It's Bagel Time!

Hey guys! So last weekend I went to visit my boyfriend at WPI and on Sundays him and his friends go to this place called Bagel Time right by the school. The boys set up a ritual of going every Sunday since school started and their excitement and my experience tagging along made me want to write about the joint and the overall ritual. I decided to write from my boyfriend's perspective for this post.. here it is!

It was bagel time. Well.. to be precise, it was time for “Bagel Time.” Bagel Time: the cramped, yet homey bagel joint located a lucky 4 minute walk from my dorm room at WPI. Newton, Jake, Gabe and I’s ritual Sunday morning whereabouts from approximately ten to eleven a.m.. I look forward to reading the colorful chalk written menu every time, even though I already know what I want. I look forward to waiting in the long line positioned a bit too close to the drink fridge and having to move for someone to grab their OJ.

That and the scallion bacon cream cheese that still hasn’t gotten old, and that I don’t think ever will. Other visits, I look forward to the one of a kind Good Morning bagel: bacon, egg, and cheese with avocado, and yes, cream cheese too. They had bagel joints back home, but these bagels are 100% vegan, choices ranging from plain,everything, and cinnamon raisin, to blueberry, asiago, spinach garlic, and even cheddar jalapeño -- made fresh daily.

Or the best thing to watch: Gabe tripping over his chair (knocked down after hearing them call his order). Or the other best: celebrating with my pals at the sight of an empty table. This place is so packed on Sunday mornings they might need to invest in a conveyer belt. The bagels are propped onto the counter and ready according to the order they were told to the cashier, but you have to be careful, for once a few orders are in, a small crowd anxious for the dishing out of their bagels forms around the counter. A crowd consisting of hungry stomachs and hawk eyes ready to pounce at the sight of their orders. The crowd forms rightly so, you have to make sure no one takes your order or you’ll end up like Newton did that one time: bagel-less for another 20 min. In some ways it's like the Sahara. Lions watching their prey, some even looking to snatch a free bagel and save it for lunch. Or if you're like me, you’ll simply order two and indulge later to avoid yet another cafeteria lunch meal.

I look forward to the hustle and bustle of parents picking up breakfast to bring home, college kids looking to recover from their Saturday night hangovers, the couples in their 20's choosing the best way to enjoy each others time, oh and the local construction workers and handy men. This place is a melting pot and I … oh sorry gotta go, they just called my bagel “good morning on asiago no avocado.” …. “everything, maple cream cheese” ........ Sorry about that. I’m back now, and might I add my stomach is very much satisfied with this morning's breakfast as it always is. Time to walk past the the usual, the electronic billboard ….“home,” “business,” oh and then a random bright green “frog!” We all shout.. [laughter]. The frog pops up with it's long tongue out which delivers the temperature and local time to the cars driving past, or the bagel time crowd walking past. My friends and I first noticed it a couple of Sunday's back and ever since it's been an inside joke. Opps! Time to cross the street…… and now past the gas station and back to campus. Until next time — i'll be dreaming of my Good Morning bagel that i'll have again six days from now. Until then… R.I.P. stomach… it’s time for cafeteria food. Well, after my lunch time bagel that is. [Pouts. Closes notes app and locks iPhone. Thinks about how these are some of the memories he’ll remember most fifteen years from now.. Sunday mornings with good 'ol Mr. Bagel Time.]