a facebook discussion on ways of avoiding massachusetts tax liabilities reminded me that i once considered applying to dunster as a non-res tutor. dunster was the choice because i already knew a number of upperclassmen through vaughn, and the departing tutor who had given me the tip-off was from english, so the replacement would have been seen to maintain any tutor academic field spread the selection committee might have wished to preserve. of course, being non-res i wouldn’t have been able to avail myself of the tax exemption we were discussing, but what i had wished to avail myself of was dining privileges at dunster.it sounds improbably pathetic to say that one longed for hall food, but as at the time i was compelled to take my meals at dudley house on the point system, being able to eat in the undergraduate houses instead was a privilege devoutly to be wished for. as a grad student i technically had no interhouse privileges except when dudley was closed for official holidays, and i could not of course always be accommodated on the limited guest meals of undergraduate friends. so eating at the various dining halls was always a tricksy operation involving some shimmying and smuggling. my first boston winter i would get unhappy and be unable eat and in those days one of the few things i could consistently eat was egg salad. he would go and smuggle boiled eggs out of the dining hall and concoct his own — large chunks of egg, always heavy on pepper, and low on mayo. to this day i still associate egg salad sandwiches with the feeling of dull panic.
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