Written by: Khaloula
Edited by: Mehek
School hours are some of the most hunger-inducing times of day, and also play a significant role in the times students eat. With fixed schedules and limited time for breaks, students must often adhere to specific mealtime slots set by the school. Students without packed food get ready to buy from the ISM Kantina or Bearcat Cafe when the clock strikes 11:25 (or 11:35 a.m. on Wednesdays).
Take Kelly, a hypothetical ISM student, ready to buy some pesto pasta from the Kantina as her math teacher wraps up. After the long walk from the math hallway, however, the lines seem to be accommodating two classes worth of students. Finally, at 11:40 with 20 minutes of lunch left to spare, she gets to dig into her meal of choice. As she sits at her table, she notices that her friends who came from classes near the Kantina, are all close to finishing their food while she has only begun to reach for her fork in her bag. With the usual busy ISM student day, the usual 35 minutes she has to unwind and catch up with friends are nearly cut in half by long lunch lines, a hassle not only Kelly endures. Every day, long Kantina lunch lines suck up ISM students’ meal breaks, and they’re forced to share Kelly’s hassles. So, what can you do about it?
Usually, the time one waits in lunch lines depends on their proximity to the Kantina before the break periods. However, students can’t always control when their teachers dismiss them, so can’t always ensure a getaway from long lines. There are different variables that determine whether or not a student will spend their lunch time waiting in line apart from the proximity of their classroom to the Kantina.
One way this issue could be tackled would be to buy food before class starts and microwave it during lunch. However, this practice is not preferred by many students due to changing arrival times. For students attending club meetings during lunch, no other alternative is available except for a packed lunch or early bought food. Monica, a sophomore, does so she isn’t late to club meetings. Leo, a worker from the Kantina’s Japanese concessionaire Gokinjo, stated that 11:30 a.m. has the longest lines, and the moments before lunch have none, as the usual serving time of 3 minutes per person.
According to 9th grader Zoe, she lines up at 11:40 and usually spends 2 minutes in line at Jones Jr. or Corner Tree Cafe. 10th Grader Kenzo also lines up during the middle of lunch and spends 3-5 minutes waiting at Jones Jr. or Prego. He claims that there’s usually “nobody there” during that time frame, making it easier to buy food. This shows that the time chosen to line up does, in fact, control how long a student will be waiting.
But how about the Bearcat Cafe? Sophomore Bella shared that she’s usually dismissed early for lunch and gets to buy at the cafe without facing the hassle of waiting. However, the longest Bearcat Cafe line she’s had to endure took 10 minutes.
In the end, it truly does boil down to the times one lines up, and from what BT has observed, purchasing food during the middle of lunch usually guarantees the least waiting time. For people with club meetings, however, a packed or early-bought meal is the way to go. With a bit of knowledge, it’s easy to respond to this communally experienced inconvenience, and get to enjoy a proper lunch.
