On the job - Monica Tibbitts

Q: What do you do at the UI?
A: I'm a main desk attendant at the Illini Union.

Q: What does your job entail?
A: Supervising the student employees and handling all the
   problems that go along with that, like people not showing
   up for work or figuring out what to do if someone's not
   happy; organizing things; security of the operation;
   dispensing change to departments in the Union.

Q: Do you work the counter, too?
A: Yes, mostly during the afternoons when we're busy - I run
   a register and do check cashing.

Q: What's the most popular candy?
A: Snickers and Twix.

Q: What about newspapers and magazines ... what's the
   biggest seller?
A: The New York Times always sells out, although that's
   partly because we don't get as many of those as some of the
   other papers. The News-Gazette does pretty well, and so does
   the Daily Illini. Some of the women's magazines go well, and
   so do the main news magazines, like Newsweek and Time.

Q: When's the worst time to cash a check?
A: Fridays from 10 or 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. There's always a
   huge line. It's also busy in between classes, then it starts
   to peter out around 4 p.m.

Q: What do you like best about your job?
A: The fact that it's a high-traffic area. I'm a social
   person, and you know how they consider the Union to be the
   university's front door? You get a chance to interact with a
   lot of people. I also like being around students and
   faculty. It's better than a desk job.

Q: What's the funniest - or strangest - thing that ever
   happened to you on the job?
A: I can't really think of anything that happened on the
   job, but one time something funny happened outside of the
   job that was related to it. I went to a concert in another
   town, and I was sitting with my friends when this guy
   pointed at me and said to his friends: 'Hey - it's the check-
   cashing girl!' I was so embarrassed.

Tibbits' boss, Ed Slazinik, notes that the Illini Union is
about to expand its main desk and retail operation. Sometime
in the next few weeks, the service will move from its
location in the building's southwest corridor to the space
across the hall that formerly housed the art gallery. The
newly named "Quad Shop" will continue to sell newspapers,
magazines and candy, but also will carry paperback books and
Illini merchandise. The check-cashing operation will remain
in its current location.