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Food services nurtures students, relationships |
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
by NIKKI ROBERTI
Contributing Writer
“Hello, baby. How’s your day going?”
“Well, don’t you look nice today?”
“It’s cold outside. Don’t forget your coat!”
What
seems like phrases your mother would say back home can now be heard
around Welborn Cafeteria on a daily basis coming from the mouth of Joan
P. Peters, a part-time Appalachian Food Services cashier.
She can usually be found at lunchtime on the Lite Side and is known by
numerous students for her kind comments and short conversations as they
purchase their food.
Freshman sociology major Mallory K. McKay said she makes an effort to always go through Peters’ line when buying lunch.
“She’s just fantastic,” McKay said. “She’ll talk to you, ask how your weekend was, and generally cares. She listens.”
Peters said she makes an effort to talk to all the students and say
nice things to them because there are too many negative things in the
world.
“I love all these kids,” Peters said. “Makes me feel like a kid.”
Peters started working in Welborn in January.
Previously she worked at the Appalachian Panhellenic Hall Market until it’s closing.
Before coming to Appalachian, Peters worked in a “dinky, country restaurant.”
She enjoyed her job there since she loves being around people, but when
her father became ill, she quit her job to take care of him for the
next two years.
After her father’s death, Peters’ friend, Kelly L. Kilgore, a food
services employee at Trivette Cafeteria, encouraged her to work for the
university.
“I was really getting depressed,” she said. “God has really blessed me here… Everyday is a good day.”
Peters said the only thing that would improve her job would be the ability to get to know the students better.
“I would love to just sit in the field with them and talk all day,” she
said. “I want them to feel like if they need someone to talk to, they
can come to me.”
Though a cash register separates her from the students, several students say they still feel cared for by Peters.
Freshman biology major Ashley H. Harris enjoys how Peters always asks how she is.
“It was a cold day and I forgot to wear my jacket,” Harris said. “She
wanted to make sure that I had a jacket since it gets cold in Boone.”
McKay shares Harris’ sentiment.
McKay said when Peters heard she could not go home for Easter since she
lived in Florida, Peters offered to take her home for the weekend.
Although sophomore anthropology major Hunter Q. Chambers said his
relationship with Peters usually does not exceed asking about angel
food cake and other small talk, he enjoys seeing Peters everyday and
also makes a point to go in her line.
“She’s dependable,” he said. “She’s always there.”
McKay said lunch would not be the same without Peters there.
“That’s her register,” she said. “If she missed a day I’d be like, ‘Where’s Joan? I’m scared. You can’t ring up my food.’”
Peters said she loves her job completely and has no intentions of leaving.
In fact, she’s hoping to go full-time eventually.
After being married for 31 years, Peters has four children and six
grandchildren who all live in Tennessee where she also resides.
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