Spring's different from Winter in many ways, but one underrated distinction is simply the increased number of people between you and your Collis stir-fry. Crowding is a hassle, and even though everything becomes more social, it throws into relief the issue of dining hall etiquette. You may have been able to go crazy with your salad or taste test both the soups in the Winter, but try the same thing in the Spring and you'll get your fair share of glares. Here are some tips to surviving Spring and staying classy in Dartmouth's dining halls.
1.No backpacks. Collis obviously wasn't made to fit them. Put your bags and jackets down at your seat (you can save a table early! twofold benefit!) before you wade your way into the masses to place your order. 2.Say hello. Ray, Steve and Donna are some of the coolest people I know, and you should have a conversation with them at least once while they're taking care of your order. It's polite, it's friendly, it's often hilarious and it'll brighten your day and theirs!3.Ask where the line is. Hompeplate's sandwich lines are somewhat amorphous, and the only thing worse than the line itself is when you're waiting patiently post 11s for your food until someone can't tell where the line is, steps in front of you and places a triple order of paninis. 4.Get your card out early. We are all guilty of occasionally spending a good two minutes in the cashier line trying to dig our cards out from underneath a laptop, textbooks, your phone, keys, and half-consumed bottles of Odwalla. Just try to avoid it. It'll save you time and make the line move more quickly.5.Don't block the runway. The FoCo runway is so awkward already should you walk down it? Should you cut through the tables and walk down by the dishwasher window? Should you keep your face up or down? Wave at people or get through it as fast as you can? I don't have those answers, but I do know that one of the worst things you could do is gather a bunch of your friends and have a little pow-wow in the middle of it. It's called a runway for a reason; strut your stuff quickly and leave it unblocked!
Beyond a student's perspective on etiquette, there's a whole world of actions we don't even think about that directly affect the dining hall staff. I talked to Michael Altamirano '13 who works at FoCo and Collis and Lucas Alvarado-Farrar '13 who works at Collis about their ideas for how students can make the dining halls a friendlier, politer place, both for students and for the staff.
1.Don't stuff! According to Altamirano, you shouldn't stuff your cups, napkins, foods, containers and utensils into each other before putting them away at FoCo. "All of those things need to be sorted in the dish room anyway, so it's a lot easier to do if they're not all smashed into one. And nothing tops napkins stuffed in soda cans." Leave all of your utensils and leftovers separated to make their job easier!2.Stack similar items together. Going along with 1, Alvarado-Farrar says, "it makes our job easier when utensils are together, and plates are together, and cups and bowls are stacked together. It's a really small change but it makes sorting so much faster."3.Do your part with large spills, scattered napkins, and empty food containers. "I understand it's our job to keep the dining halls tidy, but that's hard to do during busy hours." Altamirano says that keeping tables suitable benefits your peers more than the staff, and makes the dining hall a more comfortable place to eat, with less intervention from the staff. Alvarado-Farrar agrees. "I guess the biggest thing I notice about dining hall etiquette is when people spill something or make a mess, and then pretend like it didn't happen. They'll look at you and walk away from it." Alvarado-Farrar says it's demeaning and that even though dining hall workers are in uniform, they are students, not servants.4.Respect. Alvarado-Farrar said "Really, it just boils down to respect. Just try to respect everyone who's working to make your life easier as if you were in their position. It makes our lives easier, but more importantly, our interactions with our peers much more positive. It's like a chain reaction."
It turns out there are a ton of small things we can do to make the lives of students and dining hall staff easier. For the love of mozz sticks, let's make a concerted effort to improve our dining hall etiquette.
