag: scientists studying night employees call the out-of-sorts feeling ``shift lag.''
Changing to an eight-hour work schedule that starts at ll p.m instead of 9 a.m., for example, can have the same impact on your body's natural rhythms as crossing 14 time zones or flying more than halfway around the world.
Workers on the graveyard shift force their bodies to be active when they want to sleep and to sleep when they want to be active. A human's biological systems, which are linked with the sun and light, are thrown into chaos by the reversal of the normal schedule.
But despite its rather macabre-sounding description and potential for problems, a few Albemarle workers actually like being night people.
``You don't have so many people looking over your shoulder,'' says Linda Kimberlin, 53, who works overnights at the 7-Eleven convenience store in Kill Devil Hills.
Kimberlin works five shifts a week of either 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. or midnight to 8 a.m. She's worked the graveyard shift for seven years, and it shows.
Kimberlin is perpetual motion as she restocks shelves, makes fresh coffee and sandwiches, sweeps the floor and greets the occasional customer.
``We have too much to do to sit around and talk,'' she says.
``But I do have a lot of regular customers who I speak to.''
Kimberlin's energy is directly related to her carefully choreographed daytime schedule. It has to be that way; she's also the caretaker of her two grandchildren, ages 13 and l0.
``I usually stay up for a couple of hours after I get off, so I can get the kids off to school,'' she says. ``Then I sleep for about four hours, wake up and fix dinner. I sleep for a few more hours, and then come to work.''
Kimberlin doesn't seem affected by the problem of shift lag.
``I couldn't sleep eight hours straight if I tried,'' she says.
``But I feel fine. This is the shift I prefer.''
Sociologists and scientists who study night people also say that the overnight shift can damage social and domestic life. But, Kimberlin, who was widowed in 1993, says the night shift was never a problem with her husband.
``We were married 37 years,'' she says. ``He drove a truck and I worked the graveyard shift. We had less time to fight. We appreciated the time we had together.''
Wendy Yates, 25, of Kitty Hawk, works the night side with Kimberlin. She started in October.
``You have to be sort of nocturnal,'' she says. ``You are either a night person or you're not. I think I am, so far.''
Both women say there are times during the night when Mr. Sandman flirts, but they are able to resist his charms.
``We talk to each other and listen to the radio,'' Yates says.
``And drink lots and lots of coffee.''
Dr. Lewis Siegel works the graveyard shift as part of a rapidly rotating schedule, spending only a couple of days a week on the overnight schedule.
Siegel, 32, of Virginia Beach, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician who works primarily in the emergency room at Chesapeake General Hospital.
But twice a month, Siegel is on duty from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. at the Outer Banks Medical Center in Nags Head, a facility managed by Chesapeake General.
So, what's up, doc?
``Your body never really gets used to it,'' he says. ``But you get enough sleep to function. We always have to be sharp.''
Siegel says most emergency room physicians work rotating shifts.
``There has to be someone working the night shift,'' he says. ``I wouldn't want to do it all the time, but I don't mind it.''
Siegel says doctors adjust to working long and odd hours because of the standard medical training. While in residency, medical students often work 36 hours straight.
``You get used to it,'' he says. ``Work your hours and then go home and sleep.''
But, Dr. Siegel, what about those docs on the TV series, ``ER?'' They always look good.
``That's a little bit of Hollywood,'' he says. ``But they do a realistic job of portraying a big-city emergency room. I watch it.''
Inside a small studio in Edenton, James ``Sparky'' Whitfield prepares for his overnight shift. Whitfield, 22, hosts ``Planet X,'' an underground alternative music show, on WERX, Rock 102.
He moved from Iowa to Edenton to work the graveyard shift.
``I wanted to move to a better market,'' he says. ``So I was willing to work this shift to break in.''
But, Whitfield says, the shift has ``drastically'' changed his life.
``My girlfriend is sleeping now,'' he says. ``We have to plan our time together.
``But the good thing is I never have to set an alarm clock. I never have to wake up early.''
Whitfield breaks into the music twice an hour.
At 20 minutes after the hour, he announces the songs played in the first set. At 10 minutes before the hour, Whitfield announces the songs and gives a weather forecast.
In between, he pulls CDs from the well-stocked shelves, answers the telephone and prepares for the next break.
``The sets are long,'' he says. ``But I enjoy the music. If I didn't, it would be hard to stay up.
``I also have some regular callers. A guy from a doughnut shop in Elizabeth City calls me just about every night. Sometimes people call just to talk. They are lonely, and none of their friends are up.
``Last week, a girl called and said she had insomnia. I just talked her through it.''
Whitfield says there are some times on the graveyard shift when things are a little spooky.
``Sometimes you hear things. And when there's a full moon, the weirdos come out. I get some strange phone calls.''
Welcome to the graveyard shift. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Linda Kimberlin, 53, who has worked the graveyard shift for 7 years,
mops the floor at the 7-Eleven in Kill Devil Hills after midnight.
Staff photos by DREW C. WILSON
Traffic on the normally busy U.S. Hwy. 158 Bypass at French Fry
Freeway in Kill Devil Hills slows in the early morning hours during
the winter months.
NIGHT WORK
If you are considering working the graveyard shift, you can
lessen the impact by following these tips from James ``Sparky''
Whitfield:
Don't do it unless you realize how much it will change your
life.
Drink lots of coffee.
Have a regular sleeping habit.
Exercise.
Find other people who work the same shift. Form a network of
graveyard workers.
Eat right.
Commit yourself to the shift. It's your new life.
by CNB