Tastefulness: The Truth Beyond the Cooking Walls The Commons BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA May 15, 2013 Authored by: Marcus Lockley Lockley1 Marcus Lockley Dr. House 5/10/13 English 101 Tastefulness: The Truth beyond the Cooking Walls Welcome Welcome, my name is Marcus Lockley. I will be giving you a tour around the wonderful Bloomsburg University’s Commons. Because I am a student worker and an employee of Aramark, the company that owns the Google Lockley2 Commons, I will be able to give you a tour from a customer’s point of view and from an employee’s point of view. In each section of the tour, I will start with the customer’s point of view and what they think they see which will be followed by the employee’s point of view. I will tell you about the employee’s point of view and how the employees help with the functioning of the Commons. Using these two viewpoints, I will help you, my guest; fully understand how The Commons works, from the employee’s point of view, but what you would see as a customer of the Commons. Both point of views are totally different, that is why I chose to talk about them in two different ways, but use them in the same section of my essay. I think that it will make it a Lockley3 lot easier to understand and interpret everything that I plan on talking to you about during my tour. No one wants to be on a tour and become lost in all of the words that the tour guide is spitting at you. I want this tour to be visual and interpreted, anyone can look during the tour, but not everyone can understand and interpret what they are looking at. During the tour if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to ask. So thank you and enjoy your tour of the Commons. Introduction After a major exam or midterm, maybe even a stressful assignment, the only thing that is on your mind is FOOD! As a college student, feeling hungry is worse than cramming for an Lockley4 exam on a nice 75 degree day with the sun shining bright and having all of your friends outside while you sit inside and study. So, thinking about the urge to gorge on anything that runs past your face, you think, where’s a good place to eat on campus? At Bloomsburg University, there is an abundance of food filled stores and restaurants both on and off campus. The famous burger place that everyone knows of, is McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Dunkin Donuts, Olive Garden, Long Horn, and Quaker Steak and Lube, but, on campus, places like Roongo’s, Java City, Starbucks, Subway, and the Commons provide places where you can eat on campus. Roongo’s offers a quick sandwich or burger, a breakfast bar and freshly brewed coffee. If you students want a freshly Lockley5 brewed coffee, latte, Frappuccino, or just a hot tea you can go to Java City. But if you want to pig out and unbuckle your belt, you can indulge in the endless amount of food at the buffet on campus, the Commons. The Commons is a buffet that is open seven day out of the week. Monday through Friday there are three separate shifts that start from seven in the morning and ends at 10 at night. Breakfast is served from 7:00am to 9:30am, lunch is served from 10:30am to 2:00pm, and dinner is served from 4:00pm to 8:00pm. Saturday and Sunday hours of operation change a little. Brunch is served from 10:00am to 2:00pm and dinner is served from 4:30pm to 7:00 pm. Each shift is separated by two hours in between, so that everything is Lockley6 ready for the next shift. There is a time variance between the weekday and the weekend because a lot of students do not come to the Commons. “I have notice that for some reason the Commons is not a popular place on the weekend. The weekend menu, usually consist of waffle makers for waffles. During the weekend the home, dessert, sizzle, and world station for waffles are the only stations opened during the weekend.” The Commons has a variety of foods that range from apples to oranges to steaks and chicken, they even have days where they have food from different parts of the world, but what we see on the side where the food is served is only just part of how the Commons and Lockley7 Aramark, the company that operates the Commons. The students who eat in the commons daily, may never ask how this place feeds over a thousand students, staff, and professors? This is just one of many other questions that I will be answering through my research about the Commons, the place that is underrated, but definitely appreciated. “When I say the Commons is underrated, but I definitely appreciated, I mean exactly what I say. When walking through the Commons you often hear a lot of complaining about the food. For some reason students complain about the food that is being served, but always seem a tray full of food when they sit down at the table. I’ve asked a few students why they do not appreciate the food at the Commons and most of the Lockley8 answers were very similar. The answers were very simple and the answered like this ‘it is the most bang for your book. Just the thought of having a buffet with the cost of a meal swipe and not being able to use flex is a very good deal.’ Flex is extra money on your account that you can use for meal of your mean exceeds a meal cost. A meal is worth four dollars and seventy-five cents, for example, of you were to go to other place on campus and buy a combo meal it will exceed four dollars and seventy-five cents. That is where flex comes into play; your flex will cover the exceeding bill of your order. As the semester withers down students run out of flex so they proceed to the Commons. That is why I think that students do appreciate the Commons. It might not be in the best way that Lockley9 managers will like to hear, but students do appreciate this place.” A Tour of the Outside The first thing that catches your eye before you take in the array of beautiful flavors that shoot up your nose and makes you explore the wonders with in the room. As you get to the register you’re greeted by a happy lady by the name of Barb, which is illustrated by her name tag. Barb swipes your student id, debit or credit card, or cash to pay for your meal. Walking in, most students get a tray in which they fill with all types of food and after they get there food they explore around the Commons and they go to the different food stations. There are several stations in which Lockley10 students have the option of choosing from. Those station s include, sizzle, home, deli, world, bakery, pasta, and last, but not least the dessert station. Because the employees who works there are not at the same station every day, it was rather difficult to see who had what specific station. Most of the time the sizzle is run by a guy by the name of Robin and a lady by the name of Christine, the grille station has fresh waffle and French fries right out of the fryer with the options of grilled cheese and chicken, fried chicken patties, burgers, and even veggie burgers. Something new that was added to the grille station recently was fresh salmon, chicken or beef kabobs, and different types of steaks. At the home station, there is a new menu option Lockley11 every day so that students stay on their toes. The food items range from meat loaf, corn, and mashed potatoes to chicken cordon blue and string beans. “I notice that the students are satisfied with the food that is being served, but there are some days when students are pretty disappointed when there nothing there that they want to indulge in.” The deli station has an array of meats like smoked and regular turkey, ham, capicola ham, egg salad, chicken salad, and tuna. To go with your sandwich they have rye, white, wheat, 12 grain, and whole grain breads that you can enjoy with the various meats at which you choose. You could also get a fresh salad made Lockley12 and tossed right in front of your face. What does one think about when they see the word world? Well, the food that is served there is from different parts of the world. Chinese food like lo mien or General Tso chicken to Italian food like clam alfreado. Raw crab, salmon, tuna, and vegetable sushi can be taken from the world station. “I thought that it was very ironic that little Asian lady by the name of sue. I am not sure if it is to make it seem like as though she has the ability to cook food from her culture or just because she could cook and they just happened to put her at this specific station” Rolls, breads, muffin tops and my favorite cheesy bread are served at the bakery Lockley13 station and usually an older lady by the name of Rosanna bakes and serves at the bakery station. Everyone enjoys a good pasta dish and you can definitely depend on that when you go to the pasta station. Chicken alfreado, a creamy pasta dish served with sautéed onions chicken and long thick noodles with white and creamy sauce. That is not the only dish that Maria serves at the pasta station, there are copious dishes that she makes all by herself and she puts passion and love into all the pasta dishes. “Watching Maria cook a pasta dish you know that when you stick your fork into your plate that is a going to be a dish that you will never forget and you will always want more.” Lockley14 Lastly, desserts, there is no other way to end a good meal then to end it with a good dessert. It is always a tuff decision when one has to choose between soft and hard serve ice cream, cupcakes or actual cake, and Jell-O or yogurt. Well the dessert station has all of these desserts, some ice cream flavors like vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, blueberry, mango, banana, mint chocolate chip to name the normal flavors. Some of the more exquisite flavors were coconut, birthday cake, peach and rum. Red velvet, vanilla cake with cream cheese icing, chocolate cake with peanut or chocolate icing, German chocolate, and so many more cakes are available for all customers to go crazy for. Speaking of crazy, students go wild for the Commons cookies the cookies are chocolate Lockley15 chip and baked to a soft and gooey perfection. Students wait 10 minutes and probably longer just to have two or more cookies. Tables Tables are more than an object at the Commons, it is more of a meeting ground for friends, family, and all people to sit and converse about any and everything. As you look on your tray and you feel satisfied with what is on there, the next thing to do is find a table to sit at to enjoy your meal. The table, at which you will sit, will correspond to how many people are at your table. If you come to the Commons with a group of about 10 to 15 people you would want to sit at big table, it would be the same if Lockley16 you had a small group of people you would want a smaller table. Most of the time people sit and eat and talk for over an hour about all types of things. Over hearing conversations, people talk about grades and professors, to boyfriend and girlfriend problems. With conversations about grades and professors, sometimes there is anger and frustration and sometimes it can be happiness. Most of the time, the frustration comes from receiving a bad grade on a test that the person had studied for over a week. Noticing a happy conversation about grades is fairly easy. You can almost hear the conversation three tables away, the conversation goes a little like this, “I studied almost four days for this anatomy test and guess what I got on my exam Lockley17 When it comes to the professor anger is usually when the professor is an “ass hole or I cannot stand this professor because he or she is just so fucking boring.” The boyfriend, girlfriend conversations at the tables are usually about how someone cheated over the weekend with alcoholic beverages were involved. In between conversation you also just have very general, random, friendly conversations. The conversation can range from talking about how nice the weather is to a vacation that someone took with their family. One conversation that intrigued me the most was about a guy who came back from the army and is now able to go to school. He talked about how he saw horrific events take place in Iraq and how he is glad to be home and enrolled in school. He also talked Lockley18 about how he had to recover to the real world and how it was hard to transcend to the “normal’ world. As I have said before the tables at the Commons mean more to people than just a seat and a place to sit your tray on. The tables are more of a bon fire for people to talk amongst themselves. It is almost like a stage to talk to about any and everything that comes to mind. If you want talk take a person on a date and tell them how much you want to be with them, simple go to the Commons and eat at the table maybe something magical might happen. You may also need to get something off of your chest so you and a friend talk about the situation over lunch at the table. Maybe it’s just big group Lockley19 of friends who want to catch with each other, the table is the best place to do so. Everyone knows that tables are supposed to be to eat on, but what would it be like if you could not sit at the table and converse Google with people you care for? The table is another way you can talk to your friends as if you were talking to your family at home over the dining table. It is the center for all people who sit, eat, and talk. What does an employee see when they look at the tables in the Commons? As an employee, I see the tables as a big circle or square that I have to clean when people are done eating there. Most of the times the tables start to be cleaned an hour to an hour and a half before Lockley20 the shift is over. It is cleaned at this time because there are not too many people who eat this time and we start to close. The second reason is because it is easier to have someone start the tables before other people who have to clean there station have to stay later because the tables did not get cleaned. “There are over 300 tables that have to be cleaned by the end of the shift. That is a lot to do for one person, so employees hurry to clean there station so that they can work together to clean the tables. From my experience working at the Commons, it is so much better to have someone start on the tables. Most of the employees agree on this matter because it helps Lockley21 everyone get off of work at the same time. When one starts on the tables, we all have to stay at least a half hour after we are supposed to clock out. I think cleaning the tables are the most tedious task to do at the Commons. Imagine having to clean over 300 tables and having to get the dirty dishes or trays that some people leave on the tables even when they are not supposes to. It becomes very redundant after your 50th table.” Behind the Stations Some of the customers who come into the Commons may ask how does the Commons work exactly? What is it like to be an employee and where the uniform that is required? How much tenacity and dedication does it take to be Google Lockley22 an employee of Aramark that works for the Commons? Well, this part of the tour will give you an idea about what goes on behind the station that you see. During this time, I will also talk about the employees and what it takes to work behind the stations. Employees who serve food have the option of wearing a black shirt and black jeans or a maroon colored shirt that displays the Aramark logo. There is a grave distinction between full time employees and part time student workers, when it comes to wearing clothing .As you may notice when you walk through the doors of the Commons, most of the student workers where the black shirt with the dark colored jeans and typically most full time employees where the maroon colored shirt with Lockley23 the black pants. All employees must wear slip resistant shoes to decrease or suppress any injuries that will be a direct result of slipping, from not wearing nonslip shoes. Even though there is distinction between workers, all whom work get along and they get along very well. “The distinction between workers is only evident because of the longevity and years that the older employees have on other student employees. It still surprised me that even though there was distinction they all got along very well.” Lockley24 There are nine stations and two beverage machines that have to be cleaned, maintained, and be presentable for you as a customer. Food must be cooked, so you need cooks to cook the food. In order to have clean dishes for customers to eat from, there must be dish washers to clean all trays, dishes, utensils, pots, and pans. There are employees that clean the general area and the kitchen so that the Commons is a clean place to eat and cook at. It takes a lot to maintain a presentable place to eat for customers when so many people come in at one time. The employees play a pivotal role in the structure and functioning of the Commons and somehow, every single day, employees make it possible for any and all customer to be satisfied when you leave the Commons. Lockley25 Sue is a little Asian lady who usually cooks and serves food at the world station. “I found it ironic that there was an Asian employee serving food at the world station.” Students enjoy here deep accent and she is always happy to serve and satisfy here customers. Her responsibility after closing time is to clean the grille that she cooks on, wipe off the counter and refill the counter with water. “Water is used to keep the food warm there is a compartment that you can fill with water and it increases the temperature of the water so that steam can rise and the pans over top of the water get hot and helps the food stays hot and ready to be served.” Lockley26 Sanitizer and specialized soap must be used in order to wash all counter area. The soap must be applied on everything you wash down, after that you can wipe down everything with the sanitizer. Aramark, the company who owns the Commons makes this a rule in the worker’s manual that employees must follow during clean up time. “It is important that all counters and anything that is being cleaned get washed with the soap and the rewashed by the sanitizer. Aramark makes this a very big deal; there is a color difference between the soap bucket and the sanitizer bucket. The soap bucket is green while the sanitizer bucket is red.” Lockley27 Robin and Christine work at the sizzle station, better known as the grille station. Every student who goes up and gets food from Robin has a little conversation, he always asks, “how is your day going” and “enjoy your food I put my heart and soul into this.”(Robin or Christine) Christine usually doesn’t talk because she is always cooking and making and dealing with the fryer. Both Christine and Robin both take turns with serving and cooking food. During regular hours Robin and Christine have a lot to do, they have to serve food and cook on the grille and fryer. They have to make sure that the condiments, that go with your burger or whatever you are getting stays fresh and is stocked for customers to enjoy. When it is time to close their agenda is to clean out the fryer, Lockley28 wash the grille, put the condiments away, wipe off the counters and the glass surrounding the counter, and refill the warmer with clean water. To clean the fryer you have to press the button that cleans the grease, and drain the grease into the bucket. After the grease is drained you have to clean out all the left over crumbs that fell at the bottom of the fryer and wipe the fryer out. When the fryer is cleaned, a button that brings the clean grease back into the fryer is pushed and the fryer is now ready to be used the next day. This process is a lot for one person to handle so that is why there are two employees that work behind the grille station. “I don’t think anyone knows more about this station than Robin and Christine. While observing these two employees I notice that they Lockley29 have built a great reproes for them-selves. You can tell when you see them that they know what they are doing. During rush hour they are always calm, patient, and show emotions of defeat. While working at this station they supported me when I needed it the most. As new employee working at this station can fluster you a lot.”(Field Notes). When you have employees to back you up at all times it can make you feel as though you can serve the President himself, without one drip of sweat from nervousness fall from your face. This is the most difficult station to clean out of all of the stations inside of the Commons. It is the most difficult because there is so much to do other than clean off the grille. Just the process of putting food away can take you a half hour alone. That is the main reason Lockley30 why there are always to people that work at this particular station.” Everyone loves pasta; you can never pass down the savory sauce over top of perfectly cooked noodles. The lady behind the pasta station makes the best pasta on campus, her name is Ada and she has a lot of attitude, but she means no harm by it. She is responsible for pasta dishes and salads that come from the pasta station. She cooks her pasta in sautéed pan that is cooked over top of individual electric hotplates. Ada must upkeep and maintain a clean station while she serves food. After closing she must clean her entire station with the soap and sanitizer. Before she starts to clean she must put any leftover food away by putting them in a plastic container and marking the Lockley31 container off with a pre-marked sticker for whatever day she puts that food away. All food that is put away by the employees must be marked by whatever day that they put that food away. Ada cleans off each electrical hotplate with special spray that’s used for stainless steel. She then proceeds to wash off the counters in front of her and mirrors come right after. Most people love and enjoy pasta, but I don’t think one single person can turned down home cooking. “Watching Ada clean her station I notice that it takes a fairly short time to clean her station. I think this is because she doesn’t have to worry about the water holders that warm up food. I found that most students find her intense, Lockley32 but she is very nice lady who enjoys her job and loves serving her students.” The home station is where you can enjoy some type of food that reminds you of your favorite home cooked meal. Because the home station is very popular station in the Commons, It takes a lot to run this station and to maintain a clean and presentable station when it is a constant line filled with hungry people. Patients are key when working at this station, because a lot of people come through this station and can become very demanding. “Observing this station I saw that students who come up to the home station become demanding and perplexed at the option presented. You can almost see the frustration of Lockley33 the employee that is working at this station when an unpleasant customer wants food.” There are a many different people who work at this station so names of the employees who work here will not be named. “Many of the employees rotate at this station because it is very popular. The managers rotate employees because it helps with the redundancy of station. I notice that employees become bored when they work at a particular station for a long period of time.” Before an employee starts to clean his or her station a cook comes and “pulls” the food from the station and the warmers. The warmers are big refrigerators, but instead of keeping food cool the warmers keep the food warm. The food Lockley34 has to stay warm so that it doesn’t recruit germs when the food gets cooled. After the food is pulled from the station the employee at this station can start the process of cleaning his or her station. To begin the employee drains the water from the water warmer “the water warmer is a four compartment water holder that warms up water so that steam arises and continuously keeps the food warm” into a drain that is right underneath the water warmer. After the water drains the employee then cleans inside of the water warmer. The water warmer usually has an abundance of crumbs and food that mistakenly falls inside of it in which the employee has to clean. When the water warmer is cleaned then employee can then proceed to refill the warmer with water. The warmer is usually filled about a Lockley35 half way up and ready to be used for the next day. What is the best way to end a very good meal? I personally go for dessert and when I eat with friends at the Commons they usually go for dessert after dinner too. What you and other customers do not know is, the dessert station is the most difficult station to work at in the Commons. Reputation is a big when it comes to the dessert station. For example, cookies are among the most popular and the demand for perfection and gooeyness of the cookies are very high. Before those cookies are put into the oven people must make the cookie dough. The Commons hires professional bakers to make desserts that are fresh and made daily for all customers. Every single cake, pie, cookie, tart, Lockley36 cheesecake, cookie dough, any and every dessert is made down stairs with passion, love, and perfection. The finished desserts and cookie dough are then brought up stairs to the dessert station. After those desserts are brought upstairs, they are then set up and presented to all customers to enjoy at no limitation. Any dessert that cannot fit on the counter then goes into the refrigerator to be used later in the day. Cleaning up this station is very long process. To begin, all the desserts are either thrown away or they are wrapped up and ready for use for the next day. This determined by how much of a pie or cake is left over for example; if 25% of the cake is left it will be thrown away. After all the dessert are either thrown away or saved, the employee then wraps Lockley37 up all of the toppings for the ice cream and it is time to “wipe down”. It is time to start washing down all counters surrounding the dessert station, wash down the counters behind the dessert station, and wipe out the cookie baker. After that is all done, the next thing to do is clean all glass and window areas of the dessert station. The last thing to do is to take a cart full of dirty dishes to the cart room and your day at the dessert station is complete. “I have worked at this station and think after the sizzle station the dessert station is one the hardest places to clean and to serve. Because there is so much variety at this station, the demand for something specific is very high. It is fairly difficult at times when customers Lockley38 want something specific and you can’t quite give them what they want.” Lockley39 How can you eat at the Commons without cooks cooking your food? It takes a lot to server hundreds of students over an eight hour period. During rush hour the demand of food is so high, because there is a high volume of students who come at these hours the cooks after to be ready to serve. In the kitchen there is a chaotic uniformed mess. I put it this way because if you don’t know how everything is supposed to go, you would think it is a chaotic mess. In reality it is just a bunch of cooks during what they love most and that is to cook. It Google Lockley40 almost looks like a colony of ants who know their exact purpose and job. “I wasn’t really aloud to say too much about this particular topic due to the privacy right of Aramark. From what I did observe, the students who get food inside of the Commons are not the only people that the cooks, cook for. The Commons is the base for all catering events around campus. Anytime there is a catering event the Commons cooks for it. So the customers who walk through the doors of the Commons are not the only people that the cooks, cook for. They have to cook for catering Lockley41 as well as anyone who walks through the door. The cooks must focus on so many things and I do not believe they get enough credit for what they do. Without them we would never have fresh food in the Commons. There are an abundance of cooks who work for the Commons. It is a different chef for every shift, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They all work together to give us the best product that they can possible make and that is FOOD!” Let’s not forget about the people who clean our dishes, pots, pans, and utensils. Most people call dish washers busters, but I see them as important piece to the puzzle of the Commons. Walking into the dish room you notice that it is very hot and humid. It is a very uncomfortable environment because dishes have Lockley42 to be cleaned at a very hot temperature to suppress all germs, stains, and dirt. The dish room consist of, a huge dish washer about ten feet high, nine feet long, and about six feet wide. There are about four to six employees who work in the dish room at any giving shift. They work very hard, especially during rush hour times. Employees stand in some sort of assembly line as the conveyer belt filled with tray and dirty dishes that have to go into the washer. In the assembly line, two or three people grab trays and throw any food on the plates, trays, pots, and pans into the trashcan. Then someone loads all dirty items inside of the monster dish washer. The dish washer can wash a limitless amount of dishes; it takes about three minutes for one dish to go through the dish Lockley43 washer. Cleaned dish come out of the dish washer and out on a cart to be taken out of the dish washer and place somewhere that it can be used. This process goes on all day so it can become stressful. “Rush hour can make the employees in the dish room very stressed. If you ever pay attention you can hear the anger and aggression in the dish room. Slamming dishes and some very vulgar language gives it away. Some the language includes, ‘what the fuck, all these goddamn dishes, I can’t deal with this shit. We have catering to do after this? Are you serious I won’t be able to get out of the place on time at all’” Lockley44 I can only imagine how stressful it could become to wash so many dirty items for eight hours straight. That is exactly why I think that these employees play a gigantic role at the Commons. Without them customers will have dirty dishes and there wouldn’t be any clean dishes to eat from. I do not believe that anyone wants to eat off a dirty plate. I wanted to talk about the managers because without them there wouldn’t be any structures. I was not a loud to talk about them in my paper at all due to privacy issues too. Even though I can say anything about them, as an employee I believe that the managers do a superb job with the structure and the management of the Commons. They play a very Lockley45 important role with the advancement and growth of the Commons. The End This is the end of the tour for you guys today. Before I let you guys go, I want you to know that the end is the last sign that you see when you leave the Commons. “Some students leave with some type of sweet creation or a piece of fruit. An ice cream cone is the most popular item to leave the Commons with the students. Bananas and apples are among the most popular fruit to leave the Commons; some students try to leave with two or three at a time.” It takes a lot to run this buffet; there are over 70 people who help with the structure and Lockley46 the functioning of the Commons. When people actually find out how much it takes to run this place I think they will fully appreciate what they have. Those people come into work every single day with the intentions to satisfy everyone that walks through the doors of the Commons. The employees work tenaciously, passionately, and willingly to have the best food eatery on campus. Saying thank you to these wonderful people just won’t be enough. Employee appreciation day covers just some way to say thank you to these hardworking people. Even though some people think, employees are supposed to just come and do their jobs and be sad and miserable while doing so, the employees make the best of it. They do their jobs with so much happiness, excitement, and Lockley47 welcoming. Most people don’t know that they work to provide for themselves, family, bills, and the expense of life in general. Some the employees didn’t have the opportunity to go on to college. Some employees had responsibilities that prohibited their chance of going to college. It is very interesting to hear the stories of the employees who work full time. For example, Robin had two kids before he went off to fight in the Vietnam War. After the war he could not go back to school because of his children. That story touch it a different way, it showed me that even though I have no responsibilities now does not me I won’t have any later. Robin is just one of all the people I work with that helped me look at life in a different light. Having the opportunity to work with the employees of the Lockley48 Commons is a blessing and I wish other could have the chance to hear the stories of the people that serve you food every day. We have reached the end; I have given you a tour of, Tastefulness: The Truth beyond the Cooking Walls. As incoming freshmen this is a place that you will enjoy whatever you eat and become more than satisfied with the services provided to you. Again, my name Marcus Lockley and I am a student worker of the Commons. Thank you for your time and hopefully I have given you all of the information that you wanted to know and more about the Commons. Lockley49