To all my readers: I imagine it must have been a lonely year with my sparse posting. In an effort to relaunch my blog, I decided I would post the post what for Luca here too. Here it is, and more to come.
After Luca guest posted on my blog, I thought and thought about what to send in return. As an inquisitive person who sees the world in a uniquely deep way, I decided my talents would be best put to use doing some investigative journalism. Where do I have more access than the average person? McGill’s Bronfman building. For those of you who don’t know, I have the lucky opportunity to work on the hospitality staff, cleaning up after leadership seminars for the employees of Canadian corporations.
The shifts during lunchtime hours allow me to see, and more often than not, taste, the food that the upcoming generation of leaders sustains themselves with. You are what you eat, so one of these days I might start to make the transition myself. Who knows? With these insights, you could too.
The leaders of tomorrow do not like raw vegetables. Especially broccoli. And cantaloupe. Platter after platter got sent out, and despite them requesting healthy options they returned to the kitchen mostly untouched. Things are different when hummus is involved. In such a case, carrots fly off the shelves.
This picture disproves the point I just made, I know. It is misleading because of the inclusion of hummus. Please trust me that this is the most that got eaten throughout the week. People get hungry, especially when there’s hummus and a Perrier to wash down their dry, room-temperature veggies! Ask yourself, what would I have to gain by lying?
They love bagels. (Specifically the St. Viateur grocery store bagels). I hate that they love these because sesame seeds get all over the kitchen and classroom and I can never seem to escape them. I am fond of sesame seeds but this tests my limits. I also have some reservations against Montreal bagels, but I will admit it’s mainly because I have been scorned in the past. I am open to changing (even if I doubt it’s possible).
I had the closing shift on Wednesday so I only saw the aftermath of the Mandy’s they had for lunch, but I know they had some sort of salad with chicken. Four of them had food poisoning, and that is what they blamed. Still, it doesn’t feel very leader-like to get food poisoning, so I don’t know how highly I would value this.
They liked this pink goo dessert. (Not too much. Semi-liked). While the fact that I never tried this goo keeps me up at night even weeks later, I can find solace in knowing that my coworkers did. From them, I know that it tasted like strawberries with a texture stranger than jello. I like to imagine the experience of eating it being similar to taking spoonful after spoonful out of a jam jar.
I’m not sure how much they liked these matcha energy balls. Still, I am glad they had them because corporate life can take a toll and it’s important to keep your energy up. I didn’t taste them because I was scared they would have nuts and I still had a few hours in my shift. An allergic reaction would have been a struggle all alone in Bronfman, curiosity satisfied or not. (Lesson 1: never let the leaders of tomorrow see you at your weakest). I did give them a sniff and they smelled like seeds.
They do not like dried apricots. (Overheard on a dried fruit day: “the snacks aren’t snacking”). Who can blame them?
A couple of shifts ago it was the end of the night, I was cleaning up the classroom and one of these future leaders decided to strike up a conversation. He asked me how long I’d been working there, whether I liked the job, what I was studying etc.
When he asked me where I was from, I tried to keep it vague and short because he was standing in a really inconvenient spot, blocking the path between me and my trusted cart of sprays and keys and important cleaning products. I told him I was from the states, but I guess this was the wrong move because it only prompted further questions. “Which state?” God. How dare he? I wanted to jump off the building. I told him New York and he smiled.
He told me he had visited once before. (You and 30 million people a year. Shocker). His friend’s girlfriend was from Queens and she gave him a map with the most dangerous spots circled in bright red ink. Before I could answer, he smirked and told me slyly that he went to them all. I congratulated him on this, stopping my cleaning to write down my number and commend his bravery. You don’t meet men like that anymore, willing to travel to places such as Williamsburg (one of those dangerous spots he mentioned) just to “check it out” and see if it was “really that bad.” Hey, N 6th street left of Bedford can be a frightening place. It’s normal to feel lost now that the Urban Outfitters there is permanently closed. What, are you meant to shop at Madewell?
This trait of courage he displayed is one I hope to gain through keeping track of the diets of those attending these leadership seminars. I have not taken very many pictures of their food so this is simply a vignette into their lives, but I promise I will keep putting in the work. If I am the Hoover Dam, these young Canadian powerhouses are the Colorado river, and I will do everything in my power to educate the masses.
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