In the midst of all the goings on in the Caf, it can sometimes be easy to overlook its most important aspect–the diners. In this segment, I sit down with a freshman (subject to change) for fifteen minutes. Or to ask fifteen questions. Whichever.

“I don’t normally go to the back [of the Caf] because I’m really picky, so I don’t eat any of those things.”

By those things, the inaugural subject of this new segment is referring to the collected works of the Caf. Emily “I-Go-By-Both-Names” Claire, self-described as set in her ways, has yet to lower her standards to Caf-appropriate levels. And while most students break by the beginning of their sophomore year, this one may very well remain as stubborn as the day she set foot on campus; when asked if the Caf has served up any of her favorites so far, she answers with a defiant “No.”

Although she struggles under the “Fifteen” meal plan (also known as the Venti), Emily Claire admits to only going to lunch and dinner–occasionally. “I go so I can see people,” she says. “Most people go to the Caf because they’re on a meal plan, so if I want to see people, I have to go to the Caf.”

When it comes to food, Emily Claire lists cheese and cheese-related items as her go-to meals, and fondly recites a case where a fellow diner asked for a quesadilla–and got one–as an example of Caf exceptionalism. Not that the Caf is playing to her taste, though. “I used to make my own grilled cheese, but then they took the George Foreman grill away,” she laments. “I was very upset.”

Still, Emily Claire–or rather, her family–has a vested interest in the Caf; Flowers Foods, her father’s employer, also happens to be its bread supplier. Unfortunately, the Caf’s reliance on the Nature’s Own brand represents a missed opportunity–Emily Claire is a Sunbeam kind of girl.

Though she has several major qualms with the Caf, Emily Claire seems to have lapsed into a resignation that is fueled by her own pickiness. She responds to questions about how to improve the Caf with a shrug, and touches on extended mealtimes as an afterthought. In a perfect world, students would be reimbursed for however many meals they choose not to go to the Caf for, and the college would expand the newly implemented “Meal Swap” system to include off-campus restaurants.

Emily Claire’s thoughts are innovative indeed, but they ring hollow in the mind of a Caf veteran. Still, some of her wishes may possibly be fulfilled–the wish for more cereal in flake form, for example. That, after all, is what we are all about in this blog.