Reverse

Jason arrives at Juan Carlos’s coffee cart about the same time as everyone else, but he’s headed in a different direction.

He works third shift – 11:00 pm until 7:30 am – at a warehouse in Hunts Point and stops for coffee on his way home while the rest of the guys are getting ready for a new day.

“My life runs in reverse,” Jason explained. “It’s not perfect, but you take what you can get when you need a job.”

There are advantages.

“The guys are always a little envious in the morning,” Jason said. “I get to sleep while they have to work.

“They would feel differently if we ran into each other at the other end of the day,” he continued. “Riding the train to work with a bunch of people going out to eat or to meet friends is depressing. Sometimes I feel like it’s all passing me by.”

It’s better in the summer.

“The job doesn’t really cut into baseball,” Jason said. “I can punch in on time after most night games and weekends are no problem. The summer afternoon games during the week are my favorites. I buy a lemon ice when it’s hot and sit in the park afterwards.”

But this perk may be the best.

“We listen to the west-coast games at work,” Jason said. “The guys around the coffee cart in the morning don’t usually make it all the way through a late game so I get to fill them in.”

Jason smiled.

“Then I go home and sleep and they’re all jealous.”