When it comes to the dishware in Stav Hall, the student population is no stranger to the ever-changing style of the plates and cups. In recent months, there has been a new target of this change: the bowls. 

Now, this is definitely not the first time the bowls have changed, but what is causing students to be in a tizzy is the fact there have been so many new bowls in the cafeteria in recent weeks. From the regular old bowls, to the white and blue ones from the Near and Far line with the paintings on the side of them, to the small soup bowls that hardly hold any soup but are good vessels for a small serving of pasta sauce for breadsticks, to the new salad bowls that look like an Easter egg cut in half diagonally with a guillotine. 

The bowl options have become endless, and normally, that would be a good thing — the more the merrier, right? Well, yes, if all the bowls were always available, but unfortunately, the bowls that are most needed, the coveted original bowls that can hold anything your heart desires, are always missing. This means that many have to use the new weirdly shaped salad bowls. This would be fine if they didn’t cause disaster when filled with anything but salad. 

Due to their interesting cut, the new salad bowls result in many spills when filled with soup or cereal. As someone who did not know they were originally for salad, I first used one for soup because the aesthetic of the new bowl was too cool to resist, and the split pea soup was calling my name. I soon learned my mistake because the green soup was almost dripping onto my Vans as I walked to my table as if carrying a too-full cup of water. Thankfully, I finally got to safety and was able to eat my soup. Still, the worry that it would spill out of the bowl was constant in my mind. I vowed to never do something so stupid as use those new bowls again. 

The problem is that these new salad bowls are often the only thing left to use. That, or the small bowls that hold practically no soup. This leaves me with a bit of resentment for the salad bowl, which I wish I didn’t have because they are a wonderful vessel for their intended purpose. 

So, in conclusion, I want the old bowls back. I may be a bit of an old dog who doesn’t want to learn new tricks. But I just don’t want a shallow bowl of cereal or a diagonally cut bowl that makes me wonder where the rest of it went. Though I do love the initiative from St. Olaf to try and make eating in Stav more exciting, I think we could have put this energy into a different department. I hope you also have a lot of opinions on the ever-changing utensils in Stav, and if not, then regardless, I thank you a-bowl-lot for reading!