Living in Miami in the 1970s to early 1980s, the population was booming. Schools became very overcrowded, but the high schools had a crowding crisis. That brought in something that was a bit tricky: split shifts.
Believe it or not, they created two shifts at many high schools: a 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. shift and a 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. shift. Can you imagine a parent having to navigate multiple kids through separate school sessions? Well Mom did.
If I recall correctly (so don’t hold me to this), Steve and Tammy were on the 7 – 12 shift, and John was on the 12 – 5 shift. Interestingly, the late shift worked out well for John because he had early morning swim practice. But could you imagine getting home from high school after 5:00? I wasn’t in high school yet, so this schedule didn’t impact me.
That odd schedule also had us eating our meals in shifts. Everybody was up at different times, came home at different times, not to mention swim practice. Todd, so young he was not yet in school, enjoyed the crazy schedule as he became a social breakfast eater and would sit down with each shift and enjoy some cereal.
I imagine this must have been exhausting for Mom. All these different schedules and all those carpools would have driven me crazy. Mom took it in stride: “If you do in heaven what you do on earth, I’ll spent all of eternity running God’s carpools.”
Luckily, with time, more schools were built, crowding became less of an issue, and schedules got back to normal. But those of us who were around for split shifts remember it well. Do you?
Stay groovy…
–Susie
(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)
Harmonious Groove 