Working the graveyard shift in old-time Phoenix


Unlike places like New York, or Los Angeles, Phoenix hasn't been a late-night, or 24-hour city for very long, but there has always been the need for someone to do a graveyard shift, like police officers, or night watchmen, or people who work at hospitals. And of course, criminals.

I got to thinking about it today and wondered what it would have been like to work all night long in old-time Phoenix, the good and bad of it.

Of course, the good of it is that it would be a whole lot cooler at night than during the day, and for people who worked the graveyard shift without the benefit of air conditioning in the summer in Phoenix, it would have been wonderful. Of course, they would have to go home and try to get their eight hours of sleep after sunrise, and that couldn't have been easy, even after the invention of air conditioning.

If I were a criminal, like a porch climber, I'd much rather do my crawling around at night than risk being up on a hot roof during the day. If I were a police officer, and I wanted the time to go by faster, and in a more exciting and dangerous way, I'd prefer to be out there at night. I can't imagine that I'd be good at either one of these professions!

Speaking for myself, I love the sunlight, and I've never been a night person. My heart goes out to people that I see who have been working all night, maybe at hospitals, maybe working at a convenience store, and are just coming home as I'm heading out in the morning. I hope that it's the time of day (night?) that they feel at their best, and that they have found a time and place that pleases them.

Thank you for working the graveyard shift with me in old-time Phoenix!
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