OK, I know, I know.

According to a recent Accolade online poll of 76 respondents, 62% agreed that “cutting [in a food line] is against my moral judgment.”

Another 24% agreed that this recurring practice during break and lunch occurs based on how students feel one day over the next.

occurs based on how students feel one day over the next.

In the minority lies people like me — only 13% had the “survival of the fittest” mentality of taking advantage of getting meals faster through friends’ help in the food line outside the cafeteria or Roundhouse. 

Although swooping in the middle of a line tends to be universally known as a disservice, I see it as using my resources. My friends are just saving a spot for me because I’m not able to get there as fast as they can.

As an athlete, food fuels my performance. At the beginning of the school year, I would go into two-hour practices on an empty stomach, and I noticed it was affecting my endurance and motivation on the field. 

Waiting in line like mostly everyone else consumes too much of my precious time, especially when I have to be out on the soccer field passing the ball within minutes of my last class ending.

So that’s what prompted me to make some changes by finding a way to speed up my meal gathering.

Typically, no one says anything when I push my way through the beginning of the never-ending line.

Sometimes, I would get the occasional shouts like, “Get in the back of the line,” or “You came later; you should go to the back.”

I have learned to tune them out.

Though some may argue that it’s wrong of me to take advantage of my fellow peers, in this cutthroat society, some individuals are bound to have a slight edge over others.

Some students, especially those who have PE, are allowed to leave their third or fifth periods earlier to start waiting in line before break or lunch starts.

Is that fair? Shouldn’t school officials require all teachers to release students after the bell rings?

Some have classes closer to the cafeteria or Roundhouse than others. They will have some type of an advantage too. Is that fair?

Should school officials designate a rotation of certain classrooms being allowed to get food to level the playing field?

Everyone has the ability to cut, so why be so petty about it? After all, it’s a dog-eat-dog world.