The following two tabs change content below. Bio

Latest Posts Guest This article was written by an individual or organization that is not part of The Vector. The name of the individual/organization that wrote this article is at the bottom of the article. Latest posts by Guest see all) Vector Rewind: NJIT’s First Graduating Class of the New Millennium - February 2, 2020

By Jinisha Patel, Contributing Writer

It’s that time of the year where everyone feels under the weather. I am one of those people. After coughing a million times, I decided to go to the doctor, who then prescribed me medication that needed to be taken after you have a meal. I usually just cook, but I thought, as I was sick, I would just rather go to GDS since it’s around the corner.

As I arrived there, I noticed that there was no food on the counters. Obviously, my disappointed self decided to go check my options. The line was too long at the grill so I decided to get a fajita over rice at the Fajita Station. At this point, I am excited for some warm food! As I started ordering, the man behind the counter goes, “I have no jalapenos, cucumbers and I only have a little onions.” I start to think to myself, what is going on? I don’t even have a meal plan, what do people with meal plans eat every day? It’s the weekends when we need the most food, because Taco Bell and the other restaurants are closed on that day, leaving you with nothing but GDS, the C-Store, or the Village Market.

While I had all these questions running through my mind I noticed something; the man behind the counter hadn’t flipped my meat or asked if I wanted any seasoning. I decided to ask him if I could get some seasoning. Not only did I get an annoyed look, but he also just dumped all the seasoning on it. I thought, how bad could it be? But I was just kidding myself. I noticed the man starting to sweep the area while simultaneously cooking mine and another student’s meal. This completely killed my appetite. When I got my rice, it didn’t look so bad. I then went to get some lettuce from the nacho section. What I saw truly surprised me: The lettuce was slimy and brown:

I said to myself, this is the last time I will ever come to GDS. I then went to get a drink, and surprise surprise: they were out of diet soda and forks! Just appalled by this, I make my way to go sit down. I looked at my friend’s food. He was eating fried chicken and he hadn’t touched it. I asked him why, he says, “It’s cold and dry.” I thought the food from the grill was supposed to be fresh and not cold. None of us ate anything and left. This was truly a low point for me with GDS.

Some hard facts about eating brown slimy lettuce from Livestrong.com’

“Lettuce that is unsafe to eat shows definite signs. Bacteria can begin to reproduce on bruised leaves. The buildup of bacteria causes a slimy texture. A fungal infection caused by sclerotinia also causes a slimy texture. Botrytis cinerea can thrive and cause a gray mold to be produced. You should take caution when finding these signs of lettuce disease.”

Saturday GDS Times:

10:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Brunch 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Dinner 4:30 PM – 7:00 PM

As a student, I know I never eat dinner from 4:30-7:00pm. Most of us have extracurricular activities, projects and studying to do, so it makes it impossible to go at that certain time. Apart from that, if you eat that early you are bound to be hungry by at least 10pm again. Furthermore, it states here that GDS is open till 9:00pm. If the food was so unbearable at 7:30, would there be bugs at 9:00pm?

The workers there most of the time have a bad attitude, are unsanitary and are too busy on the phone (as I noticed the lady who swiped your card in was texting when we arrived). Although I am disappointed about spending $9.45 for such bad service and food, I am more frustrated for people who have meal plans who pay anywhere from $800 – $2300 and do not get food up to regular standards. Is it too much to ask to have fresh and sanitary food from our school when we are paying so much for a meal plan? I feel that a school that requires freshmen and sophomores to have a meal plan should be aware of the quality of food they are serving, because for some of the students, that is their only option.