December 5th, 2011
MIDNIGHT BREAKFAST IS TONIGHT.
GO! You don’t need swipes!
Oh, Shafer
Is really depressing. Everyone looks a little rough, like they’ve been up for 37 hours and haven’t eaten anything but Shafer food. On the bright side, all of the freshman who have a million left over swipes offer to uppercuts swipe you everything. Today I had sushi and the other day I had a chicken tender wrap, all courtesy of a lovely young woman who might have 80 swipes left as of today.
Also, Shafer needs to step up their coffee, it still tastes like dirt.
November 17th, 2011
Poor Shafer Moves.
1. Bringing your parents.They don’t like it there and you know you’re not loving being there with your parents either.
2. Sitting at a table for 6 by yourself. There are two-tops and even seats along the windows for one for those lonely times.
3. Going on a date to Shafer. Even if you swipe her in, it’s not a cool move. Don’t expect a call the next day.
4. Leaving your dishes on the table when you leave. It’s not that hard to put them on the cool rotating shelves and it creates more work for the hard working Shafer employees.
5. Stealing plates.
November 7th, 2011
Submitted by whataclevername.
Other cool things happen in Shafer other than people.
1. Tasty Kakes for dessert. I grew up with Tasty Kakes since my entire family is from Pennsylvania. I was so excited. There was even my favorite kind, Butterscoth Krimpets.
2. Funnel Cake. They made them in the pizza oven (I think) and even had powdered sugar to douse them in.
3. Four different kinds of hummus on the salad bar. I love hummus and there have consistently been four different kinds available. Usually I go for the roasted red pepper variety. The pita triangles are also delicious.
4. Real Lettuce. I really hate that iceberg lettuce that tastes like water. They have recently upgraded to real romaine cut up into bite sized pieces. Sometimes when they’re feeling really fancy they put out spinach.
5. Infused Water. Shafer has pretty consistently had infused water available by the fountain drink machine. Today there was citrus and apple cinnamon. I find cinnamon-flavored beverages to be kind of disgusting so I went with the citrus. I have a room mate who won’t drink water because she “doesn’t like the taste,” but she loves the infused water.
6. Square plates. A nice new addition to the feistaware-like place settings is a fancy square plate. The square plate is very trendy right now and I love that Shafer is trying to step up their fancy factor.
7. CNN instead of Monday night football. There was a breaking story tonight about the conviction of Michael Jackson’s doctor for involuntary manslaughter so the TV closest to me was tuned into CNN instead of the ever exciting Eagles vs Bears game.
Way to go Shafer!
October 30th, 2011
While sometimes I feel like my entire life is a scene from Mean Girls, it’s quite possible that Shafer is actually like the Mean Girls scene shown here. There’s no argument that VCU is an extremely diverse school. However, sometimes when you look around Shafer it appears that you’ve got the cliquiest looking cafeteria in the entire country.
Athletes tend to all eat together after or before practice, fraternity men and sorority women tend to cluster together, sometimes ethnic or racial groups are commonly seen congregating and students with similar majors group to discuss projects or assignments. This isn’t a bad thing at all- people find comfort in things that are similar to them.
Mean Girls is a comment on high school drama and how it can affect young women going through it, but it turns out it’s also a comment on how cafeterias work out in college too.
Sunday and Corndogs.
On Sunday, Shafer sucks. This is more of a comment on the food rather than the social scene. But let’s get real: Shafer closes at 9 and the food is never that delicious. Except for today, because there were corndogs.
Corndogs are officially the best food Shafter produces. That and the salad bar when there are baby spinach leaves as a lettuce option. I also really enjoy their birthday cake.
September 26th, 2011
Monday Night Football.
Tonight there is a Cowboys vs Redskins game on in Shafer. I found this beautiful pairing of undergraduate men who had never before met who found themselves in the heat of competition. (see attached photo). In the third quarter with the score at 16 to 9, Redskins, Shafer was loud with random fits of hysteria. There’s nothing like chicken patties, red velvet cake and veggie beef cutlets to bring football team rivals together.
September 25th, 2011
The No Friends Zone
Let’s get real, Sunday is not the best day to Shaf watch. So I decided to sit in what I commonly refer to as the “No Friends Zone.” It’s the area that’s furthest away from the food, and usually there are people sitting around by themselves. However today, I am with 7 friends and I’m not alone in that joint venture. There are tables with more than one person everywhere. Perhaps when it’s busier in Shafer this area turns back into the No Friends Zone. But today, the No Friends Zone has shifted to the outer circle, near the windows where the tall tables and chairs. I suppose I’ve never been to Shafer alone but if I did I would absolutely sit over here in the No Friends Zone. It’s quiet and there’s a soda machine all to yourself. Plus the TVs are super visible and when the Eagles are laying the Giants, that’s clutch.
