The Sign-Up Board
Well over fifty years ago I was a college freshman. My ambitious goal was to graduate college in three years. It was a goal that I achieved. However, putting myself through college meant that I had to come up with a lot of money every semester to pay for tuition and books. I found that being an English Literature major can really eat up your wallet in a hurry. This was well before the days when prospective college students demanded a “free” education or were offered lavish student loans.
The two jobs that I worked throughout college came up short in supplying all the cash I needed. That fact inevitably brought me to the sign-up board. The sign-up board was located in the main administration building of Cal State Northridge (San Fernando Valley State College at the time). It was where all the calls for paid volunteers were posted. It was a magnet for students like myself who needed to earn extra money at any cost. What exactly did I sign-up for? Read on.
My first sign-up involved posing for an art class. It seemed innocent enough and it paid twenty dollars. Anything that paid twenty bucks or more was just fine by me. Of course I hadn’t read the fine print that included the word nude. The initial embarrassment was soon forgotten as I took my folding money proudly to the student book store to buy more literature. I always bought new books, refusing to deal with used versions that were often scribbled in and outlined by apparent morons. This costly decision simply meant that I had to take on more assignments at the sign-up board.
My next sign-up was to volunteer for a psychic study. I knew I wasn’t a soothsayer but I said what the hell; at $20 a pop for four sessions, I was going to make some serious money. I must interject here for the sake of my millennial friends that a eighty bucks was a lot of money in 1966. Twenty dollars an hour beat the hell out of the minimum wage which was $1.25. I did very well at “sensing” playing cards and genuinely enjoyed the sessions. I even learned a little more about myself.
I moved on to other various volunteer studies that involved mental telepathy, telekinesis, etc. They all paid that wonderful $20 per session so I was racking up enough money to actually get ahead of my book debt. In the process, I also found that I did indeed possess above average telekinesis abilities. You’re chuckling here, I know but seriously, I was able to move some small objects a little – No shit! But I really didn’t care; it was those multiple Jacksons that I was after!
Later sessions included speed reading, health studies, acoustic studies and a variety of semi-scientific studies where I performed the role of guinea pig extraordinaire. The money kept coming in and I was genuinely enjoying myself. I even bought a few books that I didn’t absolutely need.
There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for a buck or two back then (Well, actually twenty!). There were about four of us poor souls who constantly participated in every one of these studies and every Monday would find us all at the sign-up board looking for new ways to pay for our education. I continued with the sign-up board all the way throughout my undergraduate studies. Even today, I credit the sign up-board with allowing me to fully afford my education.
Money aside, the best thing about the sign-up board was that the participation was fun. With the notable exception of the art class incident, all of the sessions provided me with yet a bit more education and appreciation for the breadth of the human condition. I also enjoyed contributing to scientific studies in small but significant ways.
I haven’t set foot on a university campus since my post-graduate teaching days but I’ve often wondered if the sign-up board still exists. If you’re reading this and you are attending college (a real one), please take a moment and let me know if the sign-up board can still be found on college campuses. Thanks!
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I didn’t participate in sign up boards, not sure if there were any, but I racked up lots of student loans, which I am proud to say I paid off, over $40,000 worth, and for a single mother raising 2 children without child support, it wasn’t easy. So I get angry every time they talk about forgiving loans. Allen, I would have loved to have been in the art class. Unfortunately, I did not get my Licensed Clinical Social Work degree until the 1990s. Had to get sober first!
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Paid mine off too and yes I feel the same about “forgiveness.”
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Allen shared a song about becoming blind and I wrote a very long comment about how it affected me. I wasn’t sure if it was the song that caused me to cry or if it was because of the recent loss of a member of Alcoholics Anonymous to suicide. It was probably both. For some reason it did not get posted, but I feel it was important enough to try to recreate that post. My comment dealt with the grief I felt about the loss of a soul that I would never get another chance to be touched by. I hate alcoholism and the horror it creates. It tears our very souls and hearts out of the existence of beauty and joy and it destroys all of our hopes and dreams. My friend had managed to put together four months of sobriety, but the troubles in her life and alcoholism won the fight. It overwhelmed her gentle soul and drowned her. I get angry every time I see or hear the infamous “Just Say No”. As if it were that easy. People criticize and judge the alcoholics and drug addicts. They push them out of their world believing that if they would Just Say No, all would be good. Gaining sobriety is more than that. Alcoholism is it
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Well said! The author of this song is a personal friend of mine. I will pass-along your comments.
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Ok, this is my third attempt at writing this. My original post somehow got lost in the atmosphere but I believe it was important enough to try to recreate it. Allen’s post was about a friend going blind and he asked for responses to the song that we listened to. Well, by the end of the song I was crying and I was not sure if it was because of the song or if it was because I had recently lost a friend to suicide. I suspect it was both. I lost a friend of light and laughter and would never be able to reach out and touch her again. And even as I cried I was also feeling intense anger. Anger because my friend had lost the fight against alcoholism. She had pieced together four months of sobriety but then became exhausted. And I suspect overwhelmed. I used to think that people who committed suicide were cowards and incredibly selfish. But somewhere along the line, I learned that people who commit suicide are in so much pain they have to make it stop. Pain and exhaustion from fighting the fight, dealing with life, and worst of all, seeing and hearing the judgment of friends and family who think they should “Just Say No”. I get angry when I see or hear “Just Say No”. If it were that easy, my friend would still be alive. But no, it’s not that easy. Many people don’t understand that alcoholism is a disease. A disease that wants to rob us of our very souls. A disease that is “cunning, baffling and powerful”. A disease that will wear you down, humiliate you and then convince you that you are not good enough. Understanding that it is a disease that they have to fight every day, every hour and every second. Sometimes every nano-second. All those people who are trying to help, eventually give up and push the alcoholic out of their I lives, instead of understanding they don’t need enabling, they need acceptance and love. I know because I have been clean and sober for 39 years. And during that time, I don’t get time off for good behavior, a vacation, or even a day to rest. Every day that I wake up I must face the fight and ask my God to help me stay clean and sober one more day. Along with that, I must face life stone cold sober. It is easy for you to “Just Say No” if you don’t have the disease. Thank God you don’t.
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I got the second attempt – See comments. Again, well said!
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