Carr Haus

So many places had changed and a few hadn't at all, some grew up and out from their original places while others relocated entirely. The RISD Museum tumbled down the hillside from its originaI entrance through interconnected hallways and elevators. I was blown away by the RISD Library. It was stunning, housed in an enormous old bank building, the shell of the interior remains Renaissance Revival, while its center is a modern design with Japanese influence. 


I remembered our original small library and the clippings file on the second floor. The clippings file was stocked with manilla folders full of images torn from magazines and arranged alphabetically. It was where we turned when we needed a reference for things like how to draw an elephant or an airplane or a horse mid-jump. I was surprised to learn that in these days of Google Images the clippings file still exists.


When I saw Carr Haus, it looked exactly the same as it did twenty years ago. Carr Haus was the beloved student run coffee shop. It was beloved because no matter how broke you were, you could still afford to eat there. Ingredients were sold by the piece, a bagel or a slice of turkey was 25 cents a piece, lettuce and mayonaise and mustard were free. In hard times, if you could scrape up 25 cents to buy a bagel, you could make yourself a lettuce sandwich.


I was so excited to see Carr Haus again. As I walked toward the old building, I wondered why we didn't have more coffee shops in those days, then I remembered that we also didn't have laptops. I scrambled up the steps, I couldn't wait to get inside, I wondered if they still had those brownies with chocolate chips that I could never afford, and I wanted to see if lettuce was still free. I pushed open the door, heart racing and...LOCKED. There was a keypad on the door and I didn't know the password. Ten years of student loan payments and I can't get into Carr Haus to see if lettuce is still free? 


I miss the days before there was so much security, back when things felt more safe.