THIS IS A STUDENT EDITORIAL AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINION OF THE LONGFELLOW ADMINISTRATION
NOTE FROM NEWSPAPER ADVISOR: This article was written before the new vending machine arrived. I believe, though it has not been confirmed, that by asking questions and following every avenue, the writing of this article led to the arrival of the new machine. The article was not published sooner as it was in the approval process. The original headline was: “20-Plus-Year-Old Vending Machines in Need of Replacing.”
There is nothing more frustrating than putting your money into a vending machine expecting a tasty snack and watching your snack dangle, attached to the mechanism, out of reach behind glass. This experience is all too common in Longfellow’s cafeteria.
Though the machines are popular, they are not doing their duty well. The snack’s often get caught on the spiral mechanism, suspended elusively, just out of reach. Many students have experienced losing their money this way, ruining their day.
“I was mad when I lost money in the vending machine,” said student Rachel W. “I was not able to forget it and felt unpleasant for the whole day.”
Losing your money can be infuriating and leave students hungry and distracted. Even administrators don’t trust the vending machines, “I wouldn’t put my money in these machines, ”saidAssistant Principal Aidan Vigil.
So, I believe replacing the vending machines is essential.
“The vending machines have been here since I first came to LMS, which is about 20 years ago, and they weren’t new then,” said Creative Writing teacher Andrea Duggan.
20 years is enough time for the vending machine to have problems. According to Vending Money, a website for people thinking of investing in vending machines, the average life of a vending machine is between 10-12 years with regular maintenance.
Though we contacted the FCPS food services vending machine division, we did not receive an answer to our questions on the age of our machines or the maintenance schedule.
According to NuVending, a company that works with facilities management for things like coffee machines and vending machines, reasons for the snacks getting stuck include placement of the snacks and age of the machine.
“It may even just be because you’re still using an old machine that operates on a simple mechanism,” they’re web site says. However, it was unclear what the new mechanism looks like and what makes it less likely to hang on to your snacks.
Another reason to replace the machines is the safety risk. When we asked students what to do when they’re snack gets stuck, they suggested shaking the machine, but there are a number of reasons to avoid this.
“Even old machines have delicate components that aren’t going to benefit much from being vigorously shaken about. Or you might lose your grip and the whole machine could fall over,” said NuVendings article “What to do if your snack gets stuck in a vending machine.”
However, even though vending machines irritate students, students shouldn’t shake the vending machine to get their snack back. There are many causes of people getting hurt or even dying from the collapse of vending machines because they just shook the vending machine to get the snack back. Not only that, shaking the vending machine may break the machine. In addition, students shouldn’t shake the machine and instead, they should go and see the teacher to get back the money.
According to the observations of the snack getting stuck in the vending machine, at least 1 snack gets stuck in a day. The rice crispy treats are the snack that gets stuck the most. It is because the packaging gets stuck to the mechanism, and so some little piece of it hangs.
According to ‘Fairfax County Public Schools official site, Vending Machines Policies is that “Vending machines located in the dining rooms and dispensing nutritious food or beverages to students shall be authorized in schools at the discretion of the school principal provided the vending program is operated by the Office of Food and Nutrition Services and meet United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards. Profits shall accrue to the Food and Nutrition Services Fund.”
