I stand in line at food service, waiting to buy a cookie. I wait, and wait, and wait. The line never seems to move and my patience begins to run out. Before I know it, all the other card lines around me have disappeared, but I am still stuck waiting at the back of the cash line.

Having one cash line at food service is not only irritating, but inefficient for students who want to pay with cash. Whenever I find myself in food service, hoping to grab a quick snack, I am slapped in the face with the sight of the cash line. It never fails to stretch from the register, deep into the tables at Piper’s Cafe. I end up spending half of my lunch period standing in line, waiting to buy food.

After being at school for five hours and spending four and a half of those hours sitting in a desk learning, the last thing I want to do is have to spend over half of my lunch period standing in line for food. When lunch comes around, I am practically starving and the twenty minute wait at food service feels like an eternity. Not only that, but watching the other card lines around me dissolve within minutes is torture.

The long cash line at food service limits the productivity of my lunch period. Because I have to wait twenty minutes to get my food, I am left with ten minutes to quickly scarf it down, and ten minutes to get to class. Buying food at food service makes it almost impossible to go to the library to get homework done or have enough time to go to a teacher and ask for help on class material. At the same time, it is hard to be able to relax and take a break with my friends during my lunch period when a large chunk of it is spent in line at food service.

I understand that Piper’s Cafe is trying to discourage the use of cash by only having one cash line, but I do not have a choice. My mother refuses to put money on my card to pay for the food at food service, insisting that the prices are ridiculous for a high school. I also do not have a credit or debit card, meaning that my only option for buying food at food service is to use my own money and to pay with cash. So why am I being punished for my independence? There is no way for me to ever be able to use a card at food service, and therefore I am forced to stand in the never ending cash line.

This one-cash-line system is not only costing me my lunch time, but it is also costing Piper Cafe many of its cash-using student customers. Whenever I go to food service with a friend, half the time we end up turning around and leaving without buying anything because of the line. The cash line is an eyesore and personally, I am tired of looking at it. I doubly hate waiting in it.

Adding a second cash line in food service would be a simple fix to an ongoing problem. It will shorten the wait time for cash students and will allow them to better enjoy their lunch period. Another cash line will also encourage more cash-using students to come to food service by removing the long line that is associated with paying with cash. It will also make it easier for volunteers at Piper’s Cafe to work in the cash line by making the cash line easier to work. By adding another cash line, volunteers will not have to rush as much to accommodate all of the cash-using students.

Piper’s Cafe needs to be aware of student needs, and what I need is to not have to spend twenty minutes to buy a cookie. I am hungry, and the least they can do is open another cash line.