COLUMN: The life of a congressman’s son
Jashon Bishop understands busy days. He’s about as well acquainted with them as Daniel was with Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid.” It’s not exactly that stress doesn’t faze him — it’s just that his surroundings and his childhood have helped him become used to it.
Bishop, the 22-year-old son of Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, said he has experienced the ins and outs of “busy life” from all kinds of angles — always living in the environment of people who claim to help others based on their need.
That ethic has gotten him far along into his collegiate program, even landing a traveling internship as an incoming junior. He said it may also be the crux to how he became a running mainstay as an employee for the USU Bookstore — an establishment that could especially use his sense of “busy life” during what they at the store call “Rush Week.”
The junior majoring in political science is out of bed by 6 a.m. Currently preparing to leave for his internship in Washington, D.C. — acting as an assistant to Utah Sen. Mike Lee — he currently has no place of his own in Logan, so he said he sets up camp, nightly, on a friend’s couch. After a quick routine of shower, shave and snagging a bowl of his makeshift roommate’s cereal, he’s out the door — en route to work.
Rush Week at the bookstore is about as far from a walk in the park as can be found at any establishment; so, it’s long hours and short breaks for Bishop when he’s at work. He shows up right away, heading swiftly to the back of the store at 7 a.m. sharp.
Today, Bishop will spend a good chunk of his time at work behind closed doors, but if he’s learned anything about the bookstore at the beginning of the year, it’s that he is sure to see his share of students throughout the day. He works in the Express-A-Book department — the department in charge of managing Internet orders and preparing them to be sent to the Book-It department, which stocks and delivers orders to customers who have pre-ordered books online.
He starts every shift on the computer, organizing the near-endless list of book orders into some form of understanding and setting himself up for a barrage of answering phone calls, printing order forms, fixing order errors, directing students to other parts of the store, directing calls and handing out orders to athletes at the athletics window. At some point during the day, he recalls running to the break room and bringing his lunch to his desk, though, in the blur of books he can’t honestly remember when.
After nearly nine hours of book orders, phone calls, solving problems and helping needy students, he’s out the door sometime around 4 p.m. Most students break their work hours up, in an effort to get to classes; but Bishop will be out of Utah soon and has volunteered to work a full shift, straight through. He said he’ll miss working at the bookstore, though it has its moments of stress and mild insanity, even its moments of monotony after answering the same questions for hours a day. But “busy” is his thing, and the atmosphere was, in his words, “oddly pleasant.”
Now to run to his friend’s apartment, grab a quick bite, chat for a bit with his comrades — then he’s out the door again. His day is done, now it’s time to see Dad at work.
Bishop said he normally enjoys going to town hall meetings, because he likes the atmosphere; but this week takes a different tone, as Rep. Bishop is holding a Q-and-A open to all Cache Valley residents.
He arrives at 7:30 p.m., and begins to enjoy being in his element. He said he loves listening to people’s concerns and seeing how his dad would deal with such a situation, which is why it is something he wants to make a career out of. He takes time to chat with his ever-busy father, stacks some chairs and heads back to enjoy a few hours with his friends.
He and his friends snag some dinner, check out a few parties around town and head home to check out a movie. It’s now 1:30 in the morning, and Bishop, already in his jimmy-rigged version of a home, crashes on the couch for another night abroad. It’s an honest day’s work, and honest night’s play — busy day overall — and just another day in the life of a congressman’s son.
— steve.schwartzman@aggiemail.usu.edu