Marcus Is Moving to Days

Marcus put in for days a few weeks ago and got it, starting this fall. He’s got two kids now old enough that the schedule mismatch stopped being a minor inconvenience and started being an actual cost, missed dinners, missed the stuff that happens after school, and I don’t think anybody on our unit was surprised when he made the move, least of all him.

I’m happy for him. I want to say that first because the rest of this is going to sound more conflicted than I mean it to. He’s getting something real out of this, more overlap with his kids, a schedule that matches the rest of his household instead of fighting it, and that’s worth more than any board game session I’ll miss him for.

But I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t change something for the rest of us. He’s the reason half the crew plays games at all. He’s the one who brings something new every few months, the one with the notebook, the one who explains the rules in that same clipped four minute rundown to whoever’s new. Nights without him at the station are going to be quieter in a specific way I haven’t fully braced for yet, and I don’t think you can really brace for that kind of thing anyway, you just find out what it’s like once it’s actually different.

We’ve talked about still getting a game in occasionally, maybe an early evening before his shift starts and mine hasn’t yet, one of those narrow windows where our schedules briefly touch. Whether that actually happens with any regularity once real life gets involved, I genuinely don’t know. People say that kind of thing with good intentions and then the logistics eat it, and I’d rather be honest about that risk than pretend the plan’s a sure thing.

What I do know is the shelf isn’t going anywhere, and neither is whatever this habit turned into over the last four years. Somebody else will probably end up being the one who brings something new to a slow Tuesday, the way Marcus once did, the way I guess I’ve started doing myself the last couple years without really noticing. That’s probably how it’s supposed to work. The specific people rotate through a place like this more than the habits do. I’ll take the update on how the days-shift thing actually goes for him once he’s a few months in. For now it’s just a change on the schedule board and a good excuse to plan one more game night before the fall reshuffle hits.