Memories of O.D. Duty

Matt Tedesco ‘91

A lot has changed at Webb since I graduated. One notable change is that there are no longer phone booths on the main floor of Stevenson Taylor Hall. When I was a student, there were no cell phones or email, and the only way that the outside world could communicate with students was via these phone booths.

As is still the practice today, freshmen were assigned the job of being Officers of the Day, or “ODs.” Among other duties, it was the OD’s job to seek out students when they received a call at one of the phone booths. It was a brilliant system. Freshmen had the least familiarity with the campus, and the least familiarity with the student body. It was a great way to familiarize new students, albeit at the expense of those callers who had to wait patiently until the student being called was located and made his or her way to the phone booth.

Early in my freshman year, I received a call for Ian Busch. Unfortunately, I had no idea who Ian Busch was. I had a vague idea that he was a senior, but that is about all I had to go on. I explained to the caller that it may take some time to track him down. They had obviously been down this path before, as that did not bother them in the least. So off I went on my search for Ian.

First stop was the senior classroom. Ian was not there so I asked which room was his, but did not find him. Next I headed to the pub. In retrospect, that should have been my first stop but I did not know any better at the time. There in the pub I found a senior who I only knew as “Zippy,” a friendly guy with a sense of humor who tended to give my class a helping hand.

“Zippy, where can I find Ian Busch?” I asked – somewhat desperate at this point. “Hmmm…I think I saw him at the yacht club.” Off I ran back to the phone booth to let the caller know that I had not yet found Ian, but I had a lead on where he was and asked if they would like to wait a few moments longer or leave a message. Of course they were happy to wait. So off to the boathouse I bolted.

When I got there, I asked the students who were there if they knew where Ian was. One of them told me they were pretty sure that Ian was in the pub. I explained I had just come from the pub. “Maybe you passed him on your way here” someone said, and off I went back to the pub. When I got to the pub, Zippy was no longer there. I asked if anyone had seen Ian Busch. There was some laughter and someone told me they thought he was taking a call!

Back to the phone booth I went, to discover Zippy on the phone and to realize Zippy is the nickname of Ian Busch.