So I have been working in the library for a full academic year at this point and I have just got to say: the individual who drops off the free snacks is an angel.  

My car could explode and I could be charged with war crimes but all the worry and sadness from that would be washed away at the sight of the Snack-Bringer.  

I see them almost every day as they bring their cart full of goodies all throughout the library to bring joy and sugar to the poor schmucks who need it most (myself included).  

There have absolutely been days where I have gone almost 8 hours without eating so to see those little shelves at the top of the stairs stocked with treats is always like an oasis in a desert. 

Seeing the Snack-Bringer every day always gets me thinking about the little things around campus that people do that we take for granted.  

Those snacks at the top of the stairs are the fruits of the labors of a few kind individuals—but more than that they represent the best mankind has to offer: altruism for the sake of morale and happiness.  

I am sure that the Snack-Bringer is being paid for their work, but that does not mean the act of bringing the poor, unfortunate souls slaving away at whatever mundane projects they have going is not a kind act.  

If they are not being paid…uh pay them? Paid or not, the Snack-Bringer deserves a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize or at least the Congressional Medal of Freedom. 

I think that it is incredibly easy to see those snacks at the top of the stairs, grab one, and not think much about how they got there in the first place.  

To me, that is representative of how we operate as a society: we are so used to simply having things that we do not consider the hands that made them or how they came to be in our possession.  

Writing about this idea, I think I get where vegans are coming from.  

We get so caught up into the instant gratification that consuming things entails that we forget that the food, drinks, and other things we consume were once separate entities that are now not only fused together to make a dish or beverage, but are now also a part of our very being. 

Heh, whoops, forgot what I was talking about for a second. Anyway, I just want you all to take a moment and send good vibes the Snack-Bringer’s way.  

They work hard to make sure that those of us chained up in the library are fed and that we at least have something nice to enjoy before we return to the tedium of work, school, loitering, etc.  

Snack-Bringer, if you are reading this, I just want to say thank you for all your hard work. We all appreciate you. 

Will Padgett is an English graduate student. He can be reached at [email protected] or 217-581-2812.