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FAQ City: What Do Charlotte Night Workers Do On A Night Off?

istockphoto / evtushenko_ira

So imagine it's your day off. There's no work or school today. You're ready to go out and make the most of it, but the whole city has shut down, and your friends just want to stay in bed.

If you're a night worker - that is, one of less than 5 percent of Americans who work overnight - you may already know this dilemma ... And that brings us to this week's episode of FAQ City.

Listener Steve Constant writes in to ask, "What kinds of activities are available between 1 and 6 a.m. for those who have a day off of third shift?"

Maybe Steve is new to the graveyard shift and is working on adjusting his lifestyle, or maybe he's just thinking about taking on a night job but doesn't know what he'd do with a night off.

We weren't able to get in contact with him, so we don't know for sure. Nevertheless, in this episode of FAQ City, we set off to investigate by staying up late and posing Steve's question to three veteran workers of the night shift around Charlotte.

Credit Nick de la Canal / WFAE
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WFAE

Your best bet, as we find out, is to look for things around the home, because as Pasquale Zullo of 7-Eleven puts it, "This isn't New York City."

Here's our running list of suggestions from this episode, and we're happy to hear more ideas from you, our listeners - just let us know in the comments!

  • Television, the old standby (Dennis Sloan of CMC recommends the Investigation Discovery Channel)
  • Pick up an instrument, like the guitar
  • Develop your passion (Leona Tucker of the Hilton Hotel writes and performs poetry)
  • There's always laundry to do
  • Grab a drink at a late-night bar
  • Catch a bite at a 24-hour diner (Midnight Diner and Red Eye Diner are two favorites)

Special thanks to our three interviewees - Pasquale Zullo of the 7-Eleven on Eastway Drive, Leona Tucker of the Hilton Hotel University, and Dennis Sloan of Carolinas Medical Center.
Do you have a question about the people, places, or goings-on in the Charlotte region that you'd like us to answer? Let us know below, and we might just answer it on the next FAQ City!

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Nick de la Canal is an on air host and reporter covering breaking news, arts and culture, and general assignment stories. His work frequently appears on air and online. Periodically, he tweets: @nickdelacanal