Post 33: Cafeteria Food Pt. 1

So, this post was just supposed to be about school cafeteria food in general. But this will just be a rant about my cafeteria experience today. Will rant about cafeteria food in general some other time.

So, it started off fine (as far as I knew). The cafeteria has a pizza section, specials section and a grill. (Plus a kitchen, where you can make food but it seems more practical for multiple people not just one.) Anyway, the pizza choices are pretty limited, and aren't great. And the specials are usually bland. So, I go to the grill.

Or just get soup and salad.

The grill has quite a few options, but since there is rarely anyone manning the grill the only options are what have been sitting on the heater. Usually the cheeseburger and chicken burger. I avoid the cheeseburger, always. I tried it a couple times and both times ended up with a big piece of cartilage or bone. It was so gross. If there is someone there, I can get a grilled cheese or grilled chicken sandwich.

Today was a hectic day and I felt more like a chicken burger than anything else.

It worked out well, there wasn't any on the heater but there was actually someone at the grill! (At least physically.)

She was busy having a conversation with her friend, and it took awhile for her to acknowledge I was there. Then, when I ordered a "chicken burger", she got out a piece of grilled chicken and threw it in the corner of the grill. I was going to say something, but figured it was probably healthier anyway.

Then she went back to talking to her friend, and making her friend a cheeseburger. This wouldn't bug me so much if it wasn't for the fact that there were six cheeseburgers sitting on the heater. In fact, the only thing there was, was cheeseburgers. The last time I actually saw someone at the grill they were arguing with someone because they wanted something that was already under the heater.

But, anyway, that wasn't even the most annoying part. About three minutes later, two guys came over and ordered chicken as well. She put their's on, poured water over them (which seemed weird, but that isn't the point) and like a minute later she starts taking them all off the grill. It wasn't like they actually had to be cooked they were all precooked, they just needed to be heated up (which it actually wasn't, it was just barely warm so their food was probably cold still).

I was kind of annoyed, because it seemed pretty clear that the only reason she made me wait was she was busy talking to her friend. And the only reason I got it as soon as I did was that someone else asked for the same thing (if I had actually ordered it).

And then when she gave it to me, she just gave me the chicken. No bun or bread. I had to ask for a bun. It seems like it should have been kind of obvious that a chicken burger, would come with a bread of some kind.

Anyway, that isn't even the worse part. The worst part is that after I get my sandwich, and some steamed veggies (which were overcooked) I went to get a drink. It is always a nightmare finding a cup, because they aren't restocked often. Anyway, I set the plate down to get one. When I picked up again, I grabbed it by the other side and discovered that there was a gross brown substance smeared along the bottom of the other side of the plate. It looked and felt kind of like hummus, except that there was like no hummus around. So, I don't know if they didn't wash it, or if someone got it dirty then put it back or maybe someone go it dirty and left it somewhere and someone put it back thinking it was clean.

Whatever it was, it was so gross. I got as much of as I could with napkins, and ate all my food with a fork. When I was done, I practically ran to the nearest bathroom to wash my hands.

I seriously considered just dumping all the food on my plate and getting a salad, but when I got salad for lunch today some of the lettuce looked kind of rotten.

All in all, I think the university needs to work on its food quality AND its customer service quality.