School Cafeteria Nostalgia

[Liberalynn]

Does anyone have any embarassing or amusing memories about your school cafeterias?

Our highschool's was god awful. I remember standing in line next to the door waiting to be served, and I looked over and saw a dead fly squashed all over the emergency exit instructions, and I said, "that's just gross." Behind me, a man's voice replies, "that's part of today's goulash." I turned around to see who it was, it was the principal. I said, "that's not funny Mr. Wilcox, you have a car, you can still change your mind, and still go out to lunch we are stuck here." He laughed.

Then one time we went on a field trip to a nearby college and this guy from our group, goes to get some milk out of this dispenser, and he couldn't figure out how to shut it off, and milk was gushing all over, and he's yelling for help, and nobody went over, the whole cafeteria just stood there laughing at him, until finally one of the workers went over and shut it off. He wouldn't talk to any of us the entire way home.

I also dropped a tray full of dishes trying to put in the cart at our community college, and broke some. Of course everyone laughed and clapped.

Then at the college where I got my bachelors, they used to serve this thing called turkey suprise. The suprise being any one thinking it was actually edible. One of the owners of a local hamburger place in town, asked how much did we think he'd have to pay the food service to get them to serve that every night, because his business was never better, then when that was on the menu.

[hopein08]

1. My high school had its milk in bags instead of cartons...

for a little while. They went back to cartons when people figured out that if you stepped on a bag of milk, it popped loudly and made a big mess! It was also a pain in the ass to try to figure out how to get a straw in a bag and then drink milk from it.

Of course, it was a economic thing, my high school also saw the lunch trays condemned by the health department (but got permission to keep using them because a renovation of the whole school was coming up) and had to get a donation of paper from a local factory.

[WindRavenX]

2. bags of milk?

Now that's a new one to me :)

The dining halls at Boston College aren't too bad, though they tend to be too greasy and upset my stomach too easily. But when you're drunk/high, it all tastes good, especially the buffallo chicken wraps :9

[MissB]

5. I think parts of Canada still have bagged milk.

They even have special containers for it (pitchers designed just for the bags of milk).

[Liberalynn]

7. Buffalo Chicken Wraps

do sound good. About the only good thing our college cafeteria made was omelettes on the grill in the morning.

I purposefully scheduled classes through out the cafeteria lunch schedule, so I could get a pass to eat in the commuter lounge. They had a grilled cheese tuna melt that was delicious.

[Liberalynn]

3. I had never heard of the bagged milk either.

I can understand about it being hard to get the straws in too. Kind of like those Capri Sun, juice bags. I always ended up puncturing to hard and having most of the juice leak out.

[ChoralScholar]

6. I knew our milk dispensers had large bags of milk inside,

but we're talking about individual bags of milk, right? Strange.

[Delarage]

10. We had them....

we always joked that they looked like breast implants. More often than not, I'd stab the straw all the way through.

[hopein08]

12. Yup, individual bags...

they were horribly difficult. I think I skipped paying the $.35 for milk and splurged for $1 on juice to avoid the bags.

[hopein08]

13. I usually just cut the tips off Capri Suns and poured it into a glass. n/t

[Liberalynn]

21. That's a good idea.

Those bags and straws were useless.

[ChoralScholar]

4. My cafeteria in high school

would take the day-old dinner rolls, make a small indentation in the middle, and pour a butter/sugar/cinnamon icing on them.

Those cinnamon rolls were awesome!

[Liberalynn]

8. Those do sound good.

[yewberry]

9. I blew a bubble with cafeteria pudding

when I was in elementary school.:9

I was served corn (yes, loose corn kernels) on a bun as the veg alternative to "grinders." (Ah, to be veg*n in the eighties...) Yeesh. Last year, at a conference in Yakima, the vegan lunch option was peanut butter & green peas rolled up in a wheat tortilla. I mean, come on, they're not even trying.

I'm not really looking forward to seeing what they serve me at this week's conference in Wenatchee...

[FunkyLeprechaun]

11. Ugh... I hated the cafeteria

Aside from the ala carte of cookies and nachos.

We were assigned to clean the table and around the floor on certain days. I picked one day and the day after my tablemates accused me of not doing it (even though I did it already) and put the rag on my lunch.

I didn't have lunch the whole day, and complained to the principal and they all apologised to me and still stayed my friends throughout middle school and high school (I even worked on the play with the girl who ragged my lunch).

I'm pretty kind when it comes to lunch, a fellow luncher asked me for a dollar for the ALA carte and I gave her the dollar. Six dollars later, I was like fuck this and watched her very closely at the ala carte line, and she made the mistake of opening her wallet in full view and she had A LOT more than 6 dollars in it. I asked her for my money back.

That's what I associate with HS cafeterias... College cafeterias are another story... Shelton Hall on BU's campus is by far the most glamourous cafeteria I've been in. The food was ok but Shelton kept many of the features that was associated with the old Sheraton Hotel so it looks quite glam. Myles Standish Hall was another old hotel on BU's campus but it didn't keep the original cafeteria features. West Campus, for food, by far was the best (and most appealing).

Thank goodness I don't do school cafeterias anymore!

[tyedyeto]

14. My 4th grade classroom was directly over the kitchen

And to this day just the thought of tuna casserole makes me want to :puke:

[Liberalynn]

22. I can imagine why.

That had to smell awful. :hug:

[mykpart]

15. My kids don't believe this, but

at my Catholic elementary school in the 50s, we were not allowed to talk in the lunchroom. Anyone caught talking had to eat lunch standing up. But I never ate cafeteria food there - I always brought my lunch from home.

[Liberalynn]

18. I believe it.

I went to Catholic school too. We were allowed to talk at lunch but they were very strict in other ways. One below freezing winter day they made me go out on the playground after lunch, even though I had left my mittens on the bus that morning by accident. I got more than a touch of frostbite. Luckily though I didn't loose any digits.

We didn't have a cafeteria per se. We ate lunch in the basement of the church. One day we had a bat flying around. That was fun. All of us were screaming and sister was yelling at the maintainence guy to get it out.


They didn't offer anything other than milk and ice scream snacks, so we had to bring our lunches from home. Which was okay. That way I always knew I had something good for lunch.

[Wapsie B]

16. The time somebody found a grasshopper in their beef stew.

:puke:

[Liberalynn]

19. Yuck.

Gross. This didn't happen in a cafeteria but I did find a worm on my Hostess brownie once, from a day old bakery store. Me thinks it was a touch older than a day old. I screamed and pitched it across the room. I never could face eating another after that. :rofl:

[bertha katzenengel]

17. A bee in my scrambled eggs....

One of the college grounds caretakers kept bees, and they were near the cafeteria kitchen. God knows how a bee got into the eggs, but the egg-enclosed bee serving made it onto my plate. I took it back up to the student cook, Brett, and he said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, but I'm so glad it happened to you." :wtf: Then he stumbled all over himself explaining that he was glad it happened to me because he knew I wouldn't scream and shout and get on his case. I didn't, of course. It's not in me.

In retrospect, I see Brett was queer as a three-dollar bill... ;)

[Liberalynn]

20. Did they at least give you another dish of eggs free?

I hope so. :hug:

[bertha katzenengel]

26. I ate cereal. I ate no eggs for a long time after that.

:hug:

[Magrittes Pipe]

23. Freshman year, I had bio right before lunch.

My science teacher gave me a pig's brain (don't ask). I went to the cafeteria and bought an entree from the automat; which I then replaced with the pig's brain, pushing the button a couple of times to make sure it was hidden.

Hilarity ensued.

[maveric]

24. My HS cafeteria actually had good food.

The cooks were all middle-aged Italian American women, who put the "extra" into what may have been bland food.
My Auntie Mamie worked there and would scoop me up double servings of whatever I wanted, for FREE!
The Sloppy Joes RULED!

[Aristus]

25. I have a few good memories of my elementary school cafeteria, actually.

This was in southern Arizona in the '70's. The food was made locally with fresh ingredients. We were often served hot tamales, hand-made and steamed in corn husks. They were delicious! :9

Some places do it right.

[ScreamingMeemie]

27. When I was growing up in Syracuse, I was known as "the girl who puked at

lunchtime"...thank goodness we moved soon after. Much better than being the "girl who peed on the gym floor" though. :hi:

Then, back in WI, we would have a choice daily of hot lunch...or bag lunch. It actually came in a brown paper bag (the cafeteria made them, not Mom) and had a peanut butter sandwich, a cup of salad (if you want to call it that) and a chocolate chip cookie. Crazy days. And the tables came out of the walls.