Stav likes to keep you on your toes. You never know what the dining hall is going to do next — take away the peanut butter? Serve burgers and nothing else? Use Swedish Fish in chicken dishes? The possibilities for emotional distress are endless.
The latest in surprises: shape-shifting napkins. As reported in October by Juliet Stouffer ’27, Allanah Carron ’26 has been conducting a study on napkin use at St. Olaf. Over the past weeks, we’ve seen tall plastic towers by the silverware, flimsy wooden baskets sprinkled around Stav, and the usual black plastic napkin holders. Repeatedly, just when I get in the habit of grabbing a fistful of napkins before sitting down, the form of napkin holders changes.
How will napkins be available when this article is published? Who knows. I do know that I have a lot of possibly unnecessary thoughts about napkin vessels now.
Plastic towers:
On the plus side, they make refilling napkins a lot easier for Stav workers. However, if your hands are full or you forget to grab napkins up front, you have to go back, which is a pain when Stav is busy, the napkins can get jammed, or the tower might be outright empty. It’s also hard to estimate how many napkins you’ll need for that meal. On their own, I give the plastic towers five-and-a-half out of 10 Big Oles.
Wooden baskets:
They’re pretty similar to the plastic boxes — dispersed through the dining hall and portable — and presumably easier to refill because they’re open at the top. I accept their presence. I do question, though, whether constructing a bunch of rough-and-ready baskets is in line with St. Olaf’s mission to reduce waste. Also, I find it hard to grab one napkin at a time, and, thanks to the open tops, the napkins have a tendency to fly all over the place. Again, waste. I give the baskets eight out of 10 Big Oles.
Plastic boxes:
Oh, beloved boxes. Are you beloved because you’re functional, or because you were first? The commencement of this study made me doubt the plastic boxes, but never again. Sure, sometimes they get jammed. It’s annoying when they’re empty. But they do great at their job of holding napkins, and we already have them. I give the boxes eight-and-a-half out of 10 Big Oles.
