Ever vigilant in the face of enviromental challenges, the editorial board at Yale’s student paper doffed their top hats and canes and tried out this trayless business. Their conclusion: “Keep Trays in Dining Halls.”
These are obviously bright people, which makes it even more puzzling that after recognizing the environmental benefits of 
traylessness, they’d choose comfort and the wasteful status quo. It’s a stance that would make Yale alum Montgomery Burns proud.
Their reasoning was that traylessness made everything so darned inconvenient. Having to make multiple trips was bad enough, but it also disrupted conversation at the table!
Plus, this is a bit dramatic:
And each trip inspired prayer. Holding even a knife, fork and plate in one hand while dishing up was a hazard, as was carrying those items and a drink back to a table.
Well, I’ll pray that the rest of the student body doesn’t share the editorial board’s view. Based on the comments, many don’t.
If students at schools across the country can eat without trays, so can Yale. It may require two trips where one was the norm, but I don’t think that kind of sacrifice is going to kill anyone.
Besides, Yalies, as future leaders of this country, it’s time to step up. As this unabashedly elitist comment states: “If UConn can do it then so can Yale.”
Also, think of trayless dining as an investment in your future. As one commenter notes, balancing a few plates in one hand will help you learn how to wait tables, which seems like the destiny of all future college grads right now.
6 Comments
LOL… ok it’s not funny. But the ridiculous excuses are pretty laughable.
Oh, brother. It might take some practice to get used to dishing up without trays, but it’s hardly hazardous.
I liked the comment that the trays are tacky and distract from the beautiful china they have at the dining hall. Tackiness is a very serious issue; they should definitely lose the trays.
I particularly enjoyed the reference to Mr. Burns; did you purchase that action figure just to take the photograph, or did you already own it?
It is probably a global thing although people always mention the US. The EU chief of farming is blogging about it over here with some pretty interesting figures for the old continent
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/fischer-boel/
Hey Daniel, I wish I could claim that awesome Mr. Burns shot. I found it from Creative Commons, where I get most of my pics. If you hover over the image, you can read the credits. If a photo doesn’t have a credit, I took it.