Helloooooo Cornell!!!!! Welcome to Local Yarns Version 2.0! I’m your host, Julia Woodward, straight out of teeny-tiny Trumansburg, N.Y. (you may know my town from its infamous bar — The Rongovian Embassy, i.e. The Rongo), a few minutes outside of our own lovely and temperate Ithaca. Today’s show will feature local (no, really?) James Williams, the ‘Quesadilla Man,’ who lives on Drury Lane.

Okay, so he doesn’t really live on Drury Lane, and I will of course fire my fact-checker straight away, but James Williams is nevertheless the gumdrop buttons in many a Cornellians long, tedious, class-filled, exam-packed day. He is, for those of you who have not yet put two and two together (this is only Cornell after all — we don’t do a lot of thinking here), the man who makes the quesadillas at Trillium. But more than that, he is a genuinely friendly and kind guy. Who hasn’t had their day made by James offering you a “delicious lunch,” telling you how happy he would be to make a steak fajita quesadilla for “you lovely ladies” or remembering that you always order black bean (which incidentally, is what I always order)?

Williams’ reaction to my request to interview him provides a testament to his happy and humble personality. He replied with a shy “I suppose so” and a large grin — rather reminiscent of a kid in a candy store actually, a shy kid who’s really excited but doesn’t want to say so and hides grinning behind his mother … you know the one I mean. Even his reaction made me happy. He later told me that he was honored I wanted to interview him for the column — please note James, I was honored to interview you.

James Williams grew up in and around Cortland and Dryden, N.Y. — home to Doug’s Fish Fry and Greek Peak, respectively. If you’ve never been to Doug’s, please go and order the french fries, which are to die for (almost as good as James’ quesadillas). And if you’ve never been to Greek Peak … pick a better mountain to start on, eh?

But I digress. Williams spent several years working as day manager at the Heights Café, but jumped at the opportunity to come to Cornell. At first he was looking for part-time employment only and worked at Martha’s in maze-like MVR (seriously, does any one really know their way around that building?). But when they offered him a full-time position at Trillium, he gladly accepted. He says he likes working at Trillium better because there are more people to meet.

“I’ve met a diverse bunch of people,” he says, “I met all the hockey players — they gave me free tickets, which was a bonus … they’re good guys.”

Furthermore, Williams says he loves working at Trillium because “everybody’s like a big family,” and he loves making people laugh. When I asked him if anyone he had met stood out in his mind he replied that no, everyone is different and unique and equally exciting to meet.

“Everybody’s like a VIP here. Usually, when you go out to eat, people are grumpy, which is what everyone’s trying to get away from. I don’t like that. If I can make somebody’s day, it makes me happy.” Certainly this is a remarkable sentiment, one that the world could use more of, and let me say, for one, that James Williams has made my day many a time. (It’s why I wanted to interview him in the first place.)

Lynette Tsai ’10, had some good things to say about Williams, and some sad insight to offer.

“He’s always really charming, but I think he treats us better than we treat him. Maybe you don’t want to print that, but I think it’s true.” Hey kids, aren’t you supposed to be doing unto others as you would have them do unto you? Williams himself echoed this opinion in our interview.

Currently, Williams lives in Watkins Glen, another small town on the outskirts of I-town (please take note: my high school tennis team always beat Watkins Glen). His wife works at Cornell as well, in facilities for High Rise 5 and his nine-year-old stepdaughter attends Watkins Elementary. Williams says he is very happy with his job — more than happy in fact.

“I like everything about my job,” he says, although the customers are apparently his favorite part.

Finally, he offers a bit of career advice, “You gotta find something you like to do” — a lesson which I think we can all take something from.

So take a break from the library, Cornellians (of course, I am hypocritically sitting in Uris right now), go get a delicious quesadilla and make sure to tell James to have a good day, because no mistake about it — he will say the same to you.