Oracle Online

But my euphoria did not last long. The tragic downfall began one Sunday morning. My friends and I woke up early after a rough night and went to church. It was 10:30 a.m. when we arrived back on campus. Our stomachs were growling.

We headed over to Sorin with vision of scarfing down everything in sight playing in our heads.
But the only things eating around Sorin were the squirrels munching out of the garbage cans: “How could this be? Sorin doesn’t open until 11:30!”

Okay, we thought, no problem. We’ll just head over to the HUB. But sadly, as measly first-years, we had forgotten that the HUB is closed on the weekends. So, there stood the Klas Center, a beacon of hope for our now famished stomachs. Sadly, Klas could not answer our prayers. We waited for 20 minutes until it opened at 11 a.m.

But this was only the first of my problems. The next week, as I continued my swipe-happy ways, my declining balance began to do just that: decline. Rapidly.

Approximately two weeks into the school year, I had depleted half of my declining balance, simply by eating meals at Klas or the HUB. This might not be so frustrating if I wasn’t wasting four, five, or even six meals a week.

Another agitating situation occurred one Sunday night when a friend and I got off work at around 9 p.m. Knowing we would be wasting around five meals apiece, we decided to go to the
Klas and grab some soda (sorry, no “pop” for this St. Louis native) and chips for later in the week.

Not so fast, said Hamline’s meal plan. After 8 p.m., even if you haven’t used your meal plan for dinner that evening, it’s all declining balance.

Now, to the grand finale of my eating agitations. I went to the HUB on a Monday afternoon. After surveying the usual prospects, I decided to be adventurous and try something new, the pork quesadillas.

But as I watched the production of this “special,” my stomach began to churn. First, of the three middle-aged women producing the food, only one had some sort of head covering (hat, hairnet, etc.). Second, I watched as a knife used to cut quesadillas was dropped on the floor, picked up, then used to cut more food moments later without being san itized.

Furthermore, it was picked up off the floor by a worker not wearing gloves, who did not deem it important to wash her hands after she did this (or after picking mozzarella sticks off the floor).
She also did not deem it proper to sanitize after sneezing into her hands.

As I carried my “special” away, I noticed it did not have a side of caesar salad daintily scooped on the side (as was displayed in the sample). After inquiring, I was informed that they were out. I held back the urge to ask if it was ever available.

I love Hamline, I really do. But for the cost, it would be nice if the meal plan suited me a little more conveniently.