Cannon Center Food... Is This Thing Still Breathing?

Okay, maybe the title is a little bit of an exaggeration; the food at the Cannon Center really isn't all that bad and I should probably just be grateful to receive three free meals a day. But sometimes I look at the food they serve and think, "What is that and where did it come from?"

Let me provide some examples that prove my point: A couple of days ago, one of my coworkers (Jessica, I think) had a dish on her tray that looked like it contained chicken poppers or some other form of chicken nuggets, which is one of my absolute favorite foods. Of course, I asked her if I could have one. But was it chicken? No. It was creamed corn that had been battered and then deep fried. What the heck? Who does that?

Another example: sometimes they have this couscous dish at the salad bar which usually looks pretty fresh and tasty; it has tomatoes, green onions, sometimes olives. But it is the most nasty nast bland stuff ever. And for some reason, I always get it... maybe there's some kind of addictive substance added to it? And one time I got it and the couscous was all mashed up... the texture was so gross that I almost threw up (and it takes a lot to make me almost vomit). Imagine the texture of applesauce with the taste of, well, nothing. It was nasty nast.

So what's a safe alternative when the main dish of the day looks iffy and you're tired of the same pasta dish every day? A good old, American hamburger at the burger bar, right? But wait. In order to win your meal, you must first make it past the dragon lady, who's looks breath fire and mouth has tasted the flesh of many a freshman. So far, I have been the only person around who has even come close to taming her. However, sometimes even my charm isn't enough and I end up whimpering back to my table, victorious french fries in hand at the cost of singed eyebrows.

The Cannon Center isn't all bad though. I am literally in love with their bread pudding and my coworkers will attest that I will oftentimes end a meal with three helpings (which usually adds five pounds to my weight the next day). Don't ask me what keeps me returning to the dessert bar for bread pudding like an excited little schoolboy on Christmas day (or Blake during EFY check-ins). Perhaps it's my English ancestry crying for wholesome food.
And for the most part, the Cannon Center workers are very polite and jovial. So many times my day is made by a smile or even a polite greeting and use of my name as I swipe my card for one of my daily meals (at least four of the workers have taken the time to learn my name).

All in all, if one can make it past the rubbery meat and the food that has been so saturated in fat that my heart aches (literally), the Cannon Center isn't that bad of a place. I have gained ten pounds since the beginning of the summer and I'm afraid to say that it's not all from muscle gain (although I am pretty ripped, if I do say so myself). Plus, the soft food has definitely made digestion easier (sometimes too easy, especially after biscuits and gravy if you know what I mean).

And so, my dear Cannon Commons, I salute you. I salute your food dripping in saturated fat. I salute your greasy haired worker and dragon guardian. I salute your hallowed halls filled with overly-excited (and BO smelling) camp participants. And I salute your commitment to keep the Honor Code alive, sending away the slightly scruffy RA but admitting the football jock wearing a cutoff T-shirt and tight spandex shorts. Thank you.

Acquaintance or Friend?

I was sitting alone in the Cannon Center last Sunday, eating my wonderfully delicious (although artery clogging) food, when a random guy came up to my table and asked if he could join me. Instantly I realized that he looked familiar, and after we chatted a bit, he confessed that he recognized me from somewhere but didn't know where. I thought for a couple of seconds, then said, "Were you ever a TA for..."
"Physical Science?" he interrupted. "Yes."
"That's it," I replied. What makes this story unique is the fact that I had taken Physical Science my first semester of college, almost two years earlier. In addition, I only went to his TA lab session four or five times (the session was held Monday nights at 6:30, which conflicted with my Family Home Evening "Pa" calling) and I had never once talked to the guy. For him to recognize me, just one student out of hundreds of other past students, completely blew me away.
Another story: my second semester of college, I was working as an early morning custodian at the Smoot Administration Building at BYU. I would wake up every morning at 5:00 in order to catch the 5:42 bus to campus. There weren't very many other people that would catch the bus that early, so I quickly began to notice that the same girl would be at the bus stop every Thursday. We began talking and soon I began to look forward to Thursdays, if only because I knew that I would be greeted with an enthusiastic, smiling face. As the school year came to a close and I moved home for the summer, I didn't think anymore of the girl named Sarah; she had become just another acquaintance that I had made and would probably never see again.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago: I was sitting at the Helaman Halls front desk, sorting through the mail and thinking that it would be just another day, when up walked a young woman. I recognized her instantly and I could tell that she recognized me too, although I couldn't remember her name (just for the record, I was wearing my nametag). It took me the rest of the day to remember how I knew her... and guess how. Yep, she was the same Sarah that I had seen every Thursday over a year ago. Now she is the female "head sport's camp counselor" and I see her almost every day.
Either I'm just really popular or have a talent for remembering faces (probably the latter), but it seems like occurrences like these two stories happen quite often. I've really been thinking about it recently and I almost wonder if the Lord nudges people into our path to help us along our path to eternal progression; I'm not talking about family and good friends: of course those people have been brought into our lives by the hand of the Lord. But rather, I'm talking about the random acquaintances that are only in our lives for a short amount of time. I can't even count the number of times that I have walked out of the Testing Center and ran into an old classmate that I haven't seen in months, providing me with a much needed self-esteem boost. Or the "best friends" who have helped me through a difficult period of my life, yet now I haven't heard from them in well over a year.
It amazes me how much of a role the Lord actually plays in my life. He seems to make everything fit together so smoothly and seamlessly. Truly He can see the bigger picture while I can only see the day to day things. Just kind of an interesting thought.