If you’ve been in Perry Cafeteria since the start of the fall semester, you can’t have helped but noticed the renovation it underwent this past summer. It’s quite obvious whatever goals were set, in terms of style and luxury, were not only met but exceeded by a country mile.
Regrettably, other goals fall short by that same country mile. Let’s start with the beverage bars. There are three of them and that, at best, is only arguably sufficient. However, all options of milk, juice, coffee, tea and soda are not available at each. Furthermore, the bar at the south end is in a corner right next to the waffle irons. Even if there’s only one person at the waffle irons and one person attempting to get to that particular juice dispenser, it is impossible for them not to get in each other’s way. Almost forgot, the milk and juice dispensers are usually either empty or out of order.
Next there’s the omelet station. There used to be a large grill where the employees made the omelets among other things. The grill is gone and in its place are three small skillets, manned by only one employee each time I’ve paid a visit. My mistake was in thinking that the old grill was inefficient. I’ve seen molasses run uphill in the middle of January faster than the omelets get cooked now.
The employees are friendly enough. However they appear to be scared to put any food on the plate, particularly those who serve the breakfast foods in the mornings. If I tell them I want eggs, then I expect to be unable to see about three-fourths of the plate when I get it back. As it is now, you’re lucky if a quarter doesn’t cover more of the plate than the eggs do. Oh sure, they say you can come back for more, but this only contributes to longer lines, and employees who are only allowed 30 minutes for their meal can’t get done in that time length if they have to stand in long lines at each station. I have no idea why this zone is not self-serve. The only purpose of the employees manning this station is to hold up progress. Please get these people out of the way.
Then there’s the price. At $5.87, tax included, I expect to get breakfast or lunch at any time of day. The only way I can even attempt to justify that in my budget on a daily basis is to effectively make it two meals in one.
It’s a good thing that such stupidity isn’t against the law. If it were, hangings on the public square at high noon would definitely be the next order of business. Well, save the person who had the brilliant idea of the second tray collection area on the south end toward the televisions.
Kerry Hunt is a parking service officer at Mississippi State. He can be contacted at [email protected] .