A requirement for being a limo driver is the ability to stay awake at all hours. This is such a weird business, crazy busy for a few days, and then dead as a dodo for the next few. If you like stability and a regular schedule, this game is not for you.
Weekends are the worst. Because the summer was so slow, we (the drivers) are all keen to get working. To do so, we sometimes need to minimize our sleep, which in practice can mean finishing a job at, say, 2:00 am, only to have a pickup at 6:00 am. I have done that kind of turn-around for three nights straight, which is a kind of torture. In fact isn't sleep deprivation and time-shifting specifically defined as torture?
Having worked back of the clock for much of my working life, night work can be okay, but it needs to be on a regular basis. One or two nights without sleep is way worse than five or six, because the body adapts. You're a zombie when you are awake during the day, but at least you acclimate to the wee hours.
The big danger is falling asleep when driving. I nearly did it a couple of days ago. Everyone knows that feeling when you get the nods on the road. Freeways are the worst, because the white lines become hypnotic, lulling the brain into some kind of low brainwave activity. It's deadly. [link]
If you can't stop and take a break - as I cannot with a customer who has to get somewhere - there are few choices. Coffee, of course, if you can. Pinching one's legs works for a while. Talking to the customer is good. And if all else fails, I bring out the big guns; Coca-Cola, with its giant shot of sugar and caffeine does the trick.
It has probably saved my life, it's that good.
Also published here. [link]
6 comments:
I need to remember this trick! My wife is all about Diet Coke but maybe I'll slide in a real one or two for times when I need the boost.
Don't know how you can do that bed at 02:00 and be sharp at 06:00 but youth has to be an advantage. Old guys like me aren't as resilient. Keep on being careful!
Yep, it's worth it just in case, Don. There's a downside, as in the crash after the sugar high, and the calories, but if it stops that micro-sleep thing, it's way worth it.
I scared myself pretty good the other day, but when I woke up, the adrenaline sure fixed the drowsiness!
I don't know how I do it either. Somehow I just keep on going.
yikes, sugar! and yikes again! i'll remember that coca-cola is better than coffee next time we're on the road! xoxoxo
Yikes is about right, Sugar.
I will say though that if the customer talks the sleepiness goes away. The bad combo is when the client is themselves asleep (happens a lot) it's either very late or very early, and we're on the Interstate going long distance.
So if you're with someone, get them to chat - way fewer calories!
I've never heard of the pinching your legs thing. I'm thinking that having a Coke, even with the crash, is much less painful.
Stay safe, Wombat.
It doesn't work very well, the leg-pinching, Nitebyrd. It's difficult to inflict any serious pain on myself, so I've found.
I'd like to say that we do everything to remain safe, but it's just not true.
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