Lunch lines at North have become increasingly longer and many students are not happy about it. The cause of these excruciating lines is courtesy of ID checks that were initially put in place to ensure students are each getting a single lunch. However, this positive intention has blossomed into a situation that is quickly becoming not so positive.  

There have been times in the past when students were getting in line multiple times at lunch and going back for seconds and possibly even thirds. This caused problems because each student is only supposed to get one lunch each day. To try and fix this problem, student IDs started to be checked to ensure they know who is getting lunch each time someone is in line. 

When the time eventually came when students’ IDs were being checked and scanned after they got in line to get food, the lines started to get much slower and took up nearly ten minutes of the lunch period. Since lunch is only thirty five minutes long, the amount it takes to get in line and actually get food takes up nearly one third of the period. The lunch lines have become much longer and slower because of the time it takes to scan IDs. 

“I feel like people don’t bring their IDs which means it takes longer, I don’t know why they added that. It just doesn’t make sense,” freshman Olyvia Romero shares. 

Despite its positive intentions, many students don’t view the change as positive. Due to the longer wait time, students are left with shorter time during the lunch period to actually take a break from their long day and refuel. There have been mixed reactions to this new change, with many students saying they do not like how long the lunch lines are, however, some are glad IDs are being checked because it has made them feel like they are guaranteed to get lunch if they wanted to. 

When asked about why she thinks the new ID rule was put in place, freshman Xaily Ramos says,“I feel like it’s so that they know what kids already got food.” The then shares that she “sort of” thinks that the ID implementation was a good idea. 

Lunchtime in the arcade has become a bit chaotic because of the extended lines and slow movement. Although cutting has already been an issue during lunch, it has gotten worse because of the slow lines and people just trying to get a better place in line so they can quickly get their food. So now with one supposed-good change, there is an increase in an already negative problem. 

It is hard to tell which option would truly be most beneficial to students; check IDs but have longer, slower lines, or don’t check them but have many people getting back in line to get more lunches. In the end, North decided to check IDs and stick with the long waiting time and slower lines. This decision impacted many if not all students, so hopefully it was the right call, only time will tell.