To the Editor:
Full Fare: without a doubt the best eating establishment on campus. With the best food, (none of that non-meat meat substitute like Collis), the best seating, (no crossbars on the tables that you hit your shins on like at the Hop and none of the noise or confusion of Food Court), great conversation, and that special Full Fare ambiance, it outshines the rest by far. But there is one other thing that sets Full Fare apart. Full Fare is the workplace of one Phyliss Aldrich.
Phyliss is the lady that serves the entrees in the hot food line. She is just one of the many classified workers here at Dartmouth that make the place go. One of the many nameless, faceless cooks, cleaners, janitors, secretaries, groundskeepers, and repairmen without whom Dartmouth would cease to function, but who we still often take for granted. But Phyliss is special.
In the two years I have attended this college, I have eaten at Full Fare almost every day, and she has been there nearly every day. Always cheerful, always having something nice to say, she is probably one of the friendliest people on campus. She is almost superhuman -- I have never seen her in anything but a good mood in all the times I have gone to Full Fare. Unfortunately, however, all to often, we don't notice how good someone is until they're gone. On Thursday, the April 4, Phyliss retired. She will certainly be missed.
In the words of Gordon Spaeth '97, a Full Fare regular, "... as far as I'm concerned this signifies the end of Full Fare." And he is not alone in saying so. Phyliss was so widely appreciated that on her birthday last term, everyone in Full Fare rose from their meals to sing her "Happy Birthday." (And believe me, you haven't seen anything until you've watched a motley assortment of football players, distance runners, and various randoms get up to try and bellow out a song together). At a school where it is common for students to denigrate people with lesser educations and nonmanagerial/technical jobs, that is not something you see every day. It was extraordinary. It was special, as special as the lady it honored.
I feel I can speak for most everyone who eats at Full Fare regularly when I say thank you Phyliss. Thank you for always having a smiling face; thank you for a job well done. Enjoy your retirement, you deserve it.
