Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.01.2018, Blaðsíða 54

Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.01.2018, Blaðsíða 54
It’s three in the morning, you’re hungry, and you still have a long drive ahead of you. Fortunately, there’s a gas station shop open, with bacon-wrapped hot- dogs, chips and coffee on offer. If this is a situation you can relate to, Jón Þór Hall- dórsson may have served you. He’s been working at the Shell station by Perlan for about ten years now, and has spent a number of those years (the exact number is lost in a fog to him) on the night shift. For him, the night shift is a joy. "To be honest, people that come in during the night are usually in a bet- ter mood than during the day,” he says. “It's more of a fun way to work. You can play your music. You can almost get lost in just doing something. But the people that come during the night are usually the best kind of customers you want." Not like television For Jón Þór, it’s the customers especially that makes the night shift special. "The people, and the personal free- dom, are the best things about this job,” he says. “Being alone most of the time, it's a lot more relaxed than being on a day shift. There's a bit more camaraderie between people who are awake at this hour than regular people." Those with a deeper knowledge of Ice- landic television may already be familiar with this particular setting, thanks to Jón Gnarr’s cringe-comedy sitcom Næ- turvaktin, which is also set in a Shell station shop (albeit a different one from Jón Þór’s). For the record, if you were thinking Næturvaktin reflected the actual work of an Icelandic gas station night shift, you may be disappointed (or relieved), to learn that “it has some par- allels with reality, but it's still fiction." The most difficult part of working night shift anywhere is how it messes with your sense of time, and your mem- ory. "There've been so many strange expe- riences,” Jón Þór says. “I'm having a hard time recalling just one moment, because it's all pretty weird most of the time. Ev- ery now and then you might catch teen- agers trying to steal from the shop, or some super intoxicated person inside the shop lying on the floor or something. But night shifts are so weird in general, that when something especially strange happens, most of the time it’s not some- thing you want to remember." What year is it? Despite his glowing review of working the night shift, though, it’s not a position Jón Þór would go back to. "I don't really miss night shifts,” he says. “Not being able to sleep is some- thing I will never miss. I would be work- ing a week on and a week off. Most of my week off would be spent sleeping. And if you don't sleep, you just don't meet any- one that week. You're not going to go out and get a beer at what is, for you, essen- tially 10 o'clock in the morning." HOUR OF THE WOLF CITY SHOT by Varvara Lozenko The Night Shift Is Always Weird Night shift at the gas station Words: Paul Fontaine Photo: Varvara Lozenko West-Iceland 54 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 01 — 2018 Birgir Örn Guðjónsson on duty Not even being nine months pregnant will stop some people from racing in Reykjavík's New Years Run DON’T ASK NANNA About Weird Icelandic Names Words: Nanna Árnadóttir Dear Nanna, What’s the weirdest Icelandic name? James Dear James, James? Your name is James? Hahaha, what kind of name is that? Who names their kid James? Wow, your mum must really hate you, to give you a weird name like that. Maybe when you get around to having a kid of your own James, you’ll consider giv- ing him or her a nice regular name like Bergljót or Steingrímur. Nanna  Dear Nanna, We spent New Years Eve in Iceland and once the clock struck midnight it was like being in a war zone; you could feel thrum of the explosions in your chest. It was amazing to behold. I’ll never forget it. But I’m surprised that there weren’t more safety regulations, and that civilians had access to so many dangerous and loud fireworks. Is half this stuff even legal? Why isn’t the government or Emergency Rescue Services stepping in to regulate these fireworks? Pyrotechnic Dear FUN POLICE, Why isn’t Emergency Rescue Services stepping in to regulate these fireworks? Because they’re the motherfuckers selling us these fireworks and any businessman will tell you that if there’s demand, you should supply. It’s a perfect circle of de- struction and salvation. Best, Nanna Don't email: nanna@grapevine.is Don't tweet at: @NannaArnadottir
Blaðsíða 1
Blaðsíða 2
Blaðsíða 3
Blaðsíða 4
Blaðsíða 5
Blaðsíða 6
Blaðsíða 7
Blaðsíða 8
Blaðsíða 9
Blaðsíða 10
Blaðsíða 11
Blaðsíða 12
Blaðsíða 13
Blaðsíða 14
Blaðsíða 15
Blaðsíða 16
Blaðsíða 17
Blaðsíða 18
Blaðsíða 19
Blaðsíða 20
Blaðsíða 21
Blaðsíða 22
Blaðsíða 23
Blaðsíða 24
Blaðsíða 25
Blaðsíða 26
Blaðsíða 27
Blaðsíða 28
Blaðsíða 29
Blaðsíða 30
Blaðsíða 31
Blaðsíða 32
Blaðsíða 33
Blaðsíða 34
Blaðsíða 35
Blaðsíða 36
Blaðsíða 37
Blaðsíða 38
Blaðsíða 39
Blaðsíða 40
Blaðsíða 41
Blaðsíða 42
Blaðsíða 43
Blaðsíða 44
Blaðsíða 45
Blaðsíða 46
Blaðsíða 47
Blaðsíða 48
Blaðsíða 49
Blaðsíða 50
Blaðsíða 51
Blaðsíða 52
Blaðsíða 53
Blaðsíða 54
Blaðsíða 55
Blaðsíða 56

x

Reykjavík Grapevine

Beinir tenglar

Ef þú vilt tengja á þennan titil, vinsamlegast notaðu þessa tengla:

Tengja á þennan titil: Reykjavík Grapevine
https://timarit.is/publication/943

Tengja á þetta tölublað:

Tengja á þessa síðu:

Tengja á þessa grein:

Vinsamlegast ekki tengja beint á myndir eða PDF skjöl á Tímarit.is þar sem slíkar slóðir geta breyst án fyrirvara. Notið slóðirnar hér fyrir ofan til að tengja á vefinn.