ST. LOUIS, Oct. 8-Friday was a long day for Janice Stone. She showed up for work at 8 a.m. and knew she wouldn't leave until at least midnight. But Friday's gig wasn't like most of the other part time catering jobs the 32-year-old takes on. It involved Secret Service security checkpoints, hundreds of journalists and arguably two of the most powerful men in the world.
Just before 6 p.m., Stone rose up from beneath a buffet table where extra utensils and napkins resided. With 10 hours down and at least six to go she didn't show the slightest sign of exhaustion. Actually, she couldn't seem to peel the smile off her face.
\You look at the polls and you see the country's so divided and then you come here and realize it's really not as divided as you think,"" she said as she looked over the crowd of hungry journalists, campaign workers and technicians. ""It's a great air.""
Around 3,000 people came through the hospitality tent Friday, each with his own unique role in making the second presidential debate a reality. They walked down the steps leading out the back of the athletic building-turned-debate site to a sopping wet parking lot all with their eye on free food and beer. The televisions lining the makeshift room alternated between cable news networks and the Red Sox-Angels game as cops in riot gear, dolled-up 20-something campaign staff and TV anchors mixed it up.
Back inside, these groups quickly diverged to man various posts throughout the building. Live TV feeds began rolling from the six TV network platforms lining the backside of the debate hall. The media center came to life as journalists representing global media outlets began punching out stories.
Those with tickets to view the debate worked their way through the block-long security line only to find an equally long line for the restroom once inside. But as they waded through the crowds clamoring to enter the virtually unrecognizable university gym where the debate took place, they had plenty to look at with politicians and TV personalities in their midst.
Student volunteers greeted people ticketed for the debate hall with cushions to rest on the bleachers where they were to spend the next two-plus hours. Sana Shah worked the entrance to Section D. Though her job seemed mundane, the Washington University sophomore went through an intensive application process in order to distribute these bright blue and red pieces of foam, which included an essay addressing why she wanted to volunteer and what she expected to get out of it.
With a giddy smile, Shah ripped open another box of red and white cushions. By 7 p.m., the more comfortable blue ones were gone. She knows people who applied to volunteer and were rejected, but she said, ""I'm just glad I got to volunteer this night and not one of the random days.""
Inside the hall itself, the bleachers towering above the town-hall set were packed with around 800 ticketed guests. With six basketball goals neatly tucked just under the ceiling, they got a bird's eye view of the debate. Below the bleachers, wrapped around the perimeter of the room was a massive lighting set-up directed at the circular area where the candidates sparred, accompanied by the not-so-diverse 140 voters who were eligible to ask questions.
Washington University students Hannah Reed and Stephen Quinn were seated in the last row of bleachers. After entering a lottery of almost 6,000 students vying for tickets to the event, they were notified late last week they were within range, but not a sure bet, for tickets.
After spending the day watching live versions of CNN and MSNBC's ""Hardball"" on campus, the two, who are dating, convened at the school's Women's Building where the top 300 students picked met to find out who would make it inside the hall. Reed and Quinn were in the second group of students allotted tickets.
""For me, what I'm going to take away is just seeing the whole experience-seeing everything, not just what's on TV,"" Quinn said.
Reed nodded in agreement.
""We were so lucky to get to do this. Getting to see them actually talk makes it so much more sincere. It makes it so much more real.""
But back in the hospitality tent it was business as usual. Stone and the dozens of other banquet servers donning black aprons replenished the supply of chicken and sausage, forks and knives as the excitement in the air kept them going. They never even saw the two men for whom the whole production revolved around. But that didn't matter to Stone.
""I figured, the debate only happens once every four years. Really, I don't think anything else can compare.\
