The red light continues to stay red as the first bell rings, signaling that I am now late for class. The 45 minutes we are given for lunch is manageable on most days, but some restaurants don’t understand that students don’t have all the time in the world to wait for too expensive food.

  In order for a restaurant to be popular with high schoolers it needs to have three things: fast service, cheap prices and a close location. In a perfect world, restaurants would have all three, but I will settle for two out of three. 

  If the service is really fast and the food is cheap, the restaurant can be more out of the way, and students will still go to it, unless the food is horrible.

  If the service is slow and cheap, it had better be super close to the school because no one has time to drive across town, wait, eat and drive back without being late to class. 

  When a restaurant near the school is fast but more expensive, I will still go there, it will just be less often.

  Most restaurants that fall into these categories are chain fast food restaurants, but that doesn’t mean a local business can’t become a high school hot spot. 

  It just so happens that locally owned restaurants don’t seem to understand the life of a student. We only have a 45-minute lunch that includes driving there and back to school. I don’t have time for you to perfectly place lettuce on a sandwich, and frankly, I don’t care that much. 

  Because of the long wait time, unless someone I know who is not in school gets to the restaurant early and gets a table, it is very difficult to eat at places that want to have a more traditional mindset. 

  Another problem places in town don’t seem to understand is that we high schoolers are broke. Yes we might get money from our parents on occasion, but our minimum wage, part-time jobs cannot finance a $15 meal. There are several restaurants that have great food, but I can’t go because there is no way I can give half of my weekly budget away for one meal.

  While the buffet can be a fast and cheaper alternative to ordering a meal, you still end up paying $13 because the drink isn’t included. 

  I love to eat out with my friends, but if the prices are so high, I can rarely do it.