<p>How do you guys stay not-bored, lol?</p>
<p>I mean, I can't ALWAYS eat with friends, and sometimes, I really prefer not to!</p>
<p>But...I usually work on my laptop when I eat, but this cafeteria doesn't even let me bring in my school bags...how annoying. Unfortunately, it's also the cheapest...by a mile, lol. So, ideas? Maybe they'd let me bring in a laptop after all? How stupid would that look, though?</p>
<p>They don’t let you bring in bags? What is this, the G20 conference?</p>
<p>It’s so you can’t steal stuff. I can’t believe a college would actually enforce that. Way to treat college students like elementary school students.</p>
<p>That’s insane. Every university I’ve seen lately has had a food court like at a mall, so you can’t actually steal and bags are allowed.</p>
<p>They should let you bring in a laptop. I mean, it’s not like you can hide a slice of pizza without sacrificing $1,000. Lots of people at my uni work on stuff while eating, so you shouldn’t look out of place; you’re just getting work done. If you can, you can also bring in a textbook or written homework. Maybe a planner to schedule your week. Try to bring whatever you need to get done.</p>
<p>Or just eat. :-)</p>
<p>My college dining halls don’t let you bring in water bottles but if you hide yours in your backpack, they won’t confiscate it.</p>
<p>I watch ESPN while I eat in the cafeteria.</p>
<p>^haha it’s funny because my cafeteria has 8 TV’s and they never show anything other than ESPN</p>
<p>If they don’t allow bags, dont carry your laptop in a bag, just carry it in a sleeve or something. If you don’t want to do that, you can bring in a book and read.</p>
<p>Hm that’s so strange. Everyone at my school brigs in backpacks… Sometimes I specifically go to the dining hall to study–I need background noise so I can’t handle libraries but cafeterias are good. And sometimes I just want to eat alone, so I bring my laptop or a for-pleasure book.</p>
<p>At our college we have an “all-you-can-eat” style where you pay for the meal plan at the beginning of the year, so anyone can “steal” however much they want.</p>
<p>Well, as far as I can tell you’re discouraged from taking things out of the dining hall - but since at my school seating is so far from the dining area, taking stuff is easy and I saw plenty of people filling bottles without anyone complaining.</p>
<p>All the TVs in my cafeteria are on ESPN too. I’m not complaining though.</p>
<p>People its your OBLIGATION to smuggle pizza, cereal, soda, utensils, whatever you can out of the dining halls. </p>
<p>Do you know why they charge $2480 per semester for a basic meal plan? </p>
<p>Part of that charge includes a fee for “assumed theft.” They assume you’re going to smuggle food out so they preemptively charge you! If you don’t take enough food out to cover that charge, then the school is stealing your money.</p>
<p>theres a cafeteria that you swipe your card and basically pay a flat fee for a meal… all you can eat style until you leave the premesis. we’re allowed to bring laptop bags but not backpacks, becase people take out tupperware and steal food. it’s crazy.</p>
<p>We have a bunch of newspapers in ours, which is nice. The only problem is that they get progressively more separated as the day goes on, so you either have to take whatever’s sitting on your table or awkwardly go around to other tables asking for a specific section. </p>
<p>There are also plenty of flyers and pamphlets to read. I don’t mind eating alone at all–sometimes I prefer it. After talking to people all day, it’s nice to be able to just sit down and eat at a relaxed pace.</p>
<p>Could you bring a book or magazine in?</p>
<p>Mine is an all you can eat buffe type thing.</p>
<p>We have one massive tv with ESPN on and we’re allowed to bring in bags or whatever, hell you can even ask the lady that checks you in to keep your bag behind the counter if its heavy.</p>