Lunch

This is my teenager's first year of public school. She spent the first 10 years of her education in private schools. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Private school! Must have been nice." Well, it wasn't all nice. Yes, there were the uniforms and the great academic opportunities. There were some sports programs and small classrooms. But what was missing all those years was "school lunches."

For the first few years of her educational experience, she took her lunch to school. It could be a sandwich or any other normal cold, sack lunch, OR it could be "heat up" food. Aka, something that could be cooked in a microwave. The only problem was too many students and not enough microwaves. So most of the time my teenager chose foods that did not require heating. One year, the main snack was Funyuns. Everyday, no matter what else was in the proverbial lunch box, there was always a bag of Funyuns. Later on, the school did begin to serve actual lunches that were provided by private caterers and was, for the most part, really good food.

Fast forward to 10th grade and first year of public school with a high school attendance of about 800 as compared to a classroom of FIVE. Big shock to the system. The hardest adjustment was sort of unexpected. The lunchroom. Her entire public school career included daily lunch of cookies or vending machine food. The lunch line, evidently, was intimidating!

Today, my teenager gets in the car and says, sort of nonchalantly, "I ate the school lunch today." Well, when I picked my chin up off the seat of the car, I asked her where she got the courage and what did they serve and was it any good? Turns out, she has actually gone through the lunch line with some of her friends, she just didn't eat any of it. On the menu today, spaghetti. As to the quality, "It was OK, but the bread was REALLY good." As to future school lunches, the jury is still out.