Students with little money and even less time are often well acquainted with the vending machines scattered around campus. They offer an array of options—Monster energy, hydrating Powerade, salty chips, sweet cookies—enough to satisfy whatever craving strikes. However, these machines have one major crux: their reliability
The first machine to betray me is located near Stubbs 100. Imagine it is a hot fall day in, and you have been walking around campus all day. So, when you set your eyes on a drink machine, it feels as though you just discovered gold at the end of a rainbow.
Thankfully, Even the oldest machines on campus are modern enough to accept card payments. However, it seems as though when the Stubbs drink machine says, “card payments accepted” it actually means “we probably will not take your card, but you can still try.” Sociology professor Neil White once declared me ‘the chosen one’ after I defeated the machine’s card rejection system.
Sadly, success is a rare occurrence. Most of the time, I leave empty handed and filled with disappointment
Stubbs vending machines are not the only ones whose treachery has left me downhearted. The one in Bayou Suites dorm continues to test my patience.
Nearly every time without fail, whenever I splurge on an overpriced bag of chips, their descent is abruptly stopped as it lodges itself between the window and the bar at the bottom. No amount of shaking or pushing the bar at the bottom has ever been able to dislodge them.
That leaves me faced with the ultimate decision…either walk away without my chips…or purchase another bag of chips in hopes that it will knock the other bag down. As someone who will never leave a snack behind, I always choose the latter, but that leaves me spending more money than intended. While some may argue that an additional $1.65 is not much, it is to someone who already did not have much to spend.
The inconsistencies of a few campus vending machines is certainly a first-world problem. But when you are in desperate need of something quick and tasty, a broken machine feels like a personal attack. It is a small fix that would save a lot of people from a very small, yet surprisingly profound, disappointment.