I don’t know how many times I’ve looked up the menu at Lowry with high hopes for a delicious dinner. However, is it not unusual† for my optimism to come crashing down around me with yet another day of Gorky chicken, krabby patties and fried chicken chunks.† (Seriously ó fried chicken chunks are an actual menu item).† Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I sincerely do have a hankering for nothing more than a bowl of gluten-free mac and cheese or a handmade deli sandwich. However, I also believe the money allotted on our Flex dollars should be accepted at local restaurants as well as Lowry.† By incorporating other restaurants in our meal plan, students would have more variety and would feel less constrained by the options in Lowry, Kittridge, Mom’s,† MacLeod’s and Old Main.
As many students at Wooster may have come to realize, our meal options are slightly limited.† It doesn’t pose much of a problem during the daylight hours, as Lowry is open until 8 p.m. and McLeod’s is open until midnight, but it does get more challenging to find that food item you’re craving after 12 p.m.† Once it comes time to pull that all-nighter you’ve been dreading, just like you’ve been dreading catching the flu from the sick girl who sits next to you in biology, there’s only one option for your late-night food needs: Mom’s.
While Mom’s does prove to have delicious yet greasy food, it gets a little monotonous after spending four years here with essentially the same menu.† I personally believe that if Wooster’s local restaurants and fast-food chains allowed us to use our flex dollars at their establishments, students would be much happier with the meal plans.
At countless other schools there are a myriad of dining options, many of which allow students to use their equivalent of our Flex dollars or C.O.W. card money to buy food.† It seems like only the next logical step for Wooster to follow in these other schools’ footsteps.† So many of us, myself included, spend hundreds of dollars each semester going to Taco Bell or Panera Bread Co. because we simply can’t imagine having another dinner at Lowry, searching the different stands for 10 minutes wondering how we can turn that salad we eat every day into something new.
I seriously don’t know (and don’t want to know) how many times I’ve driven through Taco Bell at close to 1 a.m. because that penne pasta I had for dinner just wasn’t enough.† Because of this, I believe if we were given the option of spending our Flex dollars at places like Panera late night T-bell runs could definitely be cut down.† And even if we do still feel the need to brush the snow off our cars and make that five-minute trek to get a Frosty and some curly fries, the money we spend wouldn’t come directly out of our pockets.
Not only would this new concept benefit the stomachs of the students at Wooster, but it would also benefit the restaurants we visit.† Giving us the option to spend our Flex dollars at local chains would definitely increase revenue.† I know I would spend more time and money at Panera Bread if I had this choice.† It only seems rational for Wooster and the surrounding restaurants to collaborate and expand our dinning options.
The opportunity to travel off campus for lunch or dinner would lead students to feel happier about the meal plan we are given and would most likely cut down on all of the late-night travels to fast food drive-thrus.† Also, all of the businesses we would now visit with our newly designed C.O.W. cards would benefit greatly.† With all of these positive opportunities, it seems impossible to turn this idea down.
Lisa Hazelton is a contributor for the Voice. She can be reached for comment at LHazelton11@wooster.edu.