Men and women huddle together in a small break room underground between Neptune Central and Neptune West every day while many NIU students are still asleep.

NIU Building Services begin work in the residence halls at 7 a.m., and this story chronicles a typical day for Rick Nelson – a building serviceman who works in Neptune West.

The day begins with a gathering in the break room right before the shift starts. Cindy Allen, the building services foreman stationed in Neptune, checks to make sure everyone is there.

“If everybody’s here, it’s just as usual,” Allen said, “but if we’re short, I just break it up.”

After that, the day begins on the fourth floor for Rick. Carrying his 52-ounce coffee thermos, we found an abnormality: someone lying on the floor in the hallway.

“That’s the stuff that makes it fun,” Rick said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. You have to have a sense of humor with this job.”

The first task involves gathering all the trash from every container on the floor, then grabbing the recyclables from the pressing room. Rick made sure to refill the garbage cans with extra bags so the weekend garbage could be collected more efficiently.

Moving fluidly and methodically, Rick completes his tasks. He first sweeps and mops a stairwell in Neptune West, then cleans the lounge, picking up loose trash here and there, washes the windows and wipes off the pieces of furniture with Virex, a potent disinfecting agent mixed with water. After a 15-minute break, he begins to clean the bathrooms.

As Rick progresses through the day, vacuuming the floor, re-emptying trash and folding laundered wash rags, he begins to talk about some of his hobbies that avert his mind throughout the day.

Other than being an avid video game player, Rick enjoys gardening and landscaping, and his mind often escapes to thoughts of his garden while on the job. He has pictures of his garden posted in his supply closet, and he says the job is easy enough to where he can work on his garden at home.

“It’s not a thinking type of a job,” Rick said. “That’s what I like about it. I can think about my garden.”

As the day approaches its end at 3 p.m., Rick and everyone has another gathering at 2:45 p.m. to make sure that everything, including all the keys, is accounted for. Rick described everyone as being in a good mood mostly, but everyone is still eager to go home for the day.

“Don’t get between the janitors and the door,” joked Steve Olsen, another building service worker. Another remarked that one might get knocked over.

When the clock struck three, the reporter was pressed against the wall as everyone, including Nelson, happily rushed home for the day.