Estelle Rose
The senior lounge
The senior lounge is supposed to be a privilege we get as seniors, but right now, it is starting to feel more like a cafeteria and less like our space. There are stains on the couches, crumbs everywhere, and a weird smell that never goes away. It is obviously coming from people eating in there, even though everyone knows we are not supposed to.
The senior lounge is the place where people chill in between classes, relax after tests, eat snacks during free bells, and talk to friends. It is supposed to be a comfortable space, but people are starting to avoid it because of the food mess and the smell that keeps getting worse.
People eat full meals in there on the couches, and they know they are not supposed to, but they just do it anyway. It’s not an accident. They aren’t confused about the rules. They just don’t care. During an interview, senior Calvin admitted he eats in the lounge even though he knows it is against the rules. When I asked him what kind of food he brings, he said, “Usually tuna fish sandwiches, sardines, egg salad sandwiches, sometimes old Caesar salads. Bubbakoos is my staple.” He also said he knows the food smell bothers people, but he does not care. That is exactly the problem. People would rather be comfortable themselves instead of thinking about everyone else who has to sit in that smell.
Before we even got the lounge this year, the senior senators actually did a lot of work to get it ready. Senior senator Davion Washington told me, “The first thing we did was clean the couches. We had to rent a steamer from Kroger. Then we painted the walls and bought whiteboards, markers, paint rollers, and everything.” They did not have to do that. They used their own time and even their own money to make the lounge nice for the whole class. So it is honestly disrespectful that people are already making it gross again.
Washington also said he is not against all food in the lounge, but there should be limits. “I am okay with snacks but not major foods like Chipotle or Chick-fil-A,” he said. He explained that big meals and sauces are exactly why the couches were disgusting in past years. He also said the lounge sometimes stinks because people leave food behind and do not clean up. It should not be this hard to throw stuff away or wipe something up when you spill.
Some people try to say this is not a real problem and that people are being dramatic. But if it was not a problem, then why does the room already look worse than it did at the start of the year? Why does it smell like takeout every day? Why do some people avoid sitting on the couches now? The truth is, the lounge is only getting worse because nobody wants to clean up after themselves. It is lazy and selfish.
Fixing it is actually not hard. We do not need new rules or a huge argument about it. People just need to stop acting like children and take responsibility for their messes. Here is how we fix it: 1. No full meals on the couches 2. Use the outside table if you bring a full meal (as it gets colder, it’s fine to eat inside) 3. Please clean up after yourself 4. Remember, the senators put a lot of work into the lounge to make it nice for us. Let’s keep it that way.
We waited three years to get the senior lounge. Let’s not ruin it one quarter in. If people keep eating how they want and leaving messes, then we are going to lose the one space in the school that is supposed to be ours. If we actually care about the lounge, then people need to prove it. Otherwise, we should not complain later when it’s nasty and unusable.