Student Hourly

Evanston, Illinois, Autumn 1979. Beginning in my sophomore year of college, I worked at the Student Health Service as a switchboard operator. When classes were in session, I usually operated the board for 15 hours per week. On weekends, I often took the second shift from 3:00 to 11:00 pm. It was a good job because the phone didn't ring that often, and I could do some homework while I sat at the console.

The console was very old school—even back then—with its rotary dial, heavy headset, and live plugs. When connecting a call, I had to toggle the plugs to make sure no one was already talking on the line. Breaking into a call was a bad thing.