What do President Barack Obama, Snoop Dogg and a Nelson Dining Hall worker all have in common?
What do President Barack Obama, Snoop Dogg and a Nelson Dining Hall worker all have in common?
As of last month, each have done an Ask Me Anything on the website Reddit.
In early February, a Reddit user claiming to be a Nelson Dining Hall worker told users in the Athens, Ohio subreddit that he or she would anonymously answer “anything you ask that won’t give away my identity.”
The poster claiming to be a dining hall worker said they used a “throwaway” account. The Post sent a message to the account, but hasn’t gotten a response.
Over the course of four days, the self-professed dining hall worker fielded nine questions from commenters.
In answering one question, the worker acknowledged that many on campus prefer Shively to Nelson.
“This is actually a problem for us,” the worker said. “Shives and Nelson once had the same number of cook jobs open. They received maybe 10 applications while we got like 2. Management here has gotten a reputation for being strict on safety and other things to the point of annoyance.”
The Nelson worker added that they aren’t sure how much control each dining hall’s management team has over menu options and that they started allowing beard nets this year.
One of the frustrations many students have with dining hall food, the poster said, stems from the burgers, which the worker called “the worst ever.”
“We just can't serve good medium rare burgers like that because of health department reasons I assume. There was a time where a new cook didn't seem to know this and made all his burger medium rare and it was a good day. Those burgers could be good but we have to overcook the (f--k) out of them.”
But the worker added there’s no food so bad that students should avoid altogether. “I have never seen anything questionable done by anyone preparing food,” they said.
They also offered a few tips to OU’s Culinary Services as they prepare to open the new Boyd Dining Hall.
“Find effective ways to manage lines early on,” they posted. “We only just started putting up some barriers to move the lines in a more organized way. For two years that was a big problem for us. Also I hope Boyd has a relaxed management and similar rules like Shively, then maybe they'll be more willing to change rules at Nelson to be more relaxed. Like I said before, the management isn't a bunch of Nazis like some who work here will make you believe, but it's a lot of little things that causes Nelson to be less appealing for new cooks.”
It’s against OU policy for student workers to talk to news media. The university declined to comment on the AMA.
@SamuelHHoward
sh335311@ohio.edu
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