I’ve worked 2nd and 3rd shift a couple of times. The big 24-hour grocery store was right on my way home, so 3am stops were never an issue.
Other than screwing with my social life, I really liked 2nd shift. Helps that I’m a natural night owl, reverting to being up to 12 or 1 pretty much every weekend.
3rd shift makes it harder because people assume you’re up during the day and you can’t complain about any noises. It took months before my mother got the message that NO, I am not “up yet” at 10am, I just freaking got home!
The earliest I’m in bed is 8. I get up at 2:15 because I need to wake up slowly, as it were (two cups of coffee, check messages, breakfast, etc.) Depending on what’s going, sometimes I’m not in bed until 9. Those are the days I pass out by dinnertime.
I’ve been doing it for 15 years. I could flex my shift to start a 6am and get off at 2:30 but working 9 hour days gets me an hour of OT each day and out of most weekend overtime. Most of my crew doesn’t start till 6 so I get 2 hours to power up airplanes, get tools and parts in position, eat breakfast and surf the net before I have to do any real work. I call it a bonus for putting up working for the big airplane company for 32 years. Retirement is about 18 months away then I get to have normal people hours.
What whimsical area of coastal Maine has all the shops closed by 4pm? The parts of Maine I most frequent, like Kittery, Berwick, and Sanford have lots of stores open until 8-9pm. The only exception I can think of is the stores in Old Orchard Beach, but those are all meant to sell tee shirts and trinkets to tourists, not get your weekly shopping done.