24/7

How do you really get a feel for what it’s going to be like to work in totally foreign environment? I had no idea how to deal with most of the questions that were bouncing around in my brain about what work was going to be like. I had some ideas, but for the most part, I put all the questions in the back of my head and just focussed on the immediate challenges. It kept me open to everything I came up against and I’m adjusting okay.

But the one thing that I did think a lot about was a seven-day work week. Those of you that work every day of the week can excuse me because I’ve never had that sort of job before. (Forgive me for a little Rob Bell nonsense here.)

There is no weekend.

No end to the week.

Just days.

Day after day after work day.

My boss and I have been here for just about the same amount of time, and we both agree that it’s a difficult thing to keep track of time – specifically what day it is. There’s no Friday-type day that marks a mini-vacation from work.

As a bonus though – there isn’t a day that qualifies as a “Monday” either, so there’s that.

But I’m worried about my fragile psyche and the changes that will slowly convert me from a person who shouts “Thank God It’s Friday!” to “Friday is just the day after Thursday and the day before Saturday!” I’m worried that at Karaoke, when my go-to crowd pleaser “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend” becomes “Everybody’s Just Working and Working,” that something inside me will just break.

So I’ve started talking with the site supervisor about changing our calendars to reflect the challenges of a day-less environment. Let me know what you think, but I’m proposing that we get rid of day names altogether. Why use them if they have no meaning? I’ve thrown out there the idea that instead of worrying about which day it is, we should just be worried about whether it is day or not. Get back to a pre-historic man sort of mentality that recognizes two states of time – Day and Night.

[Simulated Discussion between DynCorp Contract Workers:]

“Hey, what day is it?”

“It IS day.”

“Which day?”

“Day. You know – day?”

“Are you asking me now?”

“I’m not asking you sh*t! [Employee one isn't having a good daylight, but profanity probably isn't needed] You asked me about day and I told you day!”

“Hey, hold on there! Just tell me what day it is! Don’t you have a calendar?”

“My calendar is the sky, my friend. See that sun? Ba da boom – day! I’m going to go do some hunting and gathering? Want to come?”

“When are we getting back?”

“Thursday”

In all seriousness, I have really not suffered too much from the continual work cycle, and I think it will only make the time go faster, and more importantly, make weekends a little more precious when I get back from here.