RE: Night-shift boredom on the help desk
Ya, but yours were simple jobs with the answers in the tech manuals. I've worked several night shift with different cures/curses/conflicts. 1. When I had the suicide hot line it was deadly. One guy kept re-calling until I started contemplating ways how TO kill him. That was a tough one! Repeat non-jumper!
2. The Poison hot-line was different. There was always a real need to be sharp when some mother called that her baby had swallowed a bunch of pill and had chewed away the labels so she didn't know what they all were. On that shift I took to stay alert spelling all the possible common poison meds with their possible ingredients and practiced spelling them backwards. (Johnny swallowed a bottle of liquid supersoap w/bleach added what should I do?) ANS: Nothing just be prepared the cleanest, whitest poop ever! It will all come out in the wash. 3. Night shift on the ortho-ward was almost sleep inducing. 30 some healthy Marines snoring enough to shake the hospital down if they got into step. They weren't sick just broken this and that. Fights, bike rides, sudden moving trees on the highways were the causes and not allowed in the barracks in casts was my burden. I killed the time by flirting with the "info" gals on the (no phonebooks then) dial phones info night shift and trying to make a date. Tough task in a military town when all the gals had heard most every line... My task was to have a good story matched to the different operator and not ever lose the character I was projecting with her. Then make a date and figure a way to see her with out her seeing me.. (I'll be wearing an orange shirt... and show up in green and across the street from where I said I'd be.) Lots of near death experiences there. Next chore was to recall info recognize voices to dog matrix given vocal changes when crying (with legitimate need for her info) catching the ditched low potential one the next night and make the viable excuse "work" with one irritated stood up dog while still getting the info.
Those drills will keep your mind sharp ... still works into sales and marketing 40 years later!
