My School Lunch Memories
Most of my memories of school lunch come from elementary school as that was the last time I really ate lunch at school everyday. At Three Forks Elementary, the menu consisted of anything and everything on a bun. We had chicken patty on a bun, pork chop on a bun, ribs on a bun. I guess the school assumed that kids would be more likely to eat something if it came in the shape of a hamburger.
Although the food at school lunch was decent, it was a sign of coolness to bring cold lunch. Both of my close friends’ mothers packed them nice lunches everyday. Mom-made lunches always had lots of choices and a really great dessert which separated their lunches from the lunches I made myself which usually consisted of a peanut butter sandwich and whatever else I could scrounge up to make it look interesting. Perhaps more important than what was in your lunch box was what your lunch box looked like. The only acceptable lunchbox was a soft plastic coated cloth one in either turquoise or purple. Sadly I had to throw away my hard, square Barbie lunch box and replace it with the standard turquoise cool-making lunch box.
The most anticipated part of school lunch was sixth grade when anyone could order a chef salad on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I never got to enjoy the luxury of ham and iceberg lettuce because we moved from Three Forks when I was in fifth grade, but I will always remember the anticipation of my turn for the salad bowl.
After elementary school there really wasn’t much excitement about lunch. In Sidney, the salad bar was a novelty for a few weeks, but soon the excitement dwindled. Our school also served chili and cinnamon rolls every Friday as a way to compensate for the rest of the weeks dreary lunches. However, as the years progressed, a person’s status was less based on what you ate in the school cafeteria but on the fact that you never stepped foot in the cafeteria at all. A girl in my class exclaimed, “I didn’t know people even at school lunch anymore!” after finding out that one of her friends at school lunch everyday. While I have many more memories of school lunch, I can gladly say that I have eaten my last pork chop on a bun and bowl of chili.

(p.s. I did use the exclamation point knowing that it was wrong, but that’s just how the girl talks.)