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Production Support - What it means to be 24/7

I used work in - what is called in corporate parlance, a 24/7 Company. I used to feel perfectly normal. My friends and wife thought I was a zombie. This I had dismissed as a subjective observation but lately, I have been thinking that there might have been some truth in that observation.


Let me explain why I feel that way


I used to drive to my office on a motorbike. Its a 20 kms drive one way. So very complex rocket science math will tell the cautious reader that I drive 40 kms at the least everyday (tadaaa). I used to do night shifts or again in Corporate parlance; "the graveyard shift". My wife asks me one day if I remember anything that I saw on the roads that was worth mentioning when driving. I thought she had gone crazy. Why would I remember anything that i saw and what was the poin........Hey, hold on, wait a minute. jees, I don't actually remember anything nor can I recall which way I came. 'Holy Pulsar' what is happening ? I drove on auto-pilot for 20 kms and am still alive ? This cant be happening. I have 6 predefined routes to reach office. So which one did I take today ? OK, Which one I did I take yesterday? I cant remember a damn thing. What the f*#k is happening here. I seriously doubt if I am driving the Bike or if the bike is driving me. OK, I will settle for 50-50. Where is that damn Rum when i a want it ?

Now this is not actually funny - for me - even when I think about it now. During the graveyard shift days, when I come home in the mornings and am eating break-whatever you call it-fast, My wife tries to update me of the happenings since I left. This strangely sounds to me as sounds coming from different directions, bouncing off me, hitting the wall and then coming back at me and eventually fading away at a distance. I told her this. Well, guess what? She was not amused. It took hard negotiations, straight talk and another human job to save the marriage.

When you do night shifts, your body is not doing what it is tuned to do in a 24 hrs day. its going against the circadian cycle (This is a cycle with 20 wheels, all with different diameter. We humans are not nocturnal creatures. We don't hunt at night. ( otherwise called life)There are exceptions to this statement. I have to agree. Some of us do just that but for the sake of the point discussed here lets assume that what i mentioned is true. Humans 'hunting at night' is a subject for an entire new blog which will come later. Thank you).

So ladies and gentlemen of this august assembly, please go your companies and tell them to start teams in the US to do their day shift and have teams in India to do their night shifts.

Just how much money can you make by doing away with jobs in the US ? and who gains ?

Definitely not you. Your health, wealth and marriages will get ruined and that bottle of rum wont help, Trust me on this.


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