So the university is selling their students dining out to big corporations? Don’t these people of sense of community, or at the very least, watched Community?
Probably not. They probably already sold them out to Aramark a decade ago and now Aramark is selling an unprofitable spot to a different corporation. 😛
Most universities are desperate for stopping their financial losses; most of them are losing enrollment. If a for-profit corporate restaurant management or parking lot can bring in money for them, then they’ll do that.
I read the article. I don’t even live in Indiana let alone attend IU and this lowkey bummed me out. They’re replacing unlimited voucher food eateries with flipping Starbucks. I live in California. My street literally has 5 Starbucks on it before you even count the mini Bucks that are in stores. Then it’s closer to a dozen. Bleh. Can’t imagine anything less cool to replace it with. And I drink Starbucks occasionally.
well I may be biased but if you’re me and live with ADHD that hasn’t been properly medicated in over a year,
caffeine is caffeine 0-0
plus they got decent breakfast sammiches for protein so I can’t complain too much,
but yeah StarBucks places are proliferating like fucking tumbleweeds
V
With the money they pay out to stockholders and executives, they could make some gluten free options available, better food and much coffee certainly. Colleges with some kind of hospitality management or business majors often put their students to work/study in their own restaurants.
Tan
Don’t forget the money they spend on unionbusting.
Laura
I’m sorry to hear you’re having such a hard time getting meds, NGPZ!
You’re in Cali, right? Do you have Medi-Cal Medicaid coverage? I’m pretty sure the generics at least are covered. If not, then even out of pocket you can get them relatively cheaply with drug coupons:
walgreens.rxsense.com
If you know a Costco member (or even if you don’t), Costco also has a price comparison tool showing you where to get the cheapest meds:
costco.com/member-prescription-program.html
This telehealth website is really good about helping folks get meds and prescriptions for ADHD. They take insurance and are running a special right now:
helloklarity.com
If you need help signing up for Medi-Cal or discount health insurance, you can do it here:
coveredca.com
Even the brand-name meds occasionally offer coupons, like this one:
jornaypm.com/savings
(I just Googled “California discount drug program”, and apparently there are lots of little prescription cards you can download, too, for assistance with medicine costs.)
I hope this helps!
Best of luck!
Laura
(Too many live links get the comment stuck in the moderation zone, so I had to omit the “https://www.” prefixes.)
Im actually in the process of applying for medical as we speak, hoping for the best for reals ??
Laura
Best of luck!????????
Laura
For Klarity Health, lotta folks just pay out of pocket for ADHD telehealth psychiatry and counseling, even without insurance. They try to make it affordable for uninsured folks.
Embe13
+100000000000000000000000
Nymph
Right, but it’s turning a dining hall from somewhere that people with a certain kind of meal card could get an infinite number of meals for scanning their cards whenever they wanted, into somewhere they’ll need to use money they don’t have or limited scan cards that don’t necessarily have enough scans for a full meal three times a day.
I don’t think the fuss in the article is about it being a Starbucks (though I personally am boycotting Starbucks for a number of reasons so would also have preferred literally any other coffee shop getting a chance there instead).
thejeff
This is all so weird to me. Guess I’m old.
So before it was chain restaurants operating under a pre-purchased eat what you want meal plan approach and now it’s going to be different chain restaurants, but on a limited pre-paid card approach?
Or were they not chain restaurants before, but just laid out as if they were?
I dunno, back when I was in college, it was just all cafeteria style. None of this weird branding or restaurant chain stuff.
Yumi
Yeah, it definitely seems inconvenient for those in Read. They can still use their unlimited swipes elsewhere, but it seems like the cheapest 7day dining plan (the type I would probably have, equivalent to what I had when I lived on campus) would only give you three combo meal swipes per week…
Plus, while I like poké, I’d definitely want multiple options throughout the week.
When I was at my local college for the second time in the 2000s, the refectory in the main building suddenly included a Costa (British Starbucks). To encourage people to use the Costa, the college-run counters didn’t sell hot drinks at all. But the Costa didn’t have teabags. The process for getting tea involved getting a teabag from the counter, a hot water from Costa and paying … somewhere. And that’s the story of how I discovered I quite like caramel lattes.
Billifer’s more like a trash koala: Her system can’t really tolerate the trash she consumes, but she literally can’t recognize anything else as fulfilling her needs.
Clif
Amber is a trash goblin that craves mess. Billie is a chaos goblin who creates mess … mostly for herself.
Yeah, it’s hard to say how reasonable Jennifer is being — it might also just be that their New Relationship Energy + her own depression is making her irritable over only a couple of incidents — but she is definitely annoyed about it.
On the other hand, I think the last few panels of this comic are a few things coming to a head at once:
– Lucy might not know that it’s specifically the “nonstop boning” that’s irritating Jennifer, but she has definitely picked up on the fact that Jennifer doesn’t like being around her (right now? anymore? who can say what Lucy’s perception is), so she’s surprised by the invite.
– Jennifer wants Alice to see her having friends and being happy
– POSSIBLY: Jennifer’s irritation over the Lucy/Jacob fluff parade was so much the product of her own depression that Alice being willing to be her friend(?) again has boosted Jennifer’s mood so much that… she actually does NOT currently find the prospect of hanging out with Lucy grating, so she’s making this invite sincerely
Only time will tell. 🙂
Li
makes another comment, immediately decides that the third bullet isn’t just possible, but MORE likely than the second bullet
(Jennifer doesn’t look nervous in the fourth panel to me, the way I think she’d look if Lucy’s confusion threatened a “Make Sure Alice Continues to Think I Have Friends” ploy. She just looks blank, like she has completely forgotten her own persistent irritation with Lucy and doesn’t understand why Lucy is surprised to be invited.)
just gotta have walky walk by and put his foot in his mouth , but i guess it would be weird to hear an ex best friend going by a ‘formal ‘first name if they usually go by like their middle name or nickname
And not even wearing her high school colors for a 45th straight day. She’s clearly trying to cultivate something. But new images are hard to maintain for long. Especially when they’re forced.
The Golden Dragons were yellow with blue, right? She’s wearing purple with orange, the opposite colors on the wheel. Definitely on purpose from Willis.
I would get extreme joy out of these three enjoying a meal together as humans who enjoy social interactions for the sake of it while Raidah is forced to watch and punch air forever alone…..Well I guess she has Carl. Is Carl cool? Does Raidah even enjoy him or is he another transactional associate? I know next to nothing about dude.
It’s weird because I can believe Raidah had a legitimate friendship with Dana based on her bitterness at Sarah for reporting her and getting her pulled from school. Carl was Dana’s former boyfriend so I could assume he has an emotional connection to Raidah. They could be real friends, but I really know nothing about him.
a) get replaced by aliens
b) get replaced by a robot Carla made
c) get three years of therapy in one night
d) actually clean up her act and become nice
I suspect she would just like to be seen with Lucy’s tall and handsome boyfriend. But perhaps she is trying to be the person she thinks Alice wants her to be.
Nymph
I’m not sure what makes you think she’s trying to be seen with Jacob. She’s telling Lucy that if she tags along for food she can also use it as an excuse to see her boyfriend.
You have some interesting reads on these situations.
147 thoughts on “Formal”
NGPZ
o3o don’t look now, but Read Eatery closed down a couple months ago
undergoing renovations to become a sushi spot apparently
David M Willis
saw those signs when I visited back in April
means we’re losing Sear No Evil: https://bsky.app/profile/damnyouwillis.bsky.social/post/3lm3sujiozs22
Tessea
Seriously? That name alone merits keeping it around!
ValdVin
In Bizarro World it’s called Reverse Sear No Evil.
TPRJones
Failing to call the new sushi place Sea No Evil is an L.
Embe13
+1
Decidedly Orthogonal
+2
True Survivor
So the university is selling their students dining out to big corporations? Don’t these people of sense of community, or at the very least, watched Community?
not someone else
Probably not. They probably already sold them out to Aramark a decade ago and now Aramark is selling an unprofitable spot to a different corporation. 😛
FlamestAndLight
That’s capitalism baby! everything must be commodified. Everything must have any soul it has scooped out to make space for profits.
Steamweed
Most universities are desperate for stopping their financial losses; most of them are losing enrollment. If a for-profit corporate restaurant management or parking lot can bring in money for them, then they’ll do that.
Sirksome
I read the article. I don’t even live in Indiana let alone attend IU and this lowkey bummed me out. They’re replacing unlimited voucher food eateries with flipping Starbucks. I live in California. My street literally has 5 Starbucks on it before you even count the mini Bucks that are in stores. Then it’s closer to a dozen. Bleh. Can’t imagine anything less cool to replace it with. And I drink Starbucks occasionally.
NGPZ
well I may be biased but if you’re me and live with ADHD that hasn’t been properly medicated in over a year,
caffeine is caffeine 0-0
plus they got decent breakfast sammiches for protein so I can’t complain too much,
but yeah StarBucks places are proliferating like fucking tumbleweeds
V
With the money they pay out to stockholders and executives, they could make some gluten free options available, better food and much coffee certainly. Colleges with some kind of hospitality management or business majors often put their students to work/study in their own restaurants.
Tan
Don’t forget the money they spend on unionbusting.
Laura
I’m sorry to hear you’re having such a hard time getting meds, NGPZ!
You’re in Cali, right? Do you have Medi-Cal Medicaid coverage? I’m pretty sure the generics at least are covered. If not, then even out of pocket you can get them relatively cheaply with drug coupons:
walgreens.rxsense.com
If you know a Costco member (or even if you don’t), Costco also has a price comparison tool showing you where to get the cheapest meds:
costco.com/member-prescription-program.html
This telehealth website is really good about helping folks get meds and prescriptions for ADHD. They take insurance and are running a special right now:
helloklarity.com
If you need help signing up for Medi-Cal or discount health insurance, you can do it here:
coveredca.com
Even the brand-name meds occasionally offer coupons, like this one:
jornaypm.com/savings
(I just Googled “California discount drug program”, and apparently there are lots of little prescription cards you can download, too, for assistance with medicine costs.)
I hope this helps!
Best of luck!
Laura
(Too many live links get the comment stuck in the moderation zone, so I had to omit the “https://www.” prefixes.)
NGPZ
Much appreciated Laura
Im actually in the process of applying for medical as we speak, hoping for the best for reals ??
Laura
Best of luck!????????
Laura
For Klarity Health, lotta folks just pay out of pocket for ADHD telehealth psychiatry and counseling, even without insurance. They try to make it affordable for uninsured folks.
Embe13
+100000000000000000000000
Nymph
Right, but it’s turning a dining hall from somewhere that people with a certain kind of meal card could get an infinite number of meals for scanning their cards whenever they wanted, into somewhere they’ll need to use money they don’t have or limited scan cards that don’t necessarily have enough scans for a full meal three times a day.
I don’t think the fuss in the article is about it being a Starbucks (though I personally am boycotting Starbucks for a number of reasons so would also have preferred literally any other coffee shop getting a chance there instead).
thejeff
This is all so weird to me. Guess I’m old.
So before it was chain restaurants operating under a pre-purchased eat what you want meal plan approach and now it’s going to be different chain restaurants, but on a limited pre-paid card approach?
Or were they not chain restaurants before, but just laid out as if they were?
I dunno, back when I was in college, it was just all cafeteria style. None of this weird branding or restaurant chain stuff.
Yumi
Yeah, it definitely seems inconvenient for those in Read. They can still use their unlimited swipes elsewhere, but it seems like the cheapest 7day dining plan (the type I would probably have, equivalent to what I had when I lived on campus) would only give you three combo meal swipes per week…
Plus, while I like poké, I’d definitely want multiple options throughout the week.
Daibhid C
When I was at my local college for the second time in the 2000s, the refectory in the main building suddenly included a Costa (British Starbucks). To encourage people to use the Costa, the college-run counters didn’t sell hot drinks at all. But the Costa didn’t have teabags. The process for getting tea involved getting a teabag from the counter, a hot water from Costa and paying … somewhere. And that’s the story of how I discovered I quite like caramel lattes.
anon
are the food courts that varied? well makes sense for a college but i assume there wouldn’t be too much of a change
tho depending, i guess it makes sense if it’s an empty kitchen space for ppl to rent out or so for multiple choice food court versus one cafeteria
Yumi
For a lot of colleges, a dining hall is a multiple choice spot. Like where we saw Joyce, Joe, and Jennifer hang out before. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/caliente/
(Also: actual Forest Quad dining hall: https://dining.indiana.edu/locations/dininghalls/forest.html )
Needfuldoer
It lives on in the comic, like that fourth door on The Stairs.
Dread Pirate Robin
JOYCE WILL NOT BE HAPPY
Sirksome
Jennifer stocks on the rise while other, newer bisexuals suffer. Ya love to see it!
Thag Simmons
We’ll see how long she manages to stay on the rise.
Sharizard
For now, i’m just being happy at that second panel of them smiling at each other.
jpnr
forever
the good times will never end
Pocky
I’m not one for the stock market, but i could see this goin up.
Endplanets
NO. Now is your time to shine Lucy!
Be the Starfire to her Raven.
anon
I can imagine her sweetly trying to compliment her and it end up backfiring/being a roast lol
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Dumbing of Age book 15: What does this social interaction MEAN?
Let’s name the next book after the alt-text for once! xD
EpochFlame
billie actually looks cute when she isn’t being awful. hopefully her growing as a person arc continues
Purple Floof
She is a trash goblin that craves mess, this can only go well
Effie
Amber is a trash goblin that craves mess. Billie is a trash goblin that craves mess… for herself.
Freezer
Billifer’s more like a trash koala: Her system can’t really tolerate the trash she consumes, but she literally can’t recognize anything else as fulfilling her needs.
Clif
Amber is a trash goblin that craves mess. Billie is a chaos goblin who creates mess … mostly for herself.
Thag Simmons
Rooting for you Billingsworth
V
Fingers crossed this goes well and Lucy can a) make a couple of new friends b) get a clue that her boyfriend should not live in her dorm room.
anon
@ V other than a couple “sleepovers” has jacob rly been around that much/overstayed his welcome to where it’d be annoying to a roommate?
Nymph
lmao no. I actually think we’ve only seen a single sleepover, so V’s reaction feels a little dramatic and overstated.
John Campbell
Well, objectively, I can’t say, but the roommate is annoyed.
Li
Yeah, it’s hard to say how reasonable Jennifer is being — it might also just be that their New Relationship Energy + her own depression is making her irritable over only a couple of incidents — but she is definitely annoyed about it.
On the other hand, I think the last few panels of this comic are a few things coming to a head at once:
– Lucy might not know that it’s specifically the “nonstop boning” that’s irritating Jennifer, but she has definitely picked up on the fact that Jennifer doesn’t like being around her (right now? anymore? who can say what Lucy’s perception is), so she’s surprised by the invite.
– Jennifer wants Alice to see her having friends and being happy
– POSSIBLY: Jennifer’s irritation over the Lucy/Jacob fluff parade was so much the product of her own depression that Alice being willing to be her friend(?) again has boosted Jennifer’s mood so much that… she actually does NOT currently find the prospect of hanging out with Lucy grating, so she’s making this invite sincerely
Only time will tell. 🙂
Li
makes another comment, immediately decides that the third bullet isn’t just possible, but MORE likely than the second bullet
(Jennifer doesn’t look nervous in the fourth panel to me, the way I think she’d look if Lucy’s confusion threatened a “Make Sure Alice Continues to Think I Have Friends” ploy. She just looks blank, like she has completely forgotten her own persistent irritation with Lucy and doesn’t understand why Lucy is surprised to be invited.)
Suet
Alice will have to pick up soon on the reason why she’s “pretty formal”
What is this “Eatery” and why do I have to Read it
anon
just gotta have walky walk by and put his foot in his mouth , but i guess it would be weird to hear an ex best friend going by a ‘formal ‘first name if they usually go by like their middle name or nickname
Rose by Any other Name
Lucy: “Am I supposed to politely decline?”
Jennifer: “Yes. Obviously.”
Dean
No, no, Jennifer is trying to show Alice that there are people in her life that choose to endure her presence.
anon
i don’t think lucy dislikes billiefer at this moment but prolly not as eager to have lunch with her as she would’ve been at teh start
jeffepp
Well, We get to see Alice, at least. I little. Behind a text bubble.
Jeff K!
Like Mike Wazowski!
3oranges
We can have little a Alice, as a treat
Opus the Poet
I’m going to say she’s quite a treat! I prefer her to Billiefer by a long ways. Face and figure.
M!a
And not even wearing her high school colors for a 45th straight day. She’s clearly trying to cultivate something. But new images are hard to maintain for long. Especially when they’re forced.
Leorale
The Golden Dragons were yellow with blue, right? She’s wearing purple with orange, the opposite colors on the wheel. Definitely on purpose from Willis.
Sirksome
I would get extreme joy out of these three enjoying a meal together as humans who enjoy social interactions for the sake of it while Raidah is forced to watch and punch air forever alone…..Well I guess she has Carl. Is Carl cool? Does Raidah even enjoy him or is he another transactional associate? I know next to nothing about dude.
Effie
Nobody knows anything about Carl.
Carl doesn’t know anything about Carl.
V
Very good. These three girls and Lucy’s very handsome boyfriend. Let’s hope Sarah can meet them there with her very handsome, connected boyfriend too.
Deanatay
Not sure Raidah has the headspace to fume over Billie and Alice, as it’s occupied with fuming over SaraTonyN.
That said, I wouldn’t mind a few filler comics with just Raidah fuming.
thejeff
Though the potential for Jennifer introducing Alice to her other new friend Raidah and then Lucy dragging Jacob over to join them is entertaining.
Astariel
Pretty sure Raidah doesn’t have anything but transactional associates.
Sirksome
It’s weird because I can believe Raidah had a legitimate friendship with Dana based on her bitterness at Sarah for reporting her and getting her pulled from school. Carl was Dana’s former boyfriend so I could assume he has an emotional connection to Raidah. They could be real friends, but I really know nothing about him.
IntangibleMatter
Did Jennifer…
a) get replaced by aliens
b) get replaced by a robot Carla made
c) get three years of therapy in one night
d) actually clean up her act and become nice
Place your bets now!
Thag Simmons
She’s trying very hard to be the best version of herself for Alice
We’ll see how long she can keep it up
V
I suspect she would just like to be seen with Lucy’s tall and handsome boyfriend. But perhaps she is trying to be the person she thinks Alice wants her to be.
Nymph
I’m not sure what makes you think she’s trying to be seen with Jacob. She’s telling Lucy that if she tags along for food she can also use it as an excuse to see her boyfriend.
You have some interesting reads on these situations.