By Danielle Amster, Darren Chang, Stephanie Guevara, Anna Gutowska, Nancy Jiang, Pascal Marcktell
Following years of seniors ordering takeout from all over Flushing, this year’s seniors have been told during senior meeting to avoid ordering food to the school building. All seniors are now being asked to meet delivery people outside of the building and eat their food outside or in the cafeteria.
In the past, seniors had the “unspoken” privilege of ordering delivery and eating wherever they felt was convenient. While there were no said allowances for this in the past, there were also no rules explicitly against it until this school year. Seniors are now expected to either eat out or bring their food to the cafeteria or courtyard to be consumed. Dean Robin Figelman said, “because of… the craziness that happened last year, the food ordering got out of control. We’ve mentioned it to the principal that the kids were ordering food and having it delivered to the school, and he preferred that the seniors, who have the opportunity to leave the building, should leave the building, go get their food, and bring it back in.”
Ms. Figelman also mentioned the inconvenience it brought to the custodial staff and security guards, “I think [the new policy is] working much better, and I even think the custodial staff is happy about this because there are lots of rodents in the building, and it’s because of all the food on this floor.”
When security guard Gregory Richardson was asked how he felt about the new policy, he explained that it was reasonable because students would often forget to pick up their food. He stated that this was an issue because “we [security guards] are already instructed by the administration not to hold onto anything.” If food was ordered into the building and never picked up, it had to be sent back to the restaurant it came from, prompting more and more waste each day.
Safety concerns were also raised with the change in policy, senior advisor Maria Assante said. “Ordering from outside becomes an issue because now you have delivery people coming to the building. So now you have a lot more people who don’t belong here, coming here. We’ve got delivery people walking in and out. Anybody could be walking around with a plastic bag, is it a delivery person, or somebody who’s up to no good. How do we know?”
Senior Elana Muradov disagrees, “I think it’s more dangerous if we have to meet people outside the building to pick up our food. It’s just easier and safer to have delivery people come to the school.” Junior Supriya Singh agrees, “What’s the harm in getting your food in the lobby?” There are evidently students who support both sides of this cause, but the new rules don’t affect some seniors as much as they do others. Senior Thanaree Darncharnjitt explained that she didn’t mind the changes. “I mean, when delivery phone calls are all said and done, food will still be brought back into the building to be eaten,” she said.
