The cafeterias are a popular place at Menchville where students can eat lunch, talk to friends, listen to music, and just relax for a few minutes during the stressful school day; however, they, as well as the cafeteria staff, are extremely mistreated. Every day after the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch, students hurry to their classes without throwing away the trash from their lunches. Plastic lunch trays, milk cartons, wrappers, and other pieces of garbage are left piled up in the center of the tables. This is not only disgusting and unsanitary, but it forces the lunch ladies, who already work hard enough, to clean up after all of the students. It is extremely irresponsible and lazy of the students to create more work for the Menchville staff. If high school students are responsible enough to drive and begin planning their futures, they should have no problem walking to the trash can to dispose of their lunches. It is rude to force the lunch ladies to do extra tasks that students are perfectly capable of completing on their own.

In addition to leaving garbage on the tables, students also throw it places other than the garbage can. From what I’ve witnessed while at Menchville, garbage is thrown on the floor, and some students even throw their trash at their friends and the lunch tables of other students. For example, while enjoying a peaceful lunch with my friends a few days ago, a roll of bread was tossed at our lunch table. This is extremely childish and immature behavior that is unacceptable in a high school cafeteria. No student enjoys having trash thrown at him or her, and it only results in a larger mess that the cafeteria staff is forced to clean up.

Students should be prohibited from exiting the cafeteria until they have cleaned up after themselves; however, I know that being high school students, only a limited few would choose to obey that rule. The Menchville staff does not have the extra time in their busy schedule to enforce a rule about throwing away trash in the cafeterias. Even so, however, some action is necessary. Students, if you are done with your lunch, be respectful and responsible and throw it away into the nearest trash can.