“SKOOOOOOO REBS!” sportscaster David Kellum roared.
The Vaught-Hemingway Stadium erupts into chants, cheers and cries as the last seconds of the football game disintegrate into 00:00. As the clock runs out, Oxford’s workers and business owners cherish their final minutes of peace before their own game day starts.
Whether they are running the plays or calling the shots, local laborers agree that navigating the busy football season in a small town overflowing with potential customers for their establishments is not a task for the faint of heart.
When asked to describe her game weekends, Snackbar cook Eve Flaschka offered three words:
“Hectic. Long-winded. Sleepless,” Flaschka said.
Lulu’s Shoes and Accessories owner Corrine Jackson shared similar sentiments.
“Busy, exhausting and exciting,” Jackson said.
For Ole Miss fans, game day starts on Saturday in the Grove, but for local laborers, it begins on Thursdays when cars packed with excitement and tailgating equipment roll into town. With the influx of football fans comes a weekend spent managing difficult crowds for hours on end.
Kaitlin Horne, who is a Chili’s cook and a junior exercise science major, shared that game weekends are all about kitchen logistics and gearing up for the hubbub.
“When I was serving, (football season) meant a lot of alcohol sales and a lot of tips. Now, I am a cook. Football season now is about figuring out how many guests are about to order, making sure I stock up and hoping the other cooks, and myself, are ready for a rush,” Horne said.
The time spent at work during game days is even longer than regular shifts.
“I’m a little bit of an introvert, and these weekends wear me out because I’m communicating constantly all day with people I don’t know and then with my staff,” Jackson said. “So it is kind of exhausting.”
Flaschka shared that working extended hours is part and parcel to the football season.
“You come in 30 minutes to an hour earlier to work and leave an hour or two later than what you usually do,” Flaschka said.
“I wish every game started at the same time, every time,” Horne said. “That way, you know when to expect people, and you don’t have to worry about being kept past your out time or closing (late) because the game went later than expected.”
Despite the blitz and sacks from game day rush, local laborers prevail through these tumultuous times by reflecting on the beautiful moments that outshine the chaos of game days.
“After we’ve cleared all the tables and we’ve got word to shut down the kitchen, we have a mini celebration. We play our music loud while cleaning and get some pats on the backs from one another. It’s this nice moment of togetherness we always have at the end of the shift,” Flaschka said.
Local food establishments also serve as a place of community for customers to gather and watch the game together.
“I have a very distinct memory of two families supporting both teams playing, and they were talking to each other and messing around. I was serving them both, and they both tipped me a large amount for four to five people, at each respective table. I ended up talking to them for a while and had a great shift for the rest of the day,” Horne said.
Although local workers are not able to cheer on the Rebels at the field, they are able to contribute meaningful spaces for the fans to enjoy their celebrations afterwards.
“It’s really fun to be an ambassador for the community. I think a lot of the people who don’t know Oxford as a town just associate it with the university. They don’t understand the ins and outs of what it’s like to live here,” Jackson said. “It’s nice to be able to show people that this is a nice Mississippi town with some of the same problems everybody else has.”
