It just didn’t feel right being at work this early.

This past week I had to work three day shifts in patrol. This was part of a “patrol augmentation” where officers from different details within the department have to supplement patrol.

Unfortunately for me these patrol shifts start at 6AM, which is far different from my normal 5PM to 3AM shift.

On Saturday morning the alarm went off at 4:15AM sounding like a klaxon at a nuclear power plant signaling a reactor meltdown? The only thing missing was the blinking red light on the wall and panicked workers fleeing from the plant.

After getting ready the cat gave me a confused looked as I walked downstairs. I’d swear her meow sounded like, “WTF!”

After packing my lunch I left for work before the sun’s first light peeked over the horizon. The early morning was dark and peaceful. I’m sure it was nothing like a few hours before when chaos filled the night with DUI crashes, shootings and stabbings.

I pulled into the department parking lot as the eastern sky lightened, giving the world a fresh start. In briefing I leaned over to one of the cops and jokingly said, “How do you people do this?”

After briefing I loaded up and headed straight to Starbucks. I walked in and the person behind the counter gave me a weird look. It was almost the same confused WTF cat look again.

After getting my drink I spent the rest of the day trying to shade myself from that big bright thing in the sky. It took almost the entire shift to get used to not grabbing my flashlight every time I got out of the car.

In the end, day shift wasn’t so bad, but the night is where Badge415 works best.