An Ode To Dining Halls

Thanksgiving Dinner at John Jay with CU Mid-D

I approached Weisbuch at VCP, seeing him for the first time since leaving Columbia.

Excitedly, he grinned and asked: “How’s life without John Jay, Liam?”

John Jay, being the cafeteria at Columbia, I forced myself into smile and replied in monotone: “Oh, it’s great, Buck. I’m eating really good food, and it’s easy to cook and all the food is very nice.”

He smiled even more: “Gee, I can’t wait ‘til I get to make my own food!”

I looked down at him, reached over and grabbed him by the face, “Don’t you ever say that,” I tightened my grip, his smile morphed. “Don’t you ever say that. Stay here, stay in John Jay as long as you can,” his cheeks were jiggling I was holding his face so hard. “Cherish it. For the love of God you have to cherish it.”

True story.

Well, not exactly. Mike Weisbuch, now a senior on the Columbia team and a fellow Michigander, is well aware how great he has it at John Jay and how nice it is to have a buffet of passable food prepared for you every night. Plus, he’s a lot bigger than I am, so I wouldn’t be able to “look down” at him.

But last night I was treated to the famed Thanksgiving Dinner at the John Jay Dining Hall. I joined the a group latest edition of the Columbia Mid-D crew: Matt Stewart, Dylan Isaacson, Phillip Pierott, and Mike Buck. A dinner filled with apple cider, turkey, corn bread, mashed potatoes, cookies, apple tarts, green beans, and, of course: GRAVY and STUFFING. Oh was there gravy and stuffing.

I am still full, and waking up this morning knew I had to write a special on the great dining halls that the fine institutions and universities around this great country provide. All you can eat on your Parent’s dollar, who can complain?

So, for those of you who are college students and take for granted this great eating period of your life, in the words of Billy Madison: “You have to cherish it. For the love of God you have to cherish it.”