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The Daily Tar Heel

A little cordiality has never hurt us

It’s like clockwork. Every day at noon I head to the Bottom of Lenoir, grab some random-flavored Naked Juice and head to the checkout line.

As usual, I’m unprepared and have to grab my wallet from some inconvenient compartment of my bookbag, but Ms. Kathy Gomez, the cashier I go to, simply sits there and waits for me to pull myself together.

She never tells me to hurry up or to step aside. She just gives me the extra seconds I need, compliments me on my excellent choice in juice, and sends me one my way.

After a few months of this daily routine, I think it’s acceptable to say that every day I make this trip I get more excited to say hello to this wonderful woman.

And no doubt that includes giving a quick smile to the other men and women who have dedicated hours each day to make sure we can all grab a Chick-fil-A sandwich and still get to class on time.

While I may be privy to doing such things, history doesn’t always give credit where credit is due. At least as early as 1968, facility employees on campus have been down-trodden with unfair wages and mistreatment by managers.

When the campus administration refused to acknowledge these concerns, students began to take the matter into their own hands.

They staged sit-ins, handed out flyers and succeeded in shutting down Lenoir altogether. And whether this was done out of respect, social justice or just because they cared, students can make a lot of difference for campus employees.

And while the protests may have stopped and the news about workers’ wages is out of the pages of local newspapers, how many of us have actually had a conversation with an employee on campus?

On the rare occasions I get a swipe into Rams Head, I’m always excited to get to talk to the cashier whose hilarity is unprecedented. And many a time I’ve slid away from eating with friends to talk to her about some goofy thing I probably did that day or some item I’ve inevitably lost somewhere near the sweet tea.

Maybe it’s asking too much to know at least one member of the dining staff by name, but then that only further justifies why I think more time should be taken out to get to know these wonderful men and women.

Undoubtedly many of us see these people every day we swipe into a dining hall. And over the course of our four years here, it only makes sense to give a “Hey how are you?” or a “Hi, nice to see you today!”
Why wouldn’t you revere the man or woman who makes sure we get fed every day? If history has given us any example, students and staff do work together to make Lenoir work and have been doing so for more than 42 years.

Maybe it’s the antioxidants in my Blueberry Machine juice talking, but good service should heed good compliment. Any time I’m in need of a good juice smoothie, I head to Lenoir and inevitably walk towards Ms. Gomez.

She’s always there to ring me up and always willing to wait for me to find that pesky wallet.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Taylor Fulton is a columnist from The Daily Tar Heel. She is a sophomore Arabic and peace war and defense major from Atlanta, Ga. Contact her at tfulton@email.unc.edu.

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