“I stole a loaf of bread!”
An employee at Boozel called the campus police Feb. 4 because a man allegedly took a loaf of bread from the dining hall without paying for it.
Did the person who called the police even take into account that the burglar was probably just Jean Valjean trying to feed his sister’s children?
It’s never been a secret that college students are often low on cash, and meal plans are mandatory if a student chooses to live in the dorms. Meal plans aren’t cheap, averaging $1,600 a semester, so many students may opt out of keeping an abundance of food in their dorm in favor of eating the “free” food they’ve already paid for at Boozel. A student may occasionally take some of the food they’ve technically paid for back to their homes to eat later. Is that really such a crime?
All the Rocket can say is “Vive la Revolution!”
Well, maybe not.
Not to throw Jean Valjean under the bus, but while there isn’t any harm in a student taking a donut or a piece of fruit from Boozel to snack on later, it is definitely excessive to take entire loaves of bread (Maybe if he just took his sister’s children inside Boozel to eat instead, he wouldn’t have this problem).
Beside the fact that if one student takes a loaf of bread, then other students who go to Boozel can’t use it, there’s also an issue in that workers at Boozel can never plan to have enough bread each day that each student can take an entire loaf. Having to account for how many students might decide to take a whole loaf of bread would make the staff “Les Miserables” (okay, we’re done).
We aren’t saying that it isn’t okay to take any food from Boozel at all, because if you’re paying for the food you take in one way or another, what’s the harm? Many students have been confronted by staff for taking out things like fruit, and filling their cups full of drinks from the pop fountains. While it may be annoying to the staff, there’s an obvious difference between taking a whole loaf of bread, and taking an apple on your way out the door.
Everyone knew that one person who would go to Boozel, steal anything from whole pizzas to plates and silverware, and bury them in his or her backpack. The only reason they didn’t get caught is because what they took wasn’t in plain sight.
If someone walks out with a couple of bananas, then Boozel staff could at least respect that he or she isn’t trying to hide it, and therefore probably doesn’t think it’s wrong in the first place. Think of it as Boozel Express, just quicker and less costly to students.
A good rule of thumb that we support from Boozel is to only take things out with you that can fit easily in the palm of your hand. Boozel isn’t losing anything by students occasionally taking out a piece of fruit or a cupcake, and if diners are open about what they’re taking, Boozel can plan to stock foods accordingly.
Many students aren’t thrilled about eating at Boozel in the first place, but it is somewhere where students who are struggling with money can get a solid meal to eat. We are glad that they can take some of that food on the road with them, and agree that an entire loaf of bread is excessive.
