Canteen Nightmares

By: Rebecca & Megan
9F Journalism

Chances are you’ve been there once or twice throughout the school year.  It’s just always there.  If you have a few spare coins, why not spend it on some chips and a sucker?  So what if you weren’t exactly polite?  You may think that “please” and “thank you” don’t matter to you, but you could have just ruined someone’s day.  “It takes a second or so just to smile or say thanks,” said by an unnamed former worker.  Even a simple shove in line can lead to violence.  Next time you think about being less then polite put yourself in the canteen workers shoes.

An unnamed source mentioned how aggravating it is when someone orders a sucker and they give you a 20 dollar bill.  Mrs. Johanson even admits that days can get fairly stressful at the canteen.  Especially on days where feature meals like taco salad are served.  Some people can get very vulgar when a silly thing happens, like the incorrect bag of chips.  In fact, there was a memorable incident where a student told a former canteen worker a few choice words.  Even though students are at blame most of the time, workers can be snappy sometimes.  Really, who can blame them?  Lines, pushing, budging, noise and many more things can make students aggravated, so why not workers?

Correcting bad manners isn’t as hard of a task as it seems.  Instead of, “three suckers” try, “three suckers, please.”  Contrary to popular belief, it won’t kill you to be polite. Next time you think about walking away after getting that chocolate milk, flash a smile and a quick thank you.   It won’t hurt, and it may keep canteen workers moods up so you get a friendlier lunch hour.  “I probably would have stayed at the canteen of people were a bit nicer,” another former worker commented.

In short, it’s a tough job but somebody is going to do it for us.  Mrs. Johanson steps up to the plate and delivers our lunch goodies with a team of dedicated people willing to give up lunch hours to serve us.  Next time you order something, keep smiling and being polite and you may get a smile back.