Campus student employees put up with a lot for money
Dogged workers tell strange stories about customers, job
tasks
By Dina Burwell
Imagine that you are a backstage crew member for a theater
production titled, "Danger Zone."
During a dress rehearsal, a fellow crew member asks you to
prepare an actress for a dance number. After coming from the sound
board, you walk on stage and ask the actress, "How can I help
you?"
Without saying a word, the actress slowly begins taking off her
clothes and hands each and every piece of her clothing to you.
Surprisingly, stories such as this one are not unusual for
students who have on-campus jobs. However, these awkward situations
rarely prevent students from performing their job duties.
Says Qui Ong, a backstage crew member and second-year undeclared
student who works for the theater component of the dance
department,"That’s my job. Someone had to do it."
Other students working on campus also said they are determined
to perform their job despite the weird situations they are forced
to face.
Ong says the actress performed her dance solo in the nude except
for the tape wrapped around her ankles. The actress also climbed
and danced on a ladder during the number.
"After she started doing her number, I walked straight off
stage. I was a little embarrassed and I didn’t know what to think.
That was really wacko for me," Ong said.
Although Ong was forced to face what he considered an
uncomfortable situation, he held her clothes, placed them off stage
and told the woman where she could find them after her dance
number. Just as his job outlined, Ong said.
Similar to Ong, Maisha Johnson also had her own strange
encounter while working as a lab monitor for the Humanities
Computing Lab in Towell.
One weekday evening, Johnson, who was working a closing shift,
repeatedly announced to students and customers that the library was
closing at 6 p.m. Unfortunately, one woman refused to leave the
computer lab at closing time.
When Johnson turned off the printer and the lights, the woman
turned them back on. From that point, a viscous cycle began. The
woman became incredibly persistent in preventing Johnson from
turning off the computers and kept Johnson talking and distracted
from her job by complimenting Johnson on how nice she was to let
someone stay after closing time.
"I wanted to turn her computer off while she was working. This
woman was not concerned that the computer lab was closing," Johnson
said, expressing her exasperation with the situation.
The woman finally decided to leave the computer lab a half hour
after the official closing time. Despite the woman’s persistence,
Johnson finally persuaded her to leave and she finished off her
duties in the lab.
"It’s my job to let the customers know when to leave, but it is
also the customers’ job to obey the rules," Johnson said.
Andrea Rosas, a third-year English student, is another on-campus
employee who has repeatedly experienced strange occurrences on the
job.
While cashiering at Campus Corner last quarter, a man would
sneak behind Rosas twice a week and ask, "Can I buy a dorm coupon?"
He was referring to the residence hall food coupons that can be
redeemed at any eatery on campus for those residents who are unable
to eat in the halls.
Each time, Rosas failed to grant his request. And each time, the
man would try and make Rosas feel guilty. The man would then ask
the other students and customers in line to sell him a dorm coupon.
One afternoon, the man brought Rosas a cookie in order to bribe her
to sell him a dorm coupon.
"I didn’t eat the cookie. I thought maybe he was some weirdo.
That cookie went into the trash," Rosas said. However, Rosas’
interaction with the man did not prevent her from sticking to the
mandatory cashiering rules
"The register won’t balance out if I sell customers dorm
coupons. I am not going to jeopardize my job for the needs of (a)
customer," Rosas said.
Students experience strange on-the-job experiences every day.
Often, these situations are weird enough to throw them off track.
But most students said that in the face of adversity, they can
still make sound decisions and keep their head on straight.