Dorrill Dining Hall Delirium

It feels like I should be writing about Kanye West like the rest of the free world, but I refuse.

Instead, let’s talk about Dorrill Dining Hall. This is a staple in almost every student’s life here at Longwood and we visit it everyday. The way you handle yourself in the dining hall says a lot about who you are, surprisingly enough. I’m here to analyze a few of the strange things I have witnessed.

First and foremost, why can’t anyone eat alone anymore? I hear “pleeeeease eat with meeee” at least three times a week either from one of my friends or I overhear it from someone else’s conversation. What is so horrible about eating by yourself? No one is going to judge you if you’re eating alone; maybe the first couple weeks of classes, but certainly not now. And if they do, why do they care about your dining preferences? If you are “forced” to eat by yourself, bring a book to read or notes to study while you eat. If you don’t want to study while you eat, just put an open book in front of you and shoot it concentrated glances every once in a while. Bring you iPod, too, of course.

The other thing that irks me is how people, mainly couples, sit next to each while eating instead of across from each other. That’s so weird to me. Are you that insecure with your relationship that you have to be that close to them at all times? Not to mention, at the cost of sitting closer to one another, you have to try to face them instead of looking directly at them with ease if you were across from them. Let it be known that there are some disclaimers for two people sitting next to each other: 1) there may be another person joining them, where in that case it would make sense to sit next to each other, or 2) you’re helping them something on a sheet of paper or in a book. Any other reason to sit directly next to your significant other in a booth or at a small table is clingy and strange.

My final point is when people walk and look for where they’re going to sit at the same time, but are unsuccessful. This is most common during breakfast because everyone is still tired from recently waking up. I’ve been run into numerous times by people looking beyond who’s in front of them to figure out where they’re going to sit; very annoying. When you roll out of bed in the morning, make sure all of your senses are working before you step out of your dorm room.

That’s it for this week.

Side note: Recently, whenever I’ve thrown something away in the outdoor campus trashcans, a swarm of at least seven hornets flies from it. Maybe that’s Longwood’s secret sustainability tactic to make kids recycle.