College dining halls are the places to see and be seen, sometimes things that you regret not being able to unsee. We’ve got some of the worst dining hall moments to make you cringe.
#1 Chicken Nugget Night
I worked in the campus dining halls, generally a sweet gig. But on chicken nugget night, things took a nauseating turn. Students would fill bowls with BBQ and Ranch sauce for dipping and when it came time to clean the dishes, the sauce would spray up out of the sink as the bowls were washed, soaking everyone on kitchen duty. We were literally dripping in sauce. It was years before I could even look at a BBQ or Ranch sauce.
#2 Soup of the Days
As a poor college student, I ate whatever was cheapest, trying to stretch my meal plan money as far as it would go. One week in winter I noticed the clam chowder, perfect to ward off the chill. The next day I went back to the soup, this time to enjoy some corn chowder- wonderful. The following day I came back, this time to enjoy some taco soup – whatever that is. The day after, I was horrified to arrive at the soup station only to be greeted by a sign reading “Taco Clam Corn Soup.” The kitchen staff had just dumped the three soups from the previous day into one vomit-like mass of disgusting. Needless to say, I never wanted to eat soup again.
#3 My family owned a restaurant
And my hard-working mother worked right up until she went into labor with me. Far along into the pregnancy, they were serving a buffet lunch to a football team. When the doors opened, the team stormed in and before my mom could move out of the way, one of the players lifted her (and me!) up and over the table to make room for the hungry players. I’m stunned just thinking about it.