I work as a cabin cleaner at an international airport in one of, if not the, hottest city in the US. I have no car and have to take a two hour commute by bus and train. I try to wake up around 3:30 so I have enough time to shower and eat, and maybe make myself lunch. I have to walk ten minutes to get to the break room. I get exhausted easily, overheat easily, and sweat way too much. By the time I get to the break room, I'm already wanting to pass out.
Then I check the board to see our flights. Three back-to-back starting at 8:15, fifteen minutes before my shift. I have to clock in. Two of them are scheduled to leave at the same time because Ops doesn't know that we can't split into teams this early in the morning.
More flights. Sometimes if it's a busy day, we get up to ten back-to-back by 12. Usually we have 10-30 minutes between each flight. Most of them are boarding in less than 40 minutes so we need to be quick. Remember when I said I get exhausted easily?
Then my favorite part of the day – during the summer, we get two to three hours without any flights until 3, sometimes 4.
And then there's the mandatory overtime. Any flights within 15 minutes of 5pm, everyone has to stay because there aren't enough people clocking in at 5. Fucking hire more people then?
Usually I get home around 7:45. I have to eat dinner, feed the cats, and do whatever else I'm able to remember before trying to sleep. Emphasis on trying. It takes me at least half an hour just to start falling asleep.
I usually don't fall asleep until 10 or 11. I get less than 6 hours of sleep every day. I come home too exhausted to spend any meaningful time with my partner.
I know damn well I have enough attendance points for an automatic termination but my manager won't fire me. I'm tempted to just ask them to.
I don't know how much longer I can do this shit without ending up being banned from every airport in the US.