As a Boozel student employee of three years, I found the “AVI gets sloppy on the weekends” article in the Opinion section of September 27 issue of the paper to be very offensive. In the past three years, I have had the privilege of meeting numerous amazing people in that building. Those people that bust their humps daily to feed students that treat them like dirt. Just the other night my boyfriend was harassed by a man simply for asking him to take a basket he had already touched. He was sworn at and told that he is just there to “look pretty.” We endure rudeness, cursing, and downright disrespect on a daily basis.
A lot of the people in there are some of the hardest working people I have ever met. For example, Sharon and Liwu serve hundreds of pizzas all day along while pressing roughly 100 pounds of dough a day. Mark and Marlene use every free minute they have to prep ingredients for the next day’s service. Jason is a cook in the back who is constantly playing catch up and prepping for when the food gets low. They are always there when you need them to be. The people in Boozel have become my incredible, dysfunctional family.
I can guarantee most people that come to eat there would not last a week’s worth of shifts. It is a hard job. We serve over 1300 people nightly during the week and roughly 800 people for dinner on the weekends. Students forget that Boozel is a business. There is an allotted budget just like in all other businesses and it costs a certain amount of money to feed every student that walks through those doors.
Most nights, especially in the beginning of the semester, we are so understaffed that many of us work multiple stations. As I stated previously, most people cannot handle working there. Many hires quit before they even start, people quit after one shift, and some last a little longer. From my observations, the average length of employment is, at most, one semester. If you work closing shifts you are there until approximately 10:30 every night. Combine that with having classes all day, and it doesn’t leave time for much else.
You also stated that there are limited hours at Boozel over break. I understand that it may be inconvenient that Boozel is the only open building during breaks, but it affects us too. Not only do we get all of the student traffic that remains on campus with limited food to serve, but we also are stuck there serving people instead of enjoying our break like the rest of you are. In the last three years, thanks to serving all of you fine people, I have missed numerous holidays, my sister graduating from basic training, my nephew being born, and an accumulation of other things. Because Boozel can’t afford for any people to not show up to work, it is almost impossible to not be there.
Instead of complaining you should consider the sacrifices people make to be there serving you the limited, poor quality food. Consider the chefs that constantly have people insulting their food when they are constantly trying to do their best with what they are given. Perhaps instead of complaining you could think about all the time, hard work, and effort that goes into running that building.
This is NOT a reflection of the opinion of AVI or Boozel Dining Hall. It is my own opinion.
