![\"](\"https:\/\/shadybucket.s3.amazonaws.com\/images\/dining_hall.width-1280.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some start work before the sun is up. Others don\u2019t leave until well past midnight. The work isn\u2019t easy; staff are always on their feet, and may go hours without a break. Yet so many students take the work of Dining Hall staff for granted.<\/p>\n
Not Richard Anderson. The first-year student from Naperville, IL, was unfailingly polite to dining staff for the duration of his Pre-Orientation program, never failing to say, \u201cthank you,\u201d and continued to be patient and respectful through his first dinner with a new group of housemates.<\/p>\n
Anderson’s parents told\u00a0The Dealer<\/i>\u00a0that they\u00a0were surprised by this newfound development. \u201cHe was always a nice boy,\u201d said his mother Roseanne. \u201cBut he was so surly<\/i> in high school. It sounds like that\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veteran dining associate Peter Johnson predicted this newfound politeness would survive a week of classes at least. \u201cThe house parties usually do it. Kids who are trying to turn over a new leaf, be more positive, impress their housemates \u2013 they know that\u2019s over by Sunday morning. It\u2019s happened before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, Jane Smith, a new student from Palo Alto, CA, caused a stir by greeting Baker Dining Commons staff with a smile for almost a month. But Johnson\u2019s skepticism was vindicated after Smith took her first Kiswahili midterm.<\/p>\n
Still, some believe Anderson will be an exception to this rule. Earlier this week, the University of Chicago News Office highlighted his efforts in an e-mail touting the University\u2019s commitment to a more just Chicago. In recognition of Anderson\u2019s work, he will receive the inaugural Kenneth C. Griffin Award for Community Service.<\/p>\n
Anderson himself downplayed the significance of his actions. \u201cI\u2019ve always tried to understand the experiences of working people,\u201d he told the Dealer<\/i>. \u201c<\/b>Sure, they didn\u2019t go to a fancy college \u2013 like this one, for instance. Maybe they can\u2019t afford to endow a new building, or fund my summer internship, but they work just as hard as any of us, and they deserve respect too. It\u2019s not a lot to ask. If more students showed kindness and respect to others, we wouldn\u2019t even be talking about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
At press time, Anderson walked into Cathey Dining Commons, yawned, and pointed wordlessly at a dish of scrambled eggs \u2013 only to hurriedly look up from his phone and say, \u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Andy Hatem Sept. 24, 2018 \u00a0 Some start work before the sun is up. Others don\u2019t leave until well past midnight. The work isn\u2019t easy; staff are always on their feet, and may go hours without a break. Yet so many students take the work of Dining Hall staff for granted. Not Richard Anderson. The first-year student from Naperville, IL, was unfailingly polite to dining staff for the duration of his Pre-Orientation program, never failing to say, \u201cthank you,\u201d and continued to be patient and respectful through his first dinner with a new group of housemates. Anderson’s parents told\u00a0The Dealer\u00a0that they\u00a0were surprised by this newfound development. \u201cHe was always a nice boy,\u201d said his mother Roseanne. \u201cBut he was so surly in high school. It sounds like that\u2019s gone.\u201d Veteran dining associate Peter Johnson predicted this newfound politeness would survive a week of classes at least. \u201cThe house parties usually do it. Kids who are trying to turn over a new leaf, be more positive, impress their housemates \u2013 they know that\u2019s over by Sunday morning. It\u2019s happened before.\u201d Last year, Jane Smith, a new student from Palo Alto, CA, caused a stir by greeting Baker Dining Commons staff with a smile for almost a month. But Johnson\u2019s skepticism was vindicated after Smith took her first Kiswahili midterm. Still, some believe Anderson will be an exception to this rule. Earlier this week, the University of Chicago News Office highlighted his efforts in an e-mail touting the University\u2019s commitment to a more just Chicago. In recognition of Anderson\u2019s work, he will receive the inaugural Kenneth C. Griffin Award for Community Service. Anderson himself downplayed the significance of his actions. \u201cI\u2019ve always tried to understand the experiences of working people,\u201d he told the Dealer. \u201cSure, they didn\u2019t go to a fancy college \u2013 like this one, for instance. Maybe they can\u2019t afford to endow a new building, or fund my summer internship, but they work just as hard as any of us, and they deserve respect too. It\u2019s not a lot to ask. If more students showed kindness and respect to others, we wouldn\u2019t even be talking about this.\u201d At press time, Anderson walked into Cathey Dining Commons, yawned, and pointed wordlessly at a dish of scrambled eggs \u2013 only to hurriedly look up from his phone and say, \u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-komono"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2475,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1442\/revisions\/2475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}