School had been off to a great start. I navigated my way through Eagles Nest like a pro (big sophomore on campus), went over to Heraldo to pay for my Chobani, and found my friends all sitting around a circular table. I eagerly opened my Chob and began to dig in, when I realized my friends were silently staring at me, and my little white container of glory.
“Alex, we have some bad news to tell you… the rumor on campus is that Chobani isn’t being sold at BC anymore… ever.”
Let me backtrack and explain. Chobani and I have a long and tumultuous history together. We met when I was a senior in high school and ever since then, we’ve been inseparable. Every day at lunchtime, I’d take out my vanilla Chob, mix in some granola and cereal, and I was a happy girl. It was convenient and unlike other yogurts, filled with protein that kept me full and energized the whole day (remember when I went to school from 8 am to 3 pm…?). Life was good.
A beautiful sight
I consider myself a creature of habit and when I really like a food, I want it all the time. So naturally, I was a little nervous about whether Chobani and I would meet again once I went to college. Thankfully, BC didn’t disappoint. I was, however, shocked to learn many of my new friends had never tried Chobani before coming to BC. Lucky enough for them, an expert (yours truly) was there to bring them up to speed on all that they were missing. Before long, I was happily Chobbing with my newly converted friends on a regular basis. It wasn’t only us, but it seemed that many girls at BC (and male athletes) were riding the Chobani train.
Everything was going great with Chobani and me. Then the Vanilla Chobani Shortage of April 2011 struck. I noticed that there had not been Vanilla Chob in any of the dining halls for a few days, and I was worried. Luckily, Easter vacation was close by and I looked forward to returning home where a fully-stocked fridge waited for me. When I came home, I was shocked and disturbed to find out from my mom that there was no Vanilla Chobani in the supermarket either. Dear God. The shortage had gone national. I even resorted to desperate tweets at Chobani (follow them at @Chobani) in a cry for help. Thankfully, the vanilla did, in fact, come back shortly after returning from break and it was, to this day, the most satisfying Chobani I’ve ever had.
Flash forward to Eagles Nest, last week. My friends’ concerned faces reflected back at me as the five stages of grief were hitting me in quick succession.
- Denial: “Guys, stop lying to me, that’s not even funny.”
- Anger: “Why on earth would someone take them away?! Dining Services, you are messing with the wrong girl!”
- Bargaining: “I am prepared and willing to sacrifice both of my arms for more Chobani.”
- Depression: “What reason is there to go on? I can’t live in a world of Activia and Stonyfield.”
Now, the next stage would be acceptance. Yet this was a reality I was not ready to accept quite yet, nor was the rest of the BC community. Everyone on campus had noticed Chobani’s absence and some seemed almost as panicked as I was. I had one friend who stocked her whole mini fridge in her dorm room with Chobani, to the point where it looked like it was straight out of an episode of Hoarders. While my obsession was borderline weird, many people were expressing a legitimate concern for Chobani’s future. Sophomore Marie McGrath explains, “When I heard the news, I was completely shocked. I’m a vegetarian, so Chobani is one of my only sources of protein.”
Chobani > everything else
As I sat down last Thursday to write Chobani’s formal eulogy here on Her Campus, I received a text message that changed everything. My roommate texted me a picture of an article in The Heights entitled, “Quality Issues Allayed, Chobani to Return Soon.” Apparently, some students had discovered mold in some unexpired Chobanis, so the Greek yogurts were removed until the problem was resolved. If this was the case, then of course I’m happy that Dining Services was addressing this issue, but seriously, did they have to give me a heart attack in the process?
Any doubts I had harbored about this glorious news were relieved first thing on Friday morning when my Twitter feed began blowing up with BC students rejoicing Chobani’s homecoming. All day I saw students breaking into their Chobanis, and it seemed once again all was right in the world; the Chobani Scare had ended. Now, I speak directly to you, Chobani. Break my heart like that again, and we’re done for good.
Photo Sources:
Remy Hassett
http://www.itsuxtobefat.com/reviews/chobani-greek-yogurt-review.html