Newsletter Editor Eva Sher is very fond of John Jay Dining Hall, especially when no one is there at the liminal hour of 3 PM. Her peace was interrupted by an unexplainable act.

Last week, I was sitting in John Jay with maybe like five other people in the front dining room. I was minding my own business when I saw someone stand up, walk to the drink machine, fill a cup with water, and grab a butter knife from the bucket near the vegan food section. What I saw next will probably baffle me for the rest of my time at this institution. This person carried their beverage and utensil to the conveyor belt near the front. Without taking a sip of the water, they set the cup on the belt, put the knife into the cup, and knocked the cup over. Let me repeat: they knocked a FULL cup of water over for what seemed to be like no reason. Then they nonchalantly walked away. This harmless act has literally been confusing me for days.

Why did they do it? Did they think that the knife would somehow block the liquid from fleeing its (open) container? Did they feel the conveyor needed cleaning but feel weird just dumping the water? Did they throw the knife in there to appear more normal? Was this an instinctual act? Was there a symbolic reason for this? I am baffled.

I don’t have answers to any of these questions. I just thought I would share this experience with the greater Columbia community to see what you all think. I just cannot figure it out.

reenactment of the knife in water via Eva Sher