Within Deerfield’s daily class schedule, sit-down lunches are allotted the 35 minute time slot from 12:40 pm – 1:15 pm. However, students have reflected that sit-down lunches have recently been picking up the pace. For example, Halloween’s sit-down lunch ended at about 1:07 pm. Every day, The numerous working parts of sit-down lunches, including first waiting, second waiting, birthday cheers, and announcements, eat up into the 35 minute time slot, often causing second waiters to rush. Consequently, food and plates are taken off the tables quicker leading to shorter eating times for all.
Katie Bruno ’24, a second waiter, ate for six minutes at Halloween sit-down lunch. Her first waiter arrived at 12:46 pm and she began the process of second waiting at 12:52 pm. Announcements began at roughly 1:05 pm with three birthday cheers beforehand. In order to complete her second waiting duties, she said, “I typically eat a small plate and sometimes do not finish.” She starts second waiting once she sees other people getting up and said, “I feel like I’m way behind if I see Mr. Kelly at the podium while I’m still clearing.” Lila King ’24, a first waiter, shared that her second waiter began clearing food at 12:50 pm, only ten minutes after she moved through the line and distributed the meal. The Scroll sampled 60 students and on average over the week of October 31 to November 6. Regardless of whether they had a waiting assignment or not, students ate for an average of about 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
Another second waiter, Ava Lennon ’24 noted how she thought the pace has increased throughout the school year saying, “I understand we have a certain schedule to stay on but I don’t think it’s particularly healthy to be eating in such a rushed manner, especially if you have the thought of when you need to second wait hovering in your mind.” She observed that she sometimes ends up having five to ten minutes waiting for her post sit-down class to start but also said that “students want to get to class early and nobody wants to risk getting to class late.”
Nutritional Education and Therapy & Outreach Coordinator Karyn Mancari gave her insight on the length of sit-downs saying, “Ideally, the eating part of a meal should be at least 30 minutes” and she added that with the other aspects to sit-down, “a 45 minute allotment would be preferable if possible.” The body takes about 20 to 30 minutes to recognize “fullness cues so it would give students more time to decide if they need more food,” said Ms. Mancari.
While announcements, especially on game days, can add up, King said, “Sometimes individual announcements can be a little long but club announcements and reminders can be helpful, especially since we don’t have our phones during the school day, and I remember details in the announcement better than emails.”
According to Student Life Associate Kevin Kelly, during announcements, all students should be seated at their table, meaning that second waiters cannot be up and waiting. If second waiters do not finish their before announcements, they must wait until everyone is dismissed while still making it to their next class period. However, second waiting is not always taken on by a single person, often whole tables pitch in. According to Mr. Kelly, “The tables that do function where everybody has some hand in helping out are the most efficient. Kids will chip in and someone will grab the glasses or somebody will say, ‘Hey, I’ll go up and grab dessert.’”
Every student is assigned to be a waiter twice within the school year. Many students who are not first or second waiters during a rotation recognize that the job of the second waiter can be made easier by stacking plates, bringing dessert to and from the table, or putting the cups and water back. Hasini Pundla ’24 said she often helps out with grabbing dessert and bringing back the cups “because it’s not a demanding task and it helps the waiters out a little bit while they’re dealing with the other chaotic trips to the kitchen,” she said.
Pundla said she believes that while sit-downs and being a student waiter can be difficult and overwhelming, “we meet new people who are so willing to help each other out.” She emphasized, “When a table pitches in to help with second waiting, they exemplify empathy and generosity especially since we do not need to help but we all know how hard it can be in that position.”