September News Article Rough Draft
September afternoons are usually calm, but last Friday the roads told a completely different story. Lunch time seems like it’s going to be fun when you’re a high school student with the freedom of having a car, music, and the sweet promise of fries. You might think having a car means you can easily cruise to McDonald’s for a $5 meal deal, but anyone who’s tried knows it’s basically a race against time and traffic.
Lunch begins daily at 11:15 a.m. at Leonia High School. Once the bell rings, the parking lot turns into a NASCAR event, engines revving, students honking, and everyone fighting to be the first out of the gate. You’d think we were escaping a zombie apocalypse, not just going for nuggets.
To get to McDonald’s, you have to go all the way down Grand Avenue, hit at least five red lights, and then circle the parking lot like a vulture looking for a spot. That alone can take ten minutes — if you’re lucky. Add traffic, slow drivers, and that one person who doesn’t know how to make a left turn, and you’ve already lost half your lunch period.
Genesis Paniagua, a junior at Leonia High School, said, “By the time we get our food, we’re basically inhaling it in the car. There’s no time to actually eat like a normal person.”
Some students try to save time with mobile orders, but even that doesn’t help much. You still have to drive there, find parking, run inside, grab your bag, and drive all the way back while praying you don’t hit every red light again. By the time you park back at school, the bell’s about to ring and your fries are cold.
Others blame the “flex” period, which often cuts into the lunch break. “Flex takes up like 20–25 minutes of lunch,” one student complained. “By the time you finish that, there’s no point in even leaving.”
In the end, the dream of an off-campus lunch feels more like a survival challenge. Maybe next time, students will stick to the cafeteria or at least pack a sandwich. Because one thing’s for sure: traffic in Leonia doesn’t care that lunch ends at 12:03pm.
