Dining halls can be dangerous places, especially at a school this small. Trying to avoid certain people is nearly impossible and the possibility of causing a scene can make your Sunday dinner a lot more stressful than it should be. Check out these tips on how to cope with your worst dining hall nightmares.
1.Dropping and breaking a dish in the middle of Thorne.
GIF courtesy of giphy.com
It’s Sunday morning, and everyone is groggily moseying around the dining hall in an attempt to heal their wounds from a long night out. As you’re sitting down, you drop your entire meal with a loud crash. Well, shit. It’s almost guaranteed that half of the room will turn around and start staring at you.
As rattling as this is, remember that it happens to everyone. Just pick it up and move on. It always happens when you least expect it, but if anything it’ll make for a funny story between you and your friends later on.
2.Causing a fire in various appliances.
Photo by Rebecca Black
Whether it’s in the microwave or the toaster, accidentally lighting things on fire is never a good look. Everyone knows it’s your smoking wheat toast or exploding, flaming nachos. Often there is a massive line watching you panic, while they impatiently wait for you to pull it together and figure out how to literally, put the fire out.
GIF courtesy of reactiongifs.com
You feel bad for the dining hall staff that has to deal with the situation, and there’s no denying that you caused a problem, but in the grand scheme of things, a small fire in the toaster isn’t really that bad. All you have to do is ask for help. Walking away from the piece of charcoal you created is just rude, and you probably won’t be the last carbohydrate arsonist in Bowdoin’s history.
3. Spilling, everywhere.
GIF courtesy of reactiongifs.com
Knocking over a glass while excitedly telling a story is never easy to play off. It reminds you of being a little kid, except your parents aren’t there to immediately throw a whole roll of paper towels at your mess. It’s even worse if you spill onto someone else, but it’s not the end of the world. Chances are, you’re eating with your friends, and there’s nothing a handful of napkins can’t fix.
4. Running into your hookup or crush.
GIF courtesy of reactiongifs.com
All college students really want in this world is to eat a yummy meal to to get through the stress of a hectic week. There is nothing like waiting in the buffet line, only to realize that your one-time hookup from the weekend before is standing behind you or in front of you. Your throat starts to close up and you start to question what you should choose to eat, hoping that they won’t judge you for your food preferences.
GIF courtesy of perezhilton.com
Instead of freaking out, this could present itself as an opportunity to make moves if you want to revisit the option or get some flirting in. Food brings people together, and there’s no reason why it can’t be your “in.” Use this potentially awkward situation to your advantage.
Or, if you’d like to pretend you don’t know the person, that always works just as well. And in that case, it’s probably a dessert kind of night–nothing a warm cookie with soft serve can’t fix or help you recover from the awkwardness.