The waffles at the North Campus Diner looked as delicious as ever at the beginning of the school year – even the sign next to them advertised them as “golden.”
The problem, however, was the other two words on the sign: “self-serve.”
The Testudo-adorned waffles, a staple of Saturday and Sunday morning breakfasts for the sweet-toothed and hung-over masses, were previously made by Dining Services employees. The resulting waffles were fine. The same couldn’t be said for the line, which often stretched all the way to the salad bar.
So the waffle-making process was turned over to the students who would eat them. The early results have been messy.
“I make a mess every time I make one,” said Frank Lamicella, a freshman finance major. “It always spills out on the side.”
Sophomore journalism major Rob Gindes agreed that waffle creation was better left in more capable hands.
“Who thought it was a good idea to have hung-over college students touch hot things in the morning?” Gindes questioned. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
The three-step process – filling the waffle iron with batter, flipping the iron over and removing the waffle after it is heated up – appears easy enough. But that’s not the case, said Gindes, who isn’t shy about proclaiming his passion for waffles.
“It’s just confusing and intimidating, and you don’t know when to turn it or how much batter to pour, and someone else has to come along and do it for you. It makes you feel inadequate,” he said.
Despite the confusion, the change has significantly sped up the line, leading to a much shorter wait for hungry students.
“This way’s faster,” said Chris Caruso, a sophomore aerospace engineering major, as he stood in line Sunday morning.
Gindes agreed, but said the speedy route was also a riskier one for him.
“I can see how it speeds up the process, but what’s another two or three minutes to make sure you don’t burn yourself or your food?” Gindes said. “I’ll always be afraid of burning myself.”
Waffle availability has also increased this year. They are being served Tuesdays and Thursdays during late night, according to Dining Services’ website.
Dining Services could not be reached for comment.
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