I never thought working as a server in Hubbell Dining Hall would be so stressful. It’s not even the workload of carrying hot pans out of the oven, constantly burning my hands, cleaning up grease residue or the pay — it’s the complaints and discourse about all the workers and portion sizes from students. 

As a fellow student, I too want a lot of food, but going behind the servers’ backs to complain on YikYak or even right next to me really sucks because it’s not an easy job.

I know the main complaint that has been going around recently was about the portion sizes that we serve. I don’t think students understand that this is a college with a wide variety of students, not counting professors, who we have to give food to. 

If you’re unhappy with the serving sizes, we can, of course, serve more, but you just need to give others a chance to get food they’re also paying for. It’s definitely not ideal when I have to run back to the cooks and say, “We finished all seven pans of food” at 6 p.m., when we still have two and a half hours left because people demand more on their plates.

For example, on days when I serve mac and cheese, I know it’s going to be hectic. I get line-ups that are so long that I have to constantly be on my feet and refresh the trays because we run out so fast, even with seven pans of mac and cheese. 

To be constantly asked, “May I have some more?” isn’t annoying, but I know you see the big line behind you that also wants mac and cheese. Just please know that you can come back later. You’re not tied down to getting one plate; just remember that.

The budget has also been a major problem, especially for Hubbell and its employees. Almost all staff, especially student workers, have had their hours cut to try and disperse some money to get more food for students. Not having enough food has caused a huge problem for the cooks and managers since they control the menu. 

I don’t know how many times the cooks have been so stressed because they have to cook food that was supposed to be served at a later time, thus causing more mess-ups. If a station runs out of food, the cooks have to go down to the cooler and take food that is supposed to be served the next day, giving them less to work with because of the endless cycle of people wanting more. 

It does really hurt in the long run for us to make less money, but to give students more food is always the better option, and I think all my coworkers can agree with that.

I promise you, we’re not going to judge you if you come up and get more plates. Most of the time, I forget unless you say something to remind me. It’s not like I’m the devil himself, and if you walk up to me, I will unleash all my hatred. I’m the exact opposite; I will sometimes even overfill the trays to draw people into eating my food. 

Remember, we employees are just trying to serve as many as we can. Our motto is “One and All,” not just “One.”