While most students race to the cafeteria to grab lunch, many go in the opposite direction toward the office. Once inside, students spot their Doordash orders sitting on a designated table. They pick up the food to take a whiff of the delicious meal inside, excited to eat.
Doordash has become increasingly popular on the SCHS campus as more students order their favorite foods at school. Junior Ryan Borromeo likes to Doordash food so he can get a variety of options that are not offered by the school lunch.
“It’s the same rotation. It’s just pasta, pasta and pasta. It just gets boring easily,” Borromeo said. “We eat the same food everyday, so I need to get something new.”
Alongside having a selection of food options, Borromeo regularly orders on Doordash because he finds that the school lunch portions are small.
“Sometimes when they serve food, it is small proportions, and that’s not enough for some students, especially those who do sports regularly,” Borromeo said. “If you feel hungry, you should prioritize your health.”
Before students can enjoy their order from Doordash, there is a process they must follow. Senior Sadie Rios shared that she orders food ahead of time in order to receive it during lunch.
“I usually order it on days we have a tutorial,” Rios said. “I order it mid-tutorial and schedule it around the time we get out of the tutorial, 11:20 or 11:30, and then I pick it up when we get out of class.”
When ordering Doordash, Borromeo makes sure to always leave a tip for the driver.
“One time when I did not tip, they did not send a picture to me, and the food didn’t arrive,” Borromeo said. “That’s why I need to make sure to tip like $2 so they will give me my food.”
Once the food has been ordered, students pick up their food from the office. Attendance clerical assistant Natalie Preciado shared how lunch time is the only time students are allowed to pick up food orders.
“They are not allowed to pick up food while class is in session because the attendance supervisor gives students detention for walking around school to pick up Doordash,” Preciado said.
In some cases, Doordash drivers require a pin confirmation in order to drop off the food and complete the order. Preciado explained that there have been instances when the office has had to call the classrooms to ask students for the pin codes.
“That has caused a lot of disruption in classrooms and also chaos,” Preciado said. “Sometimes it’s tricky because I cannot pull the student out and disturb the classroom to ask for the pin code.”
A problem Borromeo often encountered while ordering from Doordash was that his food would get stolen by other students.
“It just sucks that I have to suffer with no food after spending like $30,” Borromeo said. “I know the food was delivered because of the picture, but there was no food, which means it was stolen.”
Borromeo suggested ideas for monitoring food in a more efficient manner to avoid stolen food situations.
“I feel like there should be a line of people, not outside but inside. They (the office staff) should also wait five minutes after the bell rings so people can gather themselves and stay in one spot until they say it’s okay for people to get in,” Borromeo said. “It’s not fair for people who have Chemistry and have to walk all the way there (to the office), and people might steal their food because they are not there on time.”
Similarly to Borromeo, Rios has had her food stolen and suggested having a student volunteer help monitor who is picking up food items.
“Some sort of faculty or volunteer to have someone show their Doordash order, and they could come grab it,” Rios said. “You don’t have to show your name but proof that you purchased Doordash that day and time.”
Currently, the office staff does not have plans for handling Doordash orders, but they are open to student ideas.
“It is already risky when we don’t know who is going to come into the office,” Preciado said. “We don’t know what they are dropping off for the student. We don’t check other people’s food.”
Regardless of issues, students understand the office staff is doing their best with this system.
“I do understand it is difficult, that people don’t really know whose food is whose. It’s hard to juggle kids and their food,” Rios said. “Doordash has a really good policy that if you didn’t see your food, they will give you a full refund, or you could order it again.”
Rios believes that Doordash is a great treat for oneself to indulge in a tasty meal at school.
“If you just got your paycheck or your mom just gave you some money and you want to do something nice for your friends or to treat yourself, you should just Doordash some food,” Rios said.