Five Senses of the Pit

Back by popular demand, today’s Daily Deac is a Five Senses.  Today I spent my lunch hour in the Pit (which I will neverneverever call the “Fresh Food Company” because it was then and will always be The Pit).

I see…

Lots of tables are already taken when I arrive around 11:30. Even if there is not a physical body at a table, there is a backpack or a notebook or something to claim it.  Tables get steadily more occupied as it gets closer to noon.

Lines forming at the various stations.  The ‘create your own pasta’ line gets big at times.

A table next to me has 5 guys and 1 girl at it.  There is frequent up-and-down-ing as one person steps away to get a new dish. The conversation never lags – people just come in and out as needed.

A male student with a plate 1/4 full of broccoli.  Secretly, I hope that this is a young man who never ate veggies as a kid, and his parents or guardians would feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment to see he is eating them now 🙂

A student I know who walks right by my table and does not notice me.  I am not surprised at that since he would not expect to see me here.  Later, this happens again with a former advisee.  I am Incognito!

Every color of food represented in the Pit, including the dark reddish purple of beet salad.

A girl holding up her phone to her friend, showing what looks like an Instagram of a dog. Girl with phone is smiling broadly – she must be a dog person.

Lots of laptops open at the tables, even if there are multiple students there.  Only a few students in headphones.

A female and male student in a booth, both sitting on the same side (so I am wondering are they a couple). She is talking in an animated fashion and is one to gesture a lot with her hands. I wonder if he is in trouble with her.

What appears to be a high school mom here on a college tour trying to navigate the Mongolian Station.  The grill worker had to tell me how to order too: you get a bowl and self serve with what you want in your dish then you fill out a tear off numbered form saying ‘rice or noodles’ and which added protein you want, then you leave your bowl and half the ticket on the counter (keep the number part) then they add your foods and cook it for you, then put your bowl out on your ticket when it is ready.

A girl roaming back and forth a few times to various stations.  Later this is a guy doing the same thing.  She’s in a blue sweater, he’s in a green shirt.  They are on the same path over and over.

Another girl who has furry pom poms on her shoes. This is the kind of fashion statement I would have loved to have the confidence to make (but didn’t).  My hat is off to you, Pom Pom girl.

Constant replenishment of plates and bowls at the various stations.

Two administrator friends of mine going through the lines and finding a table.

A banner for Krankies coffee, a local favorite.

My table of six people leaves and at least one student left his/her plates on the table for a Pit worker to have to come clean up.  Not cool.

 

I hear…

A constant hissing sound of the Mongolian grill station as new foods are thrown onto the grill and cooked.

The hum and they buzz of a ton of individual conversations.

Rumbling of a large, grey, industrial trash can on wheels being wheeled across the floor.

Clinking of plastic plates being stacked.

A really gooey sounding cough from a girl as she walks by me.

Forks scraping against plates.

A loud cackle of a laugh.

A male student talking to the grill man at the Mongolian grill. Clearly, he is a regular. They have a nice, friendly banter.  It is nice to see.

The *crash!* of a plastic plate being dropped on the floor, followed by a momentary pause in the hum and buzz of chatter nearby.

Overheard snippets of conversations as I sat at my table or worked my way through the food stations:

From male students: “girlfriend,” “[the food] came out a lot faster than I expected,” “chapter meeting,” “I bought [band I have never heard of] tickets yesterday,” “he was talking about persistence,” and a lengthy discussion of large universities – debating Auburn vs. UNC

From female students: “stressed,” “WHAT?!?! [followed by laughter],” “you left your stuff on the table,”

 

I smell…

Fried food.  Sometimes it smells like the Mongolian grill, other times like a new batch of French fries has just come out.

Occasional whiffs of waffle batter as students make their own waffles.

Toast [there is a toast station that is pretty steadily used].

Pizza.

 

I taste…

[Full disclosure here: because this is an ‘all you can eat’ place, and you can take a small portion of many different dishes, I tried a lot of things today – mostly because I wanted to see what your Deacs are eating.  Don’t judge 🙂 ]

Caprese salad with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls.

Salad bar salad with bacon and blue cheese dressing (go big or go home!)

Chicken, bacon, tomato flatbread.  This was *outstanding* – maybe the best thing I ate.

Penne pasta (which was just meh).

Noodle bowl from Mongolian grill.  This was probably the 2nd best thing I had.

Bites of chocolate chip cookie and a cupcake. The cupcake has proper buttercream frosting, really good.

Diet Pepsi. Nectar of the gods 🙂

 

I feel…

Full.  Really full.  Again, my goal was to try bites of lots of things to be able to report back.  I should have had fewer bites.

 

And finally, just to give you an understanding of all the options – here is my best recollection of the food stations:

Pizza/flatbread/choose your own pasta

Mongolian grill

Traditional grill (like hamburgers and fries)

Southern comfort food (today was pork, I think potatoes maybe, some cooked veggies)

Custom omelet station

Vegan station

Allergen station

Deli case where you could get pre-made salads and wraps or have one custom made

Make your own waffle

Bread/toast/cereal station

Salad bar and fresh cut up fruit (there are also grab and go whole fruits)

Dessert station

 

So that’s your Five Senses of the Pit.  Hope you could feel yourself being there!