There has been a change in the way Trent works inside.
When you look at the school everything else is fairly the same. New students wouldn’t notice it right off the bat.
You’ll see a protruding light and a river of students. It’s an outrageously long line from the Otonabee café stretching like a snake around the fresh brew of Tim Horton’s.
Tim Horton’s at Otonabee?
Yes a brand-spanking new Timmies built from the ground up right across from a brand new Subway.
Let’s give some love to Champlain and LEC (Lady Eaton College), as there have been some changes there too.
“Woah,” you might say, “that is fantastic!” as some first years exclaimed.
Well, what does this mean? “Lines seem the same length, just slower.” Says Mason Godden, a former resident of Otonabee College. “Chartwells has had ample amount of time.”
This is true, and not an uncommon thought around campus.
But when you have “over 400 students one day,” like Judie from the Subway on campus counted, you can really notice the struggle.
Brenda Dougherty, a worker in the Otonabee café, gives an excellent point to express the way she feels about the changes: there are “new and exciting meals delivered fresh as well as interesting flavours in a clean and inviting atmosphere.”
She personally hopes that all students, both new and returning, enjoy the new environment.
You feel a sense of business and worry waking up at nine a.m.
The discomfort is palpable; instead of being excited for meals, the lines make you dread it.
Kim Hewitt, a student in second year who never lived on campus, still feels “the inconvince no matter what.”
Many students fall into that side too, living off campus you relish a quick morning breakfast and speedy lunch in between classes if you need to buy it on campus.
So it’s near the end of the month and like Michael Durand in second year says “let’s give it some time and let them get used to the new system.”
Yes, patience is something that benefits everyone in the long run. The workers from last year are trying their hardest to learn the fresh meals and polices.
“I like the new instalment of the new venues,” says Durand, it rocks having some more culture in our food options, but the Thai Express is always busy till just before closing time.
So what brought about this change? Out with Aramark, whose contract ended last winter semester, and in with Chartwells.
So what about the wait time? Yes there are lines probably like there were years prior and will be in the future.
Some students mention having to wait around half an hour just in the Subway line. That’s without paying.
Conversations are still being struck up and names are remembered.
It’s about smiles and at least knowing the person behind the counter is having as much as a rough day as you are. Don’t be afraid to say please and thank you here and there. “They’re human too.”
Change is going to happen. It happens as you are reading this now. It would be wise to remember the past and know that all the workers deserve the outmost respect from the student populace, because they have to change too.
So be kind to the workers and show a calm and humble tone even if you’re running late.
After all, would you like it if someone was angry at you while you were working to provide them with a service?