As SCAD students prepare to finish up projects before leaving for Thanksgiving break, food supplies have started to get desperate and scarce. While some can buy new groceries, many are apprehensive to buy new food before leaving for a week (only to come back for four days…Thanks Hurricane Matthew). Most non-freshman students are not on a meal plan, nor do they desire to pay for the less-than-gourmet food offered at SCAD cafeterias. So what is a hungry college student on a budget to do?
The answer is one that requires a significant sacrifice of dignity.
My roommate, we’ll call her Bee for identity protection (and bee pride). Some contents of our freezer had survived upon return as well as some non-perishables I purchased before we left town; this left us with an odd array of food to choose from. Like modern day Dr. Frankensteins, we must piece together a meal with the odds and ends of our kitchen.
Fortune had flown my way in the form of visiting parents: I was able to mooch off of free meals and leftovers over the weekend. My roommate, however, wasn’t so lucky.
In order to nurture the body of an anxious animation student, Bee had to get creative, which is something any art student is used to. Her canvas? Frozen waffles cooked in the oven. Her medium? Canned tuna and “nice and cheesy” generic sliced cheese. And the perfect side-order to this magnum opus? Froot Loops and milk in a tea mug.
Now I must admit: that this isn’t the first time I’ve seen Bee eat something that made me want to gag. When I told her I was going to throw away my 3/4ths rotten banana, she ate it instead. Upon dropping food on our gross carpet, she has no qualms on picking it back up and popping it in her mouth. When it comes to food, she is the equivalent of a goat: she has no standards.
So when I saw Bee prepare this monstrosity and eat it in front of me, it was of little surprise to me. This is just how Bee do, man. As long as it’s filling and has the tiniest hint of nutrition, she’ll eat it without complaint.
When consuming this dada-esque dish, she only had two things to say: “It’s not bad” and “I wish I had heated the waffles longer, ‘cause it’s kinda cold.”
Perhaps someday I will have the same courage and ingenuity as my roommate, but today is not that day. Bon appetite, kids!
