The Oddest of Jobs

Hello again everyone and welcome back to the Monmouth U page. I  hope everybody is finally ready to put his or her heavy clothing away, and you all are looking forward to some spring weather.For this week’s column, I want to talk about a common problem for college students. School is a blast, but it can also prove to be very harmful to your bank account. Just the cost of books alone is enough to send students spiraling in debt, and when you throw in various other costs, life might start getting pretty expensive.In order to offset the seemingly insurmountable money problems most college students have, many of us go out and find jobs at school. Some of my best friends worked at the bookstore, library, athletic department and dining hall, among many other occupations. I personally worked at the Rutgers University newspaper, making money while doing something I enjoyed.At Monmouth, I worked at Performing Arts, and I got the chance to work in various aspects at the school. One neat thing about Monmouth is that all departments try to work together, and students can get money through a multitude of ways while being employed.One odd job I will always remember came across my office in late August. A wedding was to be held by the Monmouth University library, and people were needed to help out with the wedding. I applied for the job, figuring who couldn’t use $10 an hour, with the job running for approximately 9 hours.I got the application and there were three rules all students had to abide by. First, everyone had to be dressed in black button down shirts, pants and shoes. Second, everyone had to have a walkie-talkie on at all times. Third, nobody was allowed to eat any of the food from the wedding. If people were found to have eaten food from the wedding, we would be sent home.I show up to the library at 5 p.m. and receive my assignment. I am to sit beside the handicap door of the library, and if any guests of the wedding need to use the handicap entrance, it was my job to open the door for them. I said not a problem, grabbed a chair, a book, and sat by the door.Three hours and no handicapped people later, our boss walked up to me, said great job and told me to grab a sandwich out of the fridge for dinner. Following a quick half hour food break, I was told to go to the main room of the library for my next assignment.I get to the library and was told to sit in the main library where all of the computers and books were situated. Basically, the wedding used the exterior lawn of the library, and the circulation desk was turned into a bar of sorts. Nobody was allowed to go into the main room with the books, and my job was to sit in this main room and make sure nobody entered.Two quick problems here:   One, there were three barricades blocking this main room. Therefore, I guess the line of thinking was that if guests managed to get past all three barricades, and then I would be the last line of defense in order to prevent them from reading one of the books in the library. Also, the main room in the library was pitch black, as the lights were turned off so not to invite anyone inside.Three hours and many YouTube videos later, my boss got on the walkie-talkie and told me I could leave the library. I said fine, and I got my second sandwich for dinner. I was afraid of where they would send me next, and my boss told me for the rest of the wedding, he would like me once again stationed by the handicapped door. I walked by and sat once again by the door, rereading my book. This went on until 2 a.m. when the party finally dispersed. In all, I believe throughout the nine hours I interacted with 15 people, 12 of which asked me where the bathroom was and the other three asking me why I was sitting outside a door. I also never met anyone in the wedding party, so if anyone knows who got married at Monmouth in August, by all means please let me know.A week later, my check arrived, and I sadly promptly used it to go to the purchase of books. The $100 I made from that one night paid for about 25 percent of the total for the books, but least there was a discount nonetheless.So there you go, one of the oddest jobs I can remember, one that happened at Monmouth University as well. However, if I may give a piece of advice for college students, seek out any job opportunities that come your way. You may not get paid much, and you might go through some weird experiences, but at least you’ll have some great stories to tell your friends and family.