"It keeps me busy on stuff that doesn't matter."

"You want to keep your job?"

"Uh...yeah."

"All right, then."

Some are tougher than others.

The janitor's eyes are open so the student porter takes the keys off his desk and heads for B-entry.

It is understandable that some captains have foul temperaments (though most are amiable). They are, after all, brunts of criticism, receivers of complaints. Twelve captains overlook the operations of nearly 150 workers in the Student Porter Program. When someone calls in at Headquarters and charges dereliction of duty, the captains are the ones who must swing into action to determine the accuracy of the claim.

On this particular day, the student porter meets dissatisfaction face to face in the person of an irate female physics major, who flags him down with her slide rule halfway up the staircase.

"Where were you last week?"

"Holiday, no classes, no work."

"My bathroom is in shambles."

"I don't use it."

The student porter once heard Carolyn Randall '77 assert: "I think it's ridiculous that people can't clean their own bathrooms." But he also heard Bonny Landers say, "I'm grateful for the job. It's either this or being a barmaid in Boston." The student porter is filled with ambivalence as he is sucked into a confrontation he does not desire, his mop is not even wet yet.

"My drain is clogged with hair."

"Well, you'll have to call B and G about that."