It is 8:30am on Governors Island and silence hangs in the air. Across the sun-dappled harbor, the skyline of Manhattan's financial district looms sharp and sleek. To the southwest, the Statue of Liberty smiles benevolently upon a passing Staten Island ferry, while Ellis Island's Main Building sits confidently on the...

In these desperate times, all the world's a stage, and your co-workers merely players.

Last week, Shakespeare's famous words were illustrated more vividly than I could ever imagine when I took the easiest -- and most bizarre -- freelance gig of my life.

As many of us 20-something liberal...