Devia Robinson has seen it all. From the woman who walked out of a restroom naked to the man who tried to order a pizza from her sub shop, she’s borne witness to a full cast of drunken characters in her role as a late-night manager of Jimmy John’s in Five Points. But one in particular sticks out to her.

“She was super drunk,” Robinson says. “We called her Mayo Girl.”

As Robinson, a fourth-year biology student at USC, remembers it, this particular customer really loved mayonnaise. Her order was the same every time: a Club Lulu turkey sandwich with extra mayo and a handful of extra packets on the side. The routine was the same just about every night.

When one manager got fed up and refused her the additional mayo, things got ugly. A fiery exchange between the two wasn’t doused in the least when she angrily punched the soda fountain and yanked out all of its spouts, hurling them at the manager while soft drinks sprayed the restaurant. Employees shielded themselves from the spewing soda with their aprons as they hurried to stop the flow. Mayo Girl stormed out, leaving the Devine Street deli for the last time.

“We banned her from the store,” Robinson said.

Drunken antics from the late-night denizens of Five Points aren’t anything new, but nobody knows them better than Robinson and the crews of restaurant employees who work into the wee hours of the morning, serving up the meals that mark the end

of a night.

For these workers, the tipsy customers are not only a source of income. They’re a source of irritation and of entertainment. And depending on the night, they’re the best and worst parts of the job.

‘They’re just so rude’

On Wednesday through Saturday nights, Kadijah Clemons clocks in at the Waffle House on Harden Street around 9 p.m., and she doesn’t leave until morning, sometimes as late as 8 a.m.

She goes home to sleep and spend an hour or so with her 2-year-old daughter before her cosmetology classes at Kenneth Shuler start at 9. The day ends at 3:30 p.m., when she goes home for another few hours of sleep and caretaking before starting the cycle all over again.

Because she has such a straining schedule and such little sleep, Clemons says her customers’ attitudes influence hers a lot — sometimes, one table can make or break a night. Those who are pleasant and tip well make her night, but rude and stingy customers can get under her skin.

“Those customers that run you, and run you, and run you, for nothing — and then they have such bad attitudes — I really hate that,” Clemons says. “And it puts me in a bad mood. I think, ‘Oh my gosh, somebody go take over that table, ’cause I just can’t do it.’”

“You have those people who just come in here, and they’re just so rude, because they don’t have a life and their life is so miserable,” she says.

Qdoba manager AJ Shoemaker isn’t as concerned with customers’ attitudes as their cleanliness. On St. Patrick’s Day, the restaurant’s busiest day of the year, trash piles up in the booths, in the bathrooms — everywhere. The floor gets so dirty it turns black, obscuring its tiles.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place that destroyed,” says Shoemaker, 23, who has worked at Qdoba for about a year and a half.

Normal weekends aren’t quite as hectic, but they can still be pretty messy. The main concern for Shoemaker, and for employees at any establishment that caters to a late-night, largely intoxicated crowd, is vomit.

Antoine Harley and Eden June are all too familiar. The two Benedict College students, a third-year English major and a second-year mass communications major, respectively, are in charge of keeping the front lobby and bathrooms of Cook-Out clean, a challenge at the Harden Street fast food staple.

“Oh my god,” June says. “The worst part about working this shift is people throwing up.”

‘It’s always something different’

While Mayo Girl never returned to Jimmy John’s, employees there started noticing an odd trend last year, Robinson says. Every so often, a delivery order would come in for a Club Lulu sandwich with extra mayo and more packets on the side.

She was undeterred.

Robinson and the rest of the staff were shocked by her persistence, but restaurant employees throughout Five Points and Columbia’s late-night scene say their jobs leave them incredulous all the time.

Just ask Jon Plato. He’s a delivery driver for Insomnia Cookies and Domino’s Pizza, so most weekends find him waiting on the porches of Columbia’s house parties.

Over the past few years, that has made for some interesting encounters. He’s never quite sure who — or what — will greet him at the door. Plato’s most memorable delivery was to a man who emerged wearing only a paper plate. Others have opted to wear less, streaking past him (or at him, as the case may be) as he drops off their food.

“Normal college things, I guess you could say,” Plato says, sitting at Qdoba around 10 p.m. on a quick break from work.

And about twice a night, he’s met with a certain kind of generosity — invitations to parties and offers of beer and, well, other substances.

Standing with Shoemaker behind the counter, Dee Haynes, 21, says she’s seen some of that sharing spirit herself.

She remembers watching a customer walk outside to a parking lot with his burrito and sharing it with a homeless man, passing it back and forth one bite at a time.

“It’s definitely interesting working here,” Shoemaker says. “It’s always something different.”

Over on Greene Street, Hannah Young says the nights and the chaos of Pita Pit’s peak hours all blur together — a medley of fights, lines of indecisive customers and hours of churning out pita wraps.

But as far as Young, 20, is concerned, the most intriguing part of the job is off the clock, when she and her coworkers step back and observe late night’s milieu from the restaurant’s front stoop.

Their hangout sits in the hub of Five Points. It was stirred into a panicked frenzy earlier this semester when a man opened fire on a police officer across the street; it’s just uphill from the fountain, where cab lines meander and groups congregate; and it’s along the main connector of campus and the bar district — on the way downtown or on the way home.

Racking her brain for what she finds most interesting about a night on the job, she throws out a few memories from working inside the restaurant, but it’s the antics outside that she settles on.

“Actually, the most entertaining thing is when we sit outside and smoke cigarettes and watch the drunk asses that walk by,” Young says.

‘What makes me come to work every day’

 When a woman walks into Cook-Out wearing a tiara with a yellow feather boa and a 21st birthday checklist draped around her neck, June, the lobby manager, bounds toward her.

As they pose for a photo, a few men jump in the frame, and one starts to sway before a friend holds him up. June smiles for a Snapchat with another patron. A few minutes later, she’s walking around the restaurant with a single yellow feather plucked from the boa, tickling a few customers on the ear as she passes by.

In the meantime, she tends to the restaurant’s housekeeping. She mops, picks up bits of trash from the floor and confiscates a wet floor sign from a group who’d put it on their table. All the while, June belts out a few rhythm-and-blues tunes. 

June’s singing has won her some recognition among the restaurant’s regulars. Walking around with a mop, she is stopped by one customer who makes a song request. She happily obliges.

Every so often, she says, the whole restaurant will join her, singing along to Alicia Key’s “No One,” and other tunes.

“When I’m out in the streets sometimes, I feel like a celebrity, because they’ll be like, ‘That’s the girl from Cook-Out,’” June says. “I love my customers.”

While she and Harley, her coworker, willingly acknowledge the downsides of working the Cook-Out night shift, they both say the customers keep them coming back. They say the entertainment and interactions make it all worthwhile.

“What makes me come to work every day is you guys, because the check is not even worth it,” Harley says. “I could do better, [but] it makes you want to be here to see the next customer that comes in.”

June nods in agreement and adds that she enjoys connecting with so many different people in various walks of life and states of mind.

“People are usually in their own little world, and you never know what’s going on,” June says. “You don’t know if they’re having a bad day or they just had a breakup,” so being able to make them smile, she says, gives her great satisfaction.

And just as rude people can drive Clemons, the Waffle House server, crazy after several days of classes and work, cheerful and polite ones can make up for it.

“The best part of my job would be my customers,” Clemons says. “If I’m having a bad day and I just come in and my customers are here, they make my night so much smoother.”

Robinson, the Jimmy John’s manager who’s been known to patronize the deli herself on nights in Five Points, says despite all the exasperation of a long, late-night shift, it doesn’t take much to keep her happy.

“Just don’t throw up everywhere, and we’re pretty good,” she says. "That could be our slogan — we can deal with your shit, just don’t throw up.”

By: Julia Hienz

We’ve all done it: flirtatiously made eyes with that hottie across the room secretly (or blatantly, maybe) hoping that they’re single. Although it may be impossible to know exactly what someone is thinking about you, being able to read body language can help decode some of their opinions. G&B has done the research and picked out the most important physical cues to familiarize yourself with before heading down to Five Points. Read on and let the bodies do the talking.

Private Eyes

As obvious as it seems, making and holding eye contact is the first clear hint that someone may be into you. This goes for both sexes, and if eye contact is followed up with a smile or they move to be in a closer proximity, chances are they feel some attraction. Additionally, if you find yourself face-to-face with someone and notice that their pupils dilate (get larger), it’s good news: this is a physiologic response that occurs when a person finds someone attractive.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Another common body language sign of both males and females is mimicking each other’s movements. It can be as subtle as uncrossing legs or taking a bite of food after the other person does. Mirroring allows one to sympathize with another without using words, and puts two people in sync. Pay attention next time you are sitting with a crush and see if they copy your moves!

Lady Lingo

Whip My Hair

Females do a variety of subconscious things to attract potential mates. One of the most telltale signs that a woman digs you is if she touches or fixes her hair when you’re around. General primping, also known as “preening” shows a woman is attempting to look their best and amp up attractiveness. If you’re spitting game to a girl and you notice she’s doing this: keep it up. She’s into you.

Kiss This

Reading lips (and I don’t mean from your buddy, mouthing the words “it’s in the bag” from across the bar) is another way to decipher a woman’s feelings about you. When a female finds someone attractive, she will do anything and everything to draw attention to her mouth. Common motions include pouting, licking, biting, and/or touching their lips.

Jitterbug

Women tend to fidget when they’re nervous. It’s a natural reaction that helps the body rid excess energy caused by anxiety. If you see a girl playing with her jewelry or steadily tracing the rim of a glass while around a certain person, she probably likes them and may have preoccupied thoughts about what she looks like or what to say.

Guy Code

Call Me Maybe

Men’s sexual body language errs on the side of primitive in comparison to women’s. One example being extremely loud laughter or talking. Bellowing chuckles allow a man to “mark his territory,” so to speak. It alerts to other males in the surrounding vicinity that the woman being spoken to is “theirs.” A subtler way that attracted men “mark territory” is by finding any opportunity to touch you, even in the slightest.

I’m Kind of a Big Deal

Another interested body language indicator is displayed when a guy sits up straighter or tries to make himself appear larger when you’re around. Attempting to be the largest shows that a man desires to be the “alpha male.” Prehistorically, the alpha male of a group was also the man most desired by women. A guy is probably REALLY interested if he also has open body language, like spread legs, uncrossed arms or is faced towards you.

Nose Knows

If you’re talking to a cutie and want to know if they think you’re cute too, look no further than the nose. This may be one of the smallest attraction hints, but flared nostrils many times indicate that a dude is turned on by your presence. A nervous, rapid heart beat requires more oxygen and flared nostrils allow for more air to enter the body. So don’t be creeped out if you see this, he’s probably just breathing heavier, not trying to get a whiff of your perfume.

By: Caitlyn McGuire

Picture this: After a night in Five Points, you end up back at the apartment of the boy who bought you vodka cranberries all night and told you your eyes were “so pretty.” Waking up in a daze, you awkwardly accept his “Shacking Shirt,” paired with your skirt from the night before. To be courteous, he asks for your number and you trek down the stairs of his apartment barefoot, heels in hand.  Just when you thought things couldn’t get more awkward, sitting on the couch is not only his roommate, but also the kid you have been talking to in your Poli Sci class. Perfect. Does this scenario sound familiar? Being in college, most of us have either experienced or heard of a similar horror story.

One-night stands have become so common they don’t hold the same shock factor, as say, for our parents’ generation. A possible bevy of physical and emotional dangers relating to one-night stands, most students know the basic facts of sexual health. The choice is yours, but before staying the night, it is important to learn the “who’s, what’s and whys” of college one-night stands.

Who’s having them?

In college, it could be anyone. Sometimes it’s the most unsuspecting ‘nice’ boy or girl that can regale you with tales of their late night romps. Needless to say, this does not mean everyone is doing it. From speaking with students, G&B found that there are those that haven’t, those that have, and those that have had too many.

How bad are they really?

One-night stands can be harmful physically and emotionally. The cause and effects of one-night stands vary greatly among students, from harmless to devastating. When the outcome may be unpredictable, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Getting physical

Be aware of the unknown. Bringing a stranger home for one-night puts a lot of trust into them. You don’t know their personality well enough to predict their actions.  Never disregard the possibility of physical and sexual abuse, date-rape drugs, or even theft.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)

We are much too old, wise and educated to pretend STDs do not exist on campus, because they do - and more readily than you’d think. Using protection is a frontline defense against STDs but it isn’t effective 100% of the time. Even though it may have been your first one-night stand it does not mean it was your partners’ first one too. Furthermore, some people who have an STD may not even realize it. In a report from the University of North Carolina, chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea and hepatitis B may not show any symptoms while affecting an individual.

Pregnancy

An accidental pregnancy is life-changing and a one-night stand is far from the support system needed at such a scary time.  As we know, a great majority of one-nighters happen after a long night of drinking. In a 2012 study conducted by the National Coalition of STD Directors, almost half of college freshmen that were under the influence did not use a condom during sex. It’s assumed after freshmen year, that the nearly 50% did not all of a sudden begin wearing condoms during intoxicated sex. Birth control is an effective method of pregnancy prevention, however nothing is 100% effective and while Plan B is an option, it’s an expensive one.

Cause and Effect

Aside from the possible physical side-effects, one-night stands can leave impressions lasting much longer than a single evening. Although touted as a carefree activity, for most, it’s hard to keep emotions separate from intimate encounters. Here are some of the common emotional aspects behind staying the night.

One-night stands can occur from simply being caught up in the excitement of a moment. When we asked, USC students, a common answer was that a person having a one-night stand was in some way expressing personal insecurities. Everyone faces their insecurities at some point, but how they deal with them can manifest in different ways. A third-year male student describes one-night stands as “instant gratification for people who aren’t satisfied with themselves.” A 2010 Kansas State University research journal suggests the more people engage in one night stands, the lower their self esteem may become. If one-night stands are used to temporarily ease self-esteem issues, the ensuing chain of effects -  avoiding problems as opposed to confronting them, can possibly lead to depression.

If the night didn’t end up being all you thought it would, ruminating on regretful decisions made from the past will only make you feel worse. It’s important to take responsibility for your own adult actions and understand the risks at hand. In college, sex happens. Whether you are engaging in it or not, be aware of it and its effects.