There is no such thing as silence. Over the sound of the workers behind the counters and the noises of the the beverage machines, there is a roar of voices. Students, professors, faculty and visitors congregate in the cafeteria over the lunch period, perhaps grabbing a quick bite to eat before running off to class, or socializing with their colleagues and friends.
I'm seated at one of the tables furthest away from the windows. Why? Because latecomers to lunch like myself go to where their friends already are. Today, it was at a far table. Tonight at dinner, it could be at the stools beside the window. Who knows?
I have to squeeze my tray onto the table through the other dishes. This is normal for regular visitors at this cafeteria, and something we are all well-versed in adjusting too. There is an animated conversation about Aslan's Child and Once Lost already underway, and I sit down just as my friend Mark starts singing a line from a Petra song he wants to play with Aslan's Child. Since he only repeats one line of the song over and over again, the rest of the table is soon doubled over laughing- a happily frequent occurance at the Prov cafeteria.
People leave and join the table frequently as they begin or finish their meals. Kevin, a commuter with a meal card, joins us a moment after I sit down, just as Mark leaves for a class. This eventually leads to a discussion on "Christian rock" and how most so-called Christian bands are now merely labelling themselves as rock bands with Christian members, such as Switchfoot and RED. Gales of laughter are heard when Kevin mentions that the lead singer for RED is a nurse in his spare time- which lead to jokes concerning the song lyrics "Breathe into me" if he were ever doing CPR and "It's already over..." in regards to a patient asking about a surgery. Rob, another commuter who brought his own lunch, joins the conversation within a moment of sitting down as well.
Eventually, there are three separate conversations going on. Kevin and Evan are discussing how many Christian bands end up touring with secular groups, Nadene and Hayley are talking about Hayley's cell phone, which has mysteriously disappeared since lunch started (and which Nadene may or may not have had something to do with), and Lane, Rob and I are comparing RED's three albums, as well as various other bands in concert including Kutless and Hawk Nelson. The conversations eventually merge again around the topic of Hayley's cell phone, when the guys start discussing how to get the information about said missing phone from others. This conversation went from "fingers and toes" to "Chinese water torture" to "tying them down and making them listen to Justin Bieber" to "we have much to learn from athiests!". This spawned a whole new conversation about world religions.
Such is a meal in the college cafeteria. Between bites, people will be discussing topics of the day including, but not limited to, music, classes, papers, movies, weekend trips to Winnipeg, members of the opposite gender, the latest Bombers or Jets game, the latest in world events, and civil arguments- Calgary Flames vs Edmonton Oilers, Skillet vs Justin Bieber, The Silmarillion vs Twilight, Pepsi vs Coke. Often, there is no difference if the argument takes place with another student, the school president, or the guy who serves us our French fries- it is all in the name of a friendly discussion (Unless it concerns the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. More than that, I am not at liberty to say.).
It's noisy. It's chaotic. Sometimes, depending on how immature the dorm guys are feeling, it's disgusting. But the majority of the regulars at the Prov Cafeteria wouldn't have it any other way.
(By the way, I don't cheer for either the Bombers or the Riders. On the rare occasion that I watch CFL, I'm cheering for the Calgary Stamps. So ha!)
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