Napkin complaints offer students outlet, some more proactive than others
By Elizabeth Tertadian
Eight to nine years ago, the Commons started receiving notes written on napkins on a cork board. Now dedicated exclusively to napkins, the board receives numerous notes daily with all kinds of messages.
Some are serious complaints, others are requests for an item or are drawings, and some are just jokes. Regardless, napkins showcase student feelings at their best - intensely irritated or pleasantly pleased.
"It depends on their tone, I try to be informative but they are not all serious," General Manager Kirk Mustain said about his responses to the napkins.
For example, take the complaint, "I'm tired of finding hair in my plate." Mustain's response? "Stop leaning over your plate."
Others are earnest requests that Mustain and his staff try to implement, such as adding cereals, or serving more of a popular item. If it's specific, we try to respond, said Mustain.
Some napkins are just too good to pass up, and Mustain keeps these in a box. He has over 400 napkin notes stored away in shoe boxes which he has accumulated over the years. He continues to add notable napkins when he comes across them, keeping a wide range of comments.
"The best napkin was a few years back when we had a good-looking male cook," said Mustain. "A girl drew a little picture of a campfire and wrote, 'This is how hot Gilberto is.'"
Others write napkins as jokes that don't even relate to the Commons. One day at dinner, a group of friends drew a diagram of all the people they had kissed. Turns out their entire friend group showed up on the diagram, with arrows were pointing in all directions. They posted it on the board.
"It definitely makes me redefine the term 'close friends,'" sophomore Wes Ohmes said.
Besides nonsensical jokes, students take out their frustrations about food and even tuition via napkins, in words or drawings. Take sophomore Geoff McVie. Sixty plates of clams later, he decided to write a profane napkin to the Commons about his frustration due to the fact that they would give him only one clam per plate.
Anticipating that the napkin would go unanswered, he went on to write a thought-out essay regarding the service at The Commons and what should be done to improve it.
"I wrote an essay, but it was taken down a day later," McVie said.
This and other food complaints prompted the creation of the Facebook group "I Hate Bon Appetit" by upset UP students. A limitless board, members post "virtual napkins" about the Commons and often pictures to accompany them.
According to junior Alex Fiori, napkins just don't work anymore because of poor handwriting and vague complains such as "this sucks." Having written several napkins himself, he admits to crafting many of the vulgar ones.
"I remember what set me off," Fiori said. "I had pulled an all-nighter, and I got grilled cheese and they only gave me three tater tots."
Fiori has experienced many Commons food disasters during his time at UP, and was present when a student found a worm in his salad this semester.
"He moved the leaves, and a worm jumps up!" he said. "And then I took a picture."
Many students use the napkin board as a way to bash The Commons on multiple levels. Bad food, bad service, inadequate portion sizes ... the list goes on.
According to Mustain, the most common requests to appear on napkins are for more beef and meat or complaints about how much money UP costs.
"We recognize that we are an easy outlet for frustrations," Mustain said.
He understands how students feel about the food and how easy it can be to blame The Commons. Mustain sympathizes with the fact that for most students, The Commons is the only place they eat.
As it was once put to him, "How would you feel if you had to eat in the same restaurant every day?" Mustain said.
Over spring break, The Commons will make the switch to accept credit and debit cards. Additionally, The Anchor - the snack shack located across from Public Safety in Haggerty - is scheduled to open when students return from spring break.
Come next fall, a whole new Commons awaits the students, with faster and more personalized food and service. Regardless, students will still find things to say about their daily eatery - good, bad and downright funny - and napkins will continue to showcase the feelings of students.
