The Campus Cafeteria:
A Mecca For Body,
Mind, and Soul.
Potatoes, Algebra, Eggs, Grape Apple Soda,
Pasta, The Odyssey, Banana Dr. Pepper,
People Watching, and Tater Tots on Bun.
By Jennifer McGee
Saturday, February 10, 2001.
DATELINE: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Special to corndancer.com
Let's talk about college. What images come to mind?
If you haven't been to college, you might think about stories handed down to you from friends and family. Or you may draw upon images from television and movies; though not necessarily true, they incessantly bombard your perceptions — and may even influence your views.
For those of you with first-hand experience, the realities of student life are either the stuff of memory, or a vital aspect of the now. Certain phrases conjure long-held or freshly gained memories: frat parties; all-nighters with gallons of caffeine; and Ramen, the 12-cent meal of pure starch and artificial flavoring, cooked in a coffee pot. Unfortunately, I have not had the pleasure of experiencing these supposed realities, but there is one aspect of college life that I partake of daily. I'm sure it holds a prominent place in the memories of college alumni.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For my fellow greybeards and blue hairs who aren't attuned to collegiate cuisine, Miss Jenny tells me: "Ramen noodles are some mystical sort of entrée. It costs about 12 cents for a package. Basically, it is noodles you cook in water (in a bowl in the microwave, or even in a coffee pot — it's been done!) with different flavored seasoning (i.e., chicken or shrimp) in a package that you just stir in. Then you eat it. It's one of those cheap meals college students live off of, enjoying the price more than the taste."
I'm talking about the university cafeteria.
The one place on campus you go every day, the cafeteria is your Mecca of food for the body, mind, and soul. Just think about all it has to offer.
Well, first, there's food. However, we don't like to dwell on it all that much.
You Can Always Find
Someone Who Knows Something.
The cafeteria also provides a place for study. Grab a quick bite, then cram for your psychology test, wade through The Odyssey for World Literature, or seek advice from a math major about that perplexing algebra formula. Surely you can find someone in the vicinity who knows (or claims to know) something about whatever subject you're struggling with.
It's also interesting to note how the cafeteria atmosphere engenders ideas and spawns creativity. Our collegiate trough, Brough Cafeteria, is the venue for some of the most surprisingly spontaneous and inventive episodes on campus. Believe me: when you're eating chicken nuggets for the third time that day, it's time to innovate.
Rule number one and only: Play with your food! Your mother isn't there to tell you otherwise!
Whatever you could possibly imagine is more than likely a reality in the cafeteria. Flash back to your childhood and reminisce about Tinker Toys, Legos, and Lincoln Logs. Now swipe some toothpicks from the front cashier table and turn those chicken nuggets into a work of art: The Statue of Liberty, the leaning tower of Pisa, St. Paul's cathedral, or even the Kremlin.
All Possible Variations
Of Spud Cuisine.
Until you go to college (or maybe join the Navy), you will never realize how many different ways humanity has devised for the preparation of potatoes. When you're certain that the lunch ladies have exhausted all possible variations of spud cuisine, come up with your own. Take those tater tots, slap them on a hot dog bun, add some relish and mustard, and see how it tastes. If it is wretched to the palate, no problem. In this all-you-can-eat venue, return to the trough and create something else.
A university cafeteria also opens your eyes to a whole new color scheme. Consider yellow. You have potatoes, eggs, macaroni and cheese, orange juice, pasta, rolls, bananas, and corn. Together they can make a drearily hued tray, so unleash your inner artist. Import a splash of food coloring to spice up the blandness. Add random condiments for a rainbow effect.
This also applies to your bartending skills. Experiment with fruit juice combinations: orange guava passion strawberry, banana Dr. Pepper, grape apple soda. I have even found a tempting variation on a favorite drink of mine, grape Kool-Aid and orange juice. Just mix two parts grape juice and one part orange juice and enjoy a palatable burst of flavor.
Above all, when mixing drinks, remember that the primary goal is not taste, but color. The true test of the artisan is when a random passerby asks, "Where did you get that drink!" I just smile and say it's the newest addition to the fountain around the corner.
An Opportunity to Exercise
Your Creative License.
Experiment with the endless combinations of flavors and textures. Where else can you eat chicken fried steak and gravy, egg rolls, a bean burrito, and spaghetti in the same meal? It's only fair that you exercise creative license here; the cafeteria takes great liberty with its fare. Brough recently even added a whole menu centered on bison meat. Buffalo Brough-alo? It's too perfect.
At the very top of my list of cafeteria delights, however, is the opportunity for human contact. It provides the best place anywhere for people watching, a frighteningly addictive pastime. After a few weeks of watching, you begin to recognize the people who come there at the same time every day. Before long you become emotionally caught-up in their lives. Sometimes you even find yourself wanting to yell, "Hey! You and that other guy should hook up! You're so perfect for each other!" or "I can't believe you're talking to her!" Then you back off, realizing that you're way too involved with people you don't even know.
The "lunch ladies" are also fascinating characters. You get to know them after endless lunch lines over the seemingly endless string of semesters. I share a special and personal bond with the lady at the front desk, who scans my card every day. Jens, the adorable old lady, will always smile, greet me by name, and comment on the weather or an interesting article she read in the newspaper. She definitely makes me feel special and unique.
The cafeteria is also the one place I'm guaranteed to see everyone at some point during the day. Some of my best memories are evenings at dinner with a small group of friends, watching the sun set over the hills, or uproarious lunches with masses of people, laughing and joking and throwing things across the room.
Though my friends and I gripe and complain and mumble about the cafeteria, it really is an important place to each of us, providing a site for congregation, repose, and nourishment for the beleaguered of mind, spirit, and body. Despite the litany of misgivings it raises, the cafeteria inspires so many wonderful memories — and I wouldn't trade them for anything. The daily routines, the surprises, the parade of people, the outrageous and gentle situations, and the outright fun are burned into my memories. They are times I will cherish.
Jennifer
McGee
A
Personal
Note
Written
at
CornDancer's
Request.
I am a freshman at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. This is the beginning of my second semester, and I'm really starting to get into the swing of things. As you can tell from my writing, my college experiences provide excellent fodder for stories. So much goes on around a school campus. From late-night soirees in dorm rooms to the mall food court, from the classroom to the cafeteria, there is always something going on.
Probably the most significant thing I have learned from being here so far is to just look around. You can tell so much about yourself, your peers, and your world in general if you just pay attention. Take the time to sit and watch what goes on around you, and you will realize how rich, full, and interesting everyday life is and how much it has to offer.
Signed:
Jennifer McGee
Todd Alden Marshall
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