Serving up smiles in the RDF

By Benjamin Baxter
The Collegian

"Hello, mijo."

That's what you'll hear when you enter the Residence Dining Facility while Amalia Barnhart is working the cash register.

To everyone who’s her friend, her name is “Molly,” and everyone she meets is her friend.

“Molly is very friendly, and she is always smiling at everybody,” said agriculture business freshman Alba Lazaro.

Junior biology major Daisy Arteaga agreed. “Molly is a true professional,” Arteaga said, “who really cares about the people who come to talk to her.”

From all reports, Barnhart is a fixture at her position just inside the Residence Dining Hall. She always has her newspaper close at hand, and she dispenses support and a pleasant demeanor almost as often as she scans the meal cards.

“I like the people, and I love the kids, mijo,” Barnhart said. “They’re like my adopted kids.”

A friend recommended the RDF as a good place to work more than 20 years ago, and she first worked at the dorm cafeteria in 1984. She worked at the dining hall for five years in the 1980s, leaving only when offered twice the minimum wage at a local restaurant.

When the restaurant closed, Barnhart came back to work at the RDF. That was five years ago, in January 2001.

She finds her work rewarding, even though the pay is limited. “It is hard,” Barnhart said, “but I like the job.”

She recalled a time when she first came back to work at the residence halls, when she worked directly with the food service. “Kids would just stand in line, mijo,” she said, “and they would wait in line so I could serve them their food. To see the kids happy makes me happy.”

Barnhart said she can usually catch people who try to sneak past her without paying for their meals. “I can tell you if they live in the dorms. Everybody knows me in the dorms,” she said. “Sometimes, some kids try to play these games, and they try to sneak past. Sometimes even kids with meal cards, mijo.”

Barnhart said, “I stop them and tell them, ‘You can’t go past without paying,’ because I would lose my job if I let them get past.”

She said she usually doesn’t have those problems, though. “I never have any problems with anyone. I respect them and they respect me,” she said.

Barnhart said, “I cheer them up when they’re down, and they cheer me up when I’m done, mijo.”

She works at the RDF during breakfast and lunch from August to April, every Monday through Thursday, until she runs out of hours. She relies on welfare during the summer months, until she is hired again a few weeks before school starts.

Barnhart would accept a full-time position if there were any offered, but there are no full-time positions available.

In the meantime, she will sit in the same place at the RDF, a smile on her face and a pleasant greeting at the ready. When you pay for your meal and walk past while she’s on duty, you’re sure to hear one last thing.

“Goodbye, mijo.”

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