If you walk into any dining hall on campus you will find a bulletin board that sports the slogan “Napkin Notes.” What will you find on this board? Well, notes on napkins. Either a few short words about how great a meal was or, more likely, a complaint or request that someone has. In theory, it seems like a great idea. These notes serve as an outlet for students to anonymously speak their minds. However, do these napkin notes actually lead to change or are we wasting our napkins? After surveying our dining halls on campus, I have come to two conclusions; our requests rarely change anything, and our dining hall staff should do stand up comedy.
To begin with, who actually responds to our pleas? In our smaller dining halls such as JA and Freeman, the South Campus Supervisor, Sara O’Connor, responds to our requests for change. But have you ever wondered who leaves the comments in Harris with the perfect mixture of sarcasm and sass? The man, the myth, the legend: Mike Kmec. As the General Manager for Board Plan Operations, he is the one responsible. Need a good laugh? Kmec makes our napkin notes worth perusing. “Where are the eggs rolls???” “On the hotline of course.” My personal favorite napkin note was the difficult multivariable calculus problem set question to which Kmec responded, “Me no smart for this.” Humorous indeed, but does he always solve the problem in need?
In the JA dining hall, one student requested that the salsa that is put out in the morning be left out for lunch and dinner because their quesadillas were “lacking”. However, a few days passed and once again the salsa didn’t make it past breakfast. Salsa does not seem like a ridiculous request, but clearly there is a conspiracy theory going on.
Time and time again, requests are made, but the answers we are given are not satisfying. Either we are told that what we are asking for is not possible, or we are told that they are “looking into it.” “On Stir Fry Night could you also have miso soup broth? It’d be another great use for stir fry ingredients!” “I am not sure if we can do this, but I will look into it.” “Can we get vegan cheese?” “I am currently looking into this.” It seems as though saying the word “no” is a taboo, and we are given the answer of maybe so that we are somewhat satisfied into thinking we are eliciting change. But really Conn, are you looking into it?
Having the option of pesto for pasta and sandwiches seems reasonable, right? Nope, it is too expensive. Do you want oatmeal more often in the mornings? Sorry, five days a week is already enough. What about if we get the yummy fruit granola in JA that Harris serves? “Due to limited amounts of space we can only serve one kind of Granola. The Oats and Honey is extremely popular and is currently our number one cereal. I will not be removing it.” The counterargument to us not getting what we ask for is that requests from Conn students “abuse” napkin notes, and we use them to make “ridiculous” demands. The problem is defining what demand is too ridiculous because with a steep tuition of about $50,000, many people feel that having two types of granola in JA is not a ludicrous plea.
The Napkin Note responses that are really the most unhelpful are the ones that tell us our wish is granted, but then it is never followed up on. One vegetarian student wrote a napkin note explaining how they would really like for there to be a separate pair of tongs for the veggie burgers because the tongs touch meat before touching the veggie burger. As a partial vegetarian (I don’t eat red meat), I believe this is a rational complaint. Kmec responded by saying, “Sure, we can do this.” Great, awesome, the vegetarians of Conn thank you. Except, Kmec, where are our tongs? Days have gone by and no change has been made to Harris. We are promised change time and time again, yet we never see it.
Napkin Notes are used at schools all across the country as the primary way for students to directly communicate to those who feed them. It is a tradition was put in place years ago. Even so, Napkin Notes are an outdated form of communication. We make requests hoping they will be approved, but in actuality they give us very little power. We have to give the dining halls some credit. The staff does work hard, and I know it is hard to fulfill every request. However, something needs to change because no one is listening to us. Maybe everyone should tweet @conncollnakpinnotes with requests and other students can favorite them. The ones with the most likes can actually get done, if they are reasonable enough. Also, this way everyone can see the dining service’s responses. This is one option of many in order to make a happier student/dining services relationship.
With the current system in place, it seems that our requests as students are subjectively approved. If you want to use the napkin notes as a way to foster change, make sure you aren’t making a request that you actually want accomplished.
