By Emerald Green
If you have dedicated your educational career to one lunch table, it can be difficult to see how other lunch tables compare. This lunch-time epidemic is not a problem for seniors with only four classes who are released before the chaos starts. As for the rest of you shackled to the school and your stomachs, the lunchtime table struggle is real whether your table is stolen or mysteriously vanishes out of thin air.
The air conditioner in the cafeteria creates the perfect temperature all year-long for the few who are quick and lucky enough to snag a seat that first day of school, but the cafeteria is hastily polluted by hungry and lawless animals prepared to kill anyone and anything blocking their paths.
When tensions rise as the temperature does, people get antsy. The middle of a massive food fight may not be the place you want to be when the cafeteria is locked down, and the people on the inside are either suspended, arrested, or pelted with food. The lunchroom becomes complete anarchy, and the risk of having your chair stolen out from under you is a constant threat throughout the year during a period intended for safe food consumption.
For those unable to sit inside the cafeteria, there is hope. The courtyard still holds the front row seats for performances, student council activities, guest appearances from After Romeo and anti-vaping campaigns. It is also THE place for trendy restaurants like Cane’s, Bell’s BBQ, Jamba Juice, and U-Swirl to reach their teenage demographic.
Sitting outside can be very pleasant when the weather is, but the courtyard leaves students exposed to the elements during the freezing temperatures of winter, the blistering sun of summer, and the irregular mood swings of mother nature. Don’t forget that umbrellas are only used on rare occasions.
When the cafeteria is full, it’s raining outside, or you just want some alone time, some students [and teachers] enjoy the peace and quiet of the inside of a classroom or the library (besides the constant hustling and bustling English classrooms of Ms. Jorgensen, Mrs. Thompson, and Mr. Miles of the 200s hallway) to ask questions of their teachers, get tons of work done, or just have time for themselves. If you enjoy noise and people more than your own thoughts, then classrooms may not be the place for you.
The best solution is to not limit yourself and experiment with these different environments to see which is the most enjoyable for you. After all, high schoolers will have a total of approximately 720 lunches, so make the most of them and choose wisely.
