December Issue III

16 back page
Design by Anna Wang ‘22
Photography by Elina Emami ‘21
How lunch culture
has changed at
baldwin
With social-distancing and COVID-19 restrictions, Baldwin’s lunch situation is looking very
different so far this school year, with mixed reactions from the student body.
Most of the Baldwin community
is well aware of the cafeteria,
not just the room but also
its culture. We know the long
lines for delicious perogies, which lunch
tables are “senior tables,” and which traditions
are held there. These might include
the birthday song, Disco’s birthday celebrations,
or the countless bake sales for clubs.
But as everyone in-person knows,
lunch looks much different this year
with everyone eating outside in their cohorts.
Four Baldwin students offered their
opinions on this matter: Yemale Febres
‘23 and Leslie Nguyen ‘23, who have
been at Baldwin for years, and Penelope
Furnas ‘23 and Nateerah Ransome
‘23, who are new to Baldwin this year.
Beginning with what they expected
lunch to be like this year with COVID
precautions, Febres thought we would
still be in the cafeteria. “I expected us to
be separated, but allowed to be something
like six people at a table,” Febres said.
Furnas predicted a different
lunch set-up. “I thought lunch was going
to be outside, and we’d have to
bring our own lunches,” she said.
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Isabelle Kauffman ‘21 eats lunch socially-distanced outdoors.
Nguyen, who has been here since
Lower School, was surprised by Baldwin’s
decision to move lunch outdoors.
“I did not expect the chairs and
thought we’d be in the lunchroom at
different times of the day,” she said.
Ransome believed from the beginning
that lunch would be outside, saying “I
thought it would be nice since there would be
less background noise and more fresh air.”
When asked about possible cliques
that may have resulted from this outdoor
lunch system, the unanimous conclusion
was that yes, there were clear groups of
people who consistently sat together on
the field, but this was not a bad thing.
All four interviewees believed everyone
was still friendly and seemed willing
to let others sit with them. Regardless,
students always sat in the same space
with the same group of people, except
for the occasional swing between groups.
Regarding the loss of long lunch
lines, there was also a unanimous belief
that there was much more time to relax
and less stress about waiting in line. Even
new students recognized that we have
more time to eat and converse with friends.
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“There is more time to eat
since the lines for food would sometimes
take 15 minutes,” Ferbes said.
Did they like or dislike the fact that
they had to pack their lunch every day?
“Sometimes, it takes a lot of time
in the morning to prepare lunch, and
it would definitely be easier if there
were food to select from. I understand
why we can’t, though,” Nguyen said.
Ferbes agreed with Nguyen. “Their
selection was so good,” and lunch
would be better with the cafeteria.
On the other hand, Ransome and Furnas
were both more neutral on the topic.
“I didn’t think it would impact
me that much. I generally like to
bring my own food,” Ransome said.
Ransome explained how convenient
it is to bring your own lunch if
you have a distaste for cafeteria food.
On the other hand, it can be a little
stressful when you have to pack your
lunch every day, and it’s easy to forget.
While there are some setbacks to
missing out on the Baldwin classics, there
are always perks and exciting aspects
to help establish new lunch traditions.
lavender’s lens
Good Things
Happened in 2020, Too
With 2020 finally coming to
an end, here’s a list of good
things that happened in
2020, if you can believe it
By LAVENDER HUANG ‘22
2020, the year that would be murmured
but not said aloud. The year
that had 12 months but felt like
200. With the unspeakable year
finally coming to an end, here’s a
list of good things that happened
in 2020, if you can believe it.
1.
Taylor Swift dropped her surprise
album, Folklore. It’s everything a
quarantine album needs to be, with
its woodsy acoustics, nostalgic stories,
and more. Spotify said I listened
to August 231 times. Oops.
2.
And Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia
is really good, too. Damn,
should we just keep musicians
in quarantine forever?
3.
Late-night hosts are doing great
from home studios. From Trevor
Noah to Stephen Colbert, and
my personal favorite Seth Meyers,
with his Sea Captain bit, let’s
just say they’re getting funnier
when the world’s more depressing.
Oh, but Jimmy Fallon still sucks.
4.
Baldwin got rid of group
emails. Now, people can only
email within their grade level.
Thanks, whoever did that.
5.
Baldwin, when caring about
face masks, finally cares less
about our spaghetti straps.
6.
The Happiest Season came out!
It’s the first mainstream queer
holiday rom-com. Kristen Stewart,
Mackenzie Davis, and Aubrey
Plaza are all **great**.
7.
Netflix is still here, still wasting our
time: The Queen’s Gambit is great.
Anya Taylor-Joy needs ALL her
awards! (and by the way, remember
the little boy in Love, Actually?
He plays Benny Watts here!)
8.
A lot more food, sweatpants, and
not seeing people you don’t want
to see.
9.
The final good thing
about 2020: It’s ending.