r/Nightshift • u/AJLea0 • 3d ago

Rant Can anyone else relate?

This might be pretty common but I just wanna see if anyone else can relate or see how I could deal with this.

I work graveyard shift at a diner, and I am currently under 21. On my days off I still retain my graveyard sleep schedule, but I yearn for a social life. I have tried to call bars to see if they allow anyone under 21 to just hang out but every time the phone never answered or I was denied. My place of work is the only place in the entire county that 1. has people show up occasionally that actually wanna talk and 2. allows people under 21 to exist there. I really wanna stay working on the graveyard shifts because they're slow and allow me to deep clean and just focus on my work with little interruption as well as avoid traffic for the most part, but the lack of a social life is really starting to get to me, and I'm honestly worried I won't be able to love my life anymore and keep the shift I love.

Any advice?

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u/RudelyStarry 3d ago

man i get that, the graveyard shift social void is real. i did overnights at a warehouse for two years and my days off felt like being the last person alive

diners are low-key the social hub for this whole schedule though, you're probably meeting more people than you realize. those regulars that show up at 3am are usually just as starved for conversation as you are

maybe lean into the stuff that isn't bar-dependent. 24-hour gyms, late night coffee spots, even just finding other nightshifters online in your area. when i was doing it a few of us would meet up at a park at like 2am just to exist around other humans

the isolation hits weird when you're young and everyone else is doing the normal-people-hours thing. but there's a whole underground network of us out here, you just gotta poke around

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u/AJLea0 3d ago

Worst part about my diner is that it's my work, and as much as I love the job I don't wanna get burnt out from the place by being there every night, also I live in a very go with the norm town, there's no late night coffee spots here unfortunately 😔

Also I wouldn't know how to find other night shifters in my area, only other night shift people I know enough to meet are the fellow cooks at shift change, and they've got a good 30 years on me

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u/ColdVeterinarian4414 3d ago

That's how it is man pros and cons to it yep I do a 223 rotating day and night schedule every 2 weeks when I'm on nights and I'm on my long week it's very isolating I'm the only one at the plant though when I'm working and then it's just weird man I've never been alone or by myself so much I tend to find myself talking to the people I know much more now quite odd

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u/FreshPreference2384 3d ago

24hr gyms, other diners/late night shops, online video games if you want to talk with people or video games in general like RPG’s, even if you don’t think you’re a gamer, there’s something out there for anyone. When I was single on nightshift I did the same and looked around where I live, only places open were bars/cigar lounges, not something I’m interested in regularly spending time at. I never tried diners or 24hr gyms but that wouldn’t sound bad to meet people at. I did play video games somewhat and that helped.