Mom Pays Off Every Student's Balance Following Son's Denial of School Lunch

[tavernier]

128. I have to speak up for the lunch ladies in our town

since my daughter runs the department at the grade school level and I help out serving at the high school. This is outrageous and unacceptable. We all take pride in seeing that all the kids are properly fed, and none are humiliated or embarrassed in front of their peers. I think this holds true for most of the servers in the country: all the ladies I know carry their own change to make up for kids who run into problems.

Yes, some parents are chronically tardy in replenishing the coffers, and this rarely has to do with income but more often with bad habits. There is protocol to cover this... a call or letter to the offending parent. But never is the child deprived of meal. And yes, there are the kids who ask for double portions and wolf them down before reaching the cash register, but this is a game some of the senior pranksters like to play: Will I get caught? (You would not believe the creative things they do with a dozen plastic lunch trays and packets of plastic utensils tucked under their shirts... Everything from gladiator fights in the corner of the cafeteria to a six piece plastic rock band). But hey, we were all kids at one time and as long as it is kept to a minimum, we laugh along.

But NO child is refused a meal, and NO child is ever embarrassed for not having the price of one.