One of the problems associated with industry and plenty of jobs is that many of those jobs involve shift work. Although you may say “that’s great”, shift work often brings with it some major headaches when it comes to affairs. If you are in a family that deals with shift work, you know how disruptive it can be. With each shift change cycle, the daily routine is changed. Familiar patterns are disrupted. These disruptions can and do often impact marriages. The changes in routine often open the door to cheating. Between unaccountable hours, working strange late shifts, when no one sees where you are going, many cheaters view shift work as an open license to cheat.
The cheating may be with people they work with, old lovers, or the spouses of those that they work with. There are many kinds of combinations of twisted trysts that often develop. Years ago, there were jokes about how many kids in the neighborhood looked like the milkman. The sad truth is that many children born in shift working families are calling the wrong man ‘daddy’. Cheaters thrive in situations where schedules are always changing and the hours require them to stay out late. To a cheater, such an environment is a ‘license to cheat’. Having grown up in Pasadena, Texas, a community with many industrial shift workers, I have seen this scenario play out again and again.
The shift work risk is not limited to plant workers. This same risk exists with healthcare workers, police, fire departments, and other groups that routinely use shift work.
If you are in such a family, you need to have accountability and communication. One of the ways to reduce the risk of cheating is keeping the cheater connected to the home. When their ‘tether’ is allowed to have a great deal of slack, the risk of an affair is greater.
Best Regards,
Jeff Murrah
