Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Meals For Shift Workers

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 12/11/2002 12:04 PM, "Maggie" <mdutton [at] shaw.ca> wrote:

> Have other communities had shift workers that wished to
> participate according to their schedule?  Are any common houses open and
> active 24/7?  What about preparing extra meals that are then packaged and
> stored for reheating later?

A very nice question that spurred ideas for me.

First, we do have late plates. We serve at 6:30 (or really 6:45) but have
several people who are not home until 9-10. Their plates are put in the
frig.

Our commonhouse is open and active 24/7. Anyone can do anything in the space
whenever they please. We have people who are up exercising at 5:00 am,
insomniacs who wander about at 3:00 am, a puzzle worker who has been seen at
midnight still working away, two children who are with their nanny in the
kids room by 8:00 am and there until 6:00. People put their laundry in
before they go to work. Everyone comes through for mail from 4:30 on. People
invite friends for lunch in front of the fireplace.

On shift workers: one of the brilliant solutions to educating police
officers was found by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.
Officers cannot guarantee that they will be on the same shift for the
duration of a course -- thus each class is taught twice by the same
instructor, at different times, so officers just attend which everyone fits
their schedule that week and still see the same instructor

I find the commonhouse dinners chaotic and noisy, and they come at a time
when I like to work -- my high energy time is from 4 to 8 or 9 -- so I don't
attend usually. Sometimes I take a plate back to my unit or scrounge for
leftovers.

But if I and others who are home during the day, cooked early in the day and
planned menus that could be served twice with little effort -- chili, etc.,
meals could be served twice, at 5:30 for me and the kids and 7:30 for off
site workers.

My mother always used to cook at least two meals at the same time, usually
dinner with lots of leftovers for the next day.

Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org

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