ROLLINS PIZZA-2-GO

A 2002 sketch by Travis Trokey of me in my Rollins uniform

When I was working my way through Mizzou, I had three jobs during the course of my school. My first job was making coffee in Memorial Union. At the time it was the only place between St. Louis and Kansas City where you could buy Starbucks. The second job was at the herpetology museum in Stanley Hall. It was a great job because I could pick my hours, but each day I left smelling like a vomit inducing combination of snake musk and droppings. My third job was the most enjoyable; I worked at Rollins Dining Hall.

During the day work was pretty laid back. As long as we were prepared for the lunch and dinner rushes and engaged in routine sanitation work, the atmosphere was laid back, you could talk with your friends, and we got all-you-can-eat food for cheap prices. At night the fun began. The senior managers left the dining hall to the student managers, and we sold pizzas. People would call up and we would answer the phone in funny ways, sometimes few people would order pizza and we would sit around talking about music, Nintendo, politics, and school. (A fellow employee actually had his own Link costume- sword and all.) As part of work study, a variety of international students worked there. We had a Vietnamese girl who would throw temper tantrums; an Eastern European who would bash America; and several Chinese who were fun to work with.