The Most Important Meal Of The Day: FlyBy Does Brain Break

Tonight’s squash assortment didn’t quite hit the spot? Boca burger suddenly lost its appeal? Lunch’s centerpiece doesn’t look as appealing six hours later? Brain break’s got you covered.

In this four-part series, FlyBy will dish out the details of each House’s brain break so that you know where to go when dinner’s 8-cut jerk chicken wasn’t you were looking for.

Round 1: Quincy vs. Lowell vs. Adams

Evaluation Day: Wednesday

Quincy: B

Brain Break Begins: 8:30 p.m.

Quincy boasts some delicacies. At 8:30 pm, cocoa rice krispies bars, pistachio muffins, bread, and bagels were abundant, as were high-quality cream cheese packets. HUDS bread rolls completed the spread. The standard coffee and drink machines were operational.

But much to our dismay, the cereal selection left much to be desired. Far from offering the colorful assortment of cereals that most brain breaks offer, Quincy’s only had two cereals in large bowls: Marshmallow Mateys and Hemp Plus Granola. Granted, there was plenty of both to go around, but for those who want cereal but weren’t into leprechaun-cauldron-shaped marshmallows, there was no recourse.

Lowell: A-

Brain Break Begins: 8:30 p.m.

Lowell’s Brain Break was unexciting but had all the basic foods down pat. By 8:40 pm, the special item—carrot cake—had been ravaged and reduced to one lonely square. The drink machines were fully functioning.

There’s not all that much to complain about with Lowell—they did their brain break and did it right. Some more special items would have been nice though.

Adams: C+

Brain Break Begins: 10:00 p.m.

Adam’s Brain Break is guarded as if it were a U.N. aid van in a disaster zone rather than a source for food in a college dorm. At 9:58 p.m. EST, six hungry Adams  residents lined up in front of a uniformed guard. And unless you can prove your Adams residency with a recently postmarked letter or a parking ticket (okay, we're kidding about the letters, but proof of residency in Adams is sometimes actually required), don’t expect the guard to budge, and don’t expect to be able to access those oh-so-tasty HUDS cereals.

Ultimately, we were able to attend what was an unremarkable Brain Break. Don’t get us wrong, the standard goods were all there: bagels, bread, chocolate chip cookies, and a full array of cereal. Some dubious but tasty eggplant was also available. But no matter what kind of food is available at Adams’ brain break, it doesn’t really matter if you can’t get in to eat it. Because unfounded and unreasonable exclusivity is never a positive, we're forced to give this par Brain Break a subpar score.

Winner of Round 1: Lowell

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: March 26, 2010

An earlier version of the Mar. 26 post "The Most Important Meal Of The Day: FlyBy Does Brain Break" incorrectly stated that Quincy's brain break offered Lucky Charms. In fact, the cereal's name is Marshmallow Mateys.