Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: working irregular hours - like at a movie theater

This is topic working irregular hours - like at a movie theater - is bad for your health in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Melanie Loggins (Member # 6454) on 07-28-2012, 07:59 PM:

According to this article about shift work people who work late or irregular hours have a much higher chance of heart attacks and strokes. So I guess all the soda and buttery topping isn't all you have to worry about.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 07-28-2012, 10:28 PM:

*cough* *wheeze* *gasp*

[puke]

'scuse me..

I think that a large part of what causes problems like these is conflict between "regular business hours" and folks whose activities don't fit into those hours. "I worked until 3am and have to be up at 7 to get the kids ready for school." When do you eat your meals when you're working the night shift, and what do you eat? Is your neighbour mowing his lawn or have your kids got the tv cranked when you're trying to sleep?

There are also issues that can come from rotating shifts (day shifts followed by night shifts).

I suspect that if you maintain a stable schedule (regardless of whether it's day or night) and maintain a reasonable lifestyle otherwise, there won't be much of a difference in your quality of life.

For myself, I work at my theatre every night and I get up at the crack of noon, but since that's been my schedule for years my body is used to it.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 07-28-2012, 10:50 PM:

I think just as long as you get seven hours of sleep you're good [sleep]

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-28-2012, 11:41 PM:

Agreed, but you need to get enough food and exercise as well. I think the body can get accustomed to it just as long as it hasn't spent most of its life working 9 to 5. Once it does, it's not really a huge deal. I was only hospitalized a few times during my theater stints and I think that's a pretty good record for safety.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-29-2012, 12:59 AM:

That's all it is: 'according to ...' ... a reporter's story to keep his job.

I've been in the biz since 1969, working the odd and long hours of both drive-in and indoor house work doing all required to make the locations that I've worked in operate in a normal condition.

My last physical, which was just last December, my blood pressure is 112/65, cholestrol maybe a bit high that I can easily get down with diet and exersize (in which now I'm almost doing 3 miles of walking just by what I do within the theatre iself) and my metabolism is still well balanced.

Simply, I do my best to get my rest, food and sleep to hit the next day on the right foot.

Guess, my years in the industry haven't put me down to push up dandelions yet...

-Monte

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-29-2012, 01:51 AM:

Yah, and some place there was an article about how they all of a sudden "discovered" how terrible it was to be near high intensity electrical energy, yet there I was using the top of that monster rectifier, nonchalantly eating my lunch and dinner every day for two years.

Oh, and what about all that toxic stuff carbon arcs give off? That stuff will KILL ya!

Then when carbon arcs when away, hey, they weren't going to leave you without SOMETHING terrible to scare you, so it was OZONE off-gassing from the xenon bulbs that was the big buggaboo, if you weren't worried enough about the bulbs EXPLODING on you for no apparent reason and taking out your eyes, but not to worry because you'd be dead soon enough from the gushing jugular that it sliced through.

Hell, I still run carbon arc and have perfect lung function, no emphysema, and I've never been sliced and diced by an exploding xenon bulb either. So the question is, what will they WARN to fret over next?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-29-2012, 02:33 AM:

..burning a hole through "poly" film will give off dangerous gasses.

You better make sure that your douser assemblies are in working order, or OSHA will require precaution procedures, up to safety interlock mechanisms to ensure that the douser is closed before arc or lamp is allowed to be struck.

OR ... safety interlocks are installed on pad roller assemblies so the pad rollers have to be closed for the motor to be able to be engaged so moving sprockets will not puncture or rip flesh.

...glad digital is eliminating hazardous working conditions. ... [Big Grin]

-Monte

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 08-02-2012, 06:33 AM:

I feel my "alternative" work schedule has been a good fit for me. I've been a nightowl since my early teens (before I started in the exhibition industry). If anything, I've struggled more when I had to fit myself within a "traditional" schedule.

That's not to say there isn't some validity to such studies for many people. I've seen countless people fall apart when they tried to make a go of "theatre life". However, for some individuals, myself included, it's the right fit. Personally, I feel it's much more important to find a lifestyle that conforms to your individual needs/preferences than to conform yourself to another person's idea of a healthy lifestyle.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 08-02-2012, 06:52 AM:

Monte: digital is bad for you also; think about all of the "sharp edges." Louis

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-02-2012, 09:56 AM:

Stress and lack of sleep are both bad for a person's health. The body needs regular, quality sleep in order to repair itself. Stress releases bad hormones into the bloodstream, like cortisol, which screws with the metabolism and makes the body store fat at an increased rate.

Goodyear is one of the largest employers here in Lawton. Most of their employees work really screwed up shifts (like 10 nights in a row, off 5 days and then work 8 days in row). The internal time clock in their bodies can never get into a proper rhythm. Some head shrinks here locally and in metro Oklahoma City make good money counselling these workers. From what I've personally observed over the past 17 years these workers have greater chances of developing all sorts of problems from marital strife to drug abuse than someone working a decent 9 to 5 job. I personally know several people who used to work there but had to leave because of what the job was doing to them.

Sedentary lifestyle is also very bad for anyone. It's bad enough that many of us (myself included) work at a desk all day long. To follow that with an evening of sitting on the couch facing a TV set just makes matters worse. Throw in a processed/junk food laden diet and you have a recipe for really bad health.

Exercise is necessary for everyone. There's never going to be any such thing as a pill that will give you a great looking body. Anyone with great muscle tone and low body fat percentage has to work hard to achieve it and maintain it.

A couple friends of mine overestimate, even to a great deal, what their level of exercise is doing for their health. They think walking one lap on a 1.6 mile bike path two or three times a week is enough. They think that meager amount of leisurely exercise can justify indulging in things like a 1000 calorie Carl's Jr. burger. Yet they complain about not losing any weight and even see themselves gaining weight. Simply put, they're living in denial. They don't know the true details of what they really need in terms of exercise and diet. So they're going to keep losing ground as a result.

A really good friend of mine, Jack Conner, died of a heart attack last week. He managed the Carmike 8 here in Lawton for 17 years. He worked longer hours than anyone else I knew here in town. There were lots of days where he would be at the theater from open to close. He was a heavyset guy. His schedule didn't really give him time to work in a fitness routine. Several years ago he hurt his leg pretty bad in a fall on the stairs. He had to use a cane after that. Jack tried to lose weight by following different diets, like the Atkins diet. It was a constant struggle.

Jack spent his last week at the Carmike 8 helping the new GM transition into running the place and getting things set for the opening of The Dark Knight Rises. Jack was all set to move to Oregon where his wife's job was taking them. He was going relax and be a stay at home dad with lots of free time to finally do what he wanted to do. Instead, his heart gave out on him the morning of July 26 while moving some furniture.