By: Damian Pena
The floor is littered with napkins and wrappers. The chairs are strewn around. There is chewed up food on the table, and there are pools of water everywhere you go.
This depicted scene is a reality for all who walk into LREI’s cafeteria after a lunch period, and is a problem that the student body, faculty and administration have been trying to handle for a number of years now.
Junior Shay Embler says she sees the mess a lot and remembers when this problem was tackled in previous years. “It’s been the same messy hallway and the same messy cafeteria for a while now. Nothing has really changed,” she says. Previously, the school has tried to correct this by threatening to take away outside lunch privileges, but to no avail. “The students just kind of acted like they didn’t care,” she continues. “They ignored the threats, and in the end nothing happened.”
Wilder Cosaboom-Son, a junior, feels he’s always cleaning up after people and feels very strongly about it. “Really, it’s a pretty serious problem that just shouldn’t be happening,” he says. “We’re in high school. We all should be able to eat like civilized people and not make a mess and clean up after ourselves.” Instead, however, people like Wilder end up having to clean up after others, so as not to leave a big mess for maintenance.
“It’s very upsetting, and it’s not fair at all that I end up doing this.” Cosaboom-Son continues, “It’s not fair for maintenance either. It’s not their job to be cleaning up after the students.”
It’s not only the students who feel strongly about this. Vice Principal Sarvjit Moonga thinks it’s about more than just a messy cafeteria. “I always think of values and ethics, and how is it that somebody who eats cannot take their plate and cutlery back,” he says. “It does offend me.”
As for what he would like to see done, Cosaboom-Son says, “I would definitely like to see enforcement on behalf of the administration.” He remembers the lunch threats made before, and thinks that’s a good idea. “What would also be great,” he adds, “would be if the student body helped and took a stand. Call people out if you see them leaving a big mess behind, because this just isn’t right, you know.”
When I asked some of the community leaders about what is being/what should be done with regards to the messy cafeteria, I received a variety of answers. Moonga spoke of having discussions and pulling people aside, saying, “We talk about it with Ann and the student government…we sometimes look at tables…and call people back.” Student body President Loveday Trumbull, however, had something else in mind. “People are going to start losing break privileges if we notice that they’ve been leaving their stuff, and usually it’s the same people,” she says.
After years of seeing this mess in their school, the vibes given off by the student body surrounding this issue are generally negative. People don’t want to work or be in a dirty environment; they are sick of it, yet the majority of the students don’t do anything to take action. Nevertheless, all hope is not lost. People like Trumbull, Cosaboom-Son, Moonga, and the faculty try their best to do what they can and spread awareness. If everybody took heed and took 30 seconds out of their day to do their share, then we might just be able to eradicate this problem from LREI.
Image: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjtxeKDm4rYAhWQkeAKHeBlDYEQjBwIBA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcf.foodista.com%2Fcontent%2Ffp%2Fawwd8pi8ekxjvusw.jpg&psig=AOvVaw2xDJa8TTHp6kt5Og-2uk4v&ust=1513365241691035