As I pulled on my Soffe shorts and ragged sweatshirt on a sunny Saturday morning, my stomach was begging to be fed. I had a four hour shift coming up nice and early, so I was intent on feasting on french toast and bacon to keep me full throughout the long day. As I traditionally did on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I arrived to the cafe promptly as it opened so I could relax and eat with a few minutes to spare before I signed my soul to the Organization Suite for the day. Yet, as I entered the cafe, I felt a different vibe compared to the weekday mornings. And as I looked around, I discovered the cause for my eerie feeling: there was no food out.

I wandered through with some other groggy and confused students trying to choose between plain bagels or the chips and granola bars in front of the registers. All I could think about was my french toast and bacon desire which was slipping through my fingers while I passed each station. When I came to the station which usually served the breakfast of my dreams, I asked the staff member if they would be ready soon, but what I was really asking was, “Will they be ready before I get to work?” My answer: “They’ll be ready in an hour,” which was when I had to be in the office. My reaction included some frustration but I tried to put that pettiness aside and left the station with determination to find something to replace my lost breakfast.

So, I went to the cereal bar and chose some Kix because that was the only option besides Fruity Pebbles, but I could live with that. I already knew I would try and find a muffin or some fruit to go with it, which settled my annoyance. Then, as I went to fill up my bowl with milk, every option was out. There was no way I was going to spend $2 on a bottle of milk considering I’m way below the meal plan schedule. No cereal. That’s okay, there are other options…right?

No, there weren’t.

Even though it could very well be the biggest first world problem in the history of your existence, breakfast really is an important part of one’s day. Eating breakfast can decrease the chance of women getting diabetes, lessen the possibility of heart disease, improve one’s memory and help with weight loss (shoutout to the “Freshman 15”), according to www.livescience.com. And besides the science of it, it’s just such a good feeling to eat yummy foods in the morning.

So why did the cafe have absolutely nothing prepared when it opened (and when I say nothing, I literally mean nothing)? To see if this was just a one-time occurrence, I woke my sleepy self up this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. to check it out again.

Slowly entering the Carl Hansen Student Center, I could hear the hushed tones of student chatter and saw the line which had formed around the gates. Yes, the gates that locked the cafe at night were still up, five minutes after the cafe should have been opened. I could then tell that this new experience would share many similarities with the devastation from the previous week.

After another minute or two passed, the gates were unlocked and the students flew inside to snag a bite. I paused to scan the area for food but could again only see bagels and cereal. One boy went up to the station which served the hot breakfasts and the staffer behind the glass just said “10,” letting the student know, before he even asked, that the food would only be ready 30 minutes from then. As I continued looking, I noticed that the students scavenged the bagels since that was the only food that was out, but I caught some kids desperately turning their heads to see if there was anything else they could eat. Luckily, the cereal had been restocked, as well as the milk.

So, it could have been a rough morning in the cafe, or maybe they didn’t have a correct stock the night before, but last Saturday left me with a bad impression regarding the cafe and going back at opening time this weekend didn’t really resolve that bad feeling.