When you have free time to get a snack during study hall or a blended period , your first intention is to go to the vending machine. You walk up to see there are only two bags of chips in the vending machine. You walk away empty handed with only a frown on your face because you did not get a snack.

With the vending machines not having many options, you want to blame the people who manage them. Lisa Prokuski, who serves the school lunch with the other cafeteria workers, manages the vending machine and is also disappointed about the lack of variety. 

“We think about having different items all the time, but with what’s going on with the world today, we barely get anything, we can barely get the normal chips or any Cheetos,” Prokuski said. “I ordered the Grandma cookies, and we did not get any and it’s because of the shipments; we can barely even get any regular food like the Big Daddy Pizza.” 

Senior Jennifer Lyons is dissatisfied when she goes up to the vending machines and feels like they should have more options for the food and drinks. Lyons also feels like there is no point of having vending machines. 

“The vending machines don’t work most of the time, and also they have no options. I would rather just get something at the lunch line,” Lyons said.

In addition to having no variety of food or drinks, the vending machines also do not operate correctly most of the time. The change does not come out or the item you bought gets stuck. You first want to blame the school for having machines that do not work most of the time, but it is not the school’s fault that the vending machines do not work. 

“If the vending machine doesn’t work, go get a campus supervisor or someone to help out. Also, the change will come out eventually but people can be impatient and walk away before the change comes out,” Prokuski said. “The reason the vending machine does not work most of the time is because students put tiny objects that should not go in the vending machines and that’s a problem.” 

“I’m not surprised students mess up everything that they have,” junior Maribel Hernidez said. “The whole problem with vending machines probably wouldn’t be so bad if they gave us decent food and the students would be fed.”

If they are not working during school hours, someone goes fix the vending machine. If the person fixing the machine can not fix it right away, they put up an ‘Out of Order’ sign. You probably never see the signs because they are always ripped off the machines, most likely the work of a student. 

The next time you go to a vending machine and you are disappointed with what you see, do not forget that we are in a time where it is hard to get certain foods. We need to keep in mind that the company that owns the vending machine is also having trouble with shipping food to the school. Instead of complaining that the vending machines are terrible, be patient and try to get something from the lunch line if possible.