For many Cal State Long Beach students who live on campus, time is set aside each Sunday morning to do nothing more than just sleep in. Some prefer not to leave the comfort of their dorm beds because they just don’t “do” mornings.
And, of course, there are others who lay buried underneath their covers trying to sleep off the headache a long night of binge studying, or drinking, has given them.
No matter what the excuse for sleeping in may be, however, when these dorm residents spend Sunday mornings buried underneath comforters and sheets, they waste much more than just their day; they waste their money.
Every Sunday morning, the Parkside Dining Hall offers an omelet bar to those students who wake up craving eggs. This fully stocked omelet bar has every ingredient and specialty a person would expect an upscale omelet bar to have. There are various types of cheeses, mushrooms, spinach, tomato, chicken, etc. There are even egg whites for those who want an omelet but have to watch their cholesterol intake.
The bar also has a talented chef who cooks up the dishes. This outgoing guy has that sort of hilarious personality that many cooks in upscale restaurants seem to have.
Although, in some colleges, an omelet bar like this might be an additional cost to those students who order from it, here at CSULB, the omelet bar is included in the regular meal plan fees students pay before the semester begins. So, regardless of whether students order food from the omelet bar or not, when they purchase a meal plan, they also purchase an omelet meal.
In my opinion, if a wonderful service like this is already included with the meal plan, everyone who purchases a meal plan should try an omelet at least once. I mean, to me, it just seems like a waste of money for people to sleep in or do something else instead of enjoying this already-paid-for meal.
Furthermore, the chef makes a really good omelet. Unlike the sort of generic, pre-packaged taste many of the cafeteria meals seem to have, each omelet is unique to the person who orders it. Instead of having to eat boring food that appeals to the lowest common denominator, like the cafeteria’s “salisbury steak” or “porcupine balls,” you can pick out all of the things that you like to add to your omelet.
Certainly, I acknowledge that there are people out there who cannot, or will not, eat from an omelet bar for various reasons. If you’re a vegan and oppose consuming eggs on the grounds of “chicken rights” or whatever, I can totally understand why you wouldn’t want to eat an omelet from the omelet bar.
If you’re not all weird about it, though, I suggest waking up early one Sunday and making the trip to Parkside because the food is great, the chef is a cool dude, and you’ve already paid for it.
Simon Barta is a senior English major and an assistant opinion editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.
