In 2004, the release of Mean Girls spurred a wave of bathroom-lunches around the world. With the release of this movie, Cady Heron was quickly established as a trailblazer and became solidified as a popular figure in bathroom-lunch culture. One of the most infamous scenes of Mean Girls is our protagonist sitting in the bathroom eating lunch. Today, in adjustment with our shifting society, eating lunch in the bathroom has become an edgy way to enjoy lunch with your friends while testing your immune system. Undisputedly a win-win. 

Without further ado, allow me to present you with four compelling reasons that you should be eating lunch in the bathroom with your friends.

1. Great Acoustics.

Admittedly, it can be difficult to converse with your friends in the noisiness of the cafeteria. Often, students end up screaming in order to communicate with someone sitting a foot away. Sitting outside is not much better, as, due to our school’s location, planes and trains are liable to interrupt lunch-time conversation. This issue is easily resolved when you opt to sit in the bathroom. With floor to ceiling tile, the bathroom provides refreshingly crisp acoustics. Conversations with friends will be clear and coherent. No more misunderstandings or confusions during group discussions!

2. Backed by the CDC.

CDC endorses the modification of mealtime school places, and this can easily be applied to bathroom lunches. CDC recommends “makeshift food surfaces” as a practice to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The bathroom floor certainly qualifies as a makeshift food surface. We are (hopefully) entering the latter stages of the pandemic, but this practice can still be applied to prevent other sicknesses such as the flu. Picking the bathroom as a lunch location away from the crowds can only benefit your health. 

3. Maintain Your Friend Group’s Cliquishness.

Cliques have been scientifically proven to improve emotional health and promote the formation of individual identity, so cliques should definitely be encouraged. If you and your friends enjoy eating lunch on the bathroom floor, choose a stall (ideally a spacey one) and utilize the locked door as a physical barrier against the outside social world. People will probably be clamoring to join you and your friend group for a bathroom lunch, so a locked stall door is a great way to maintain exclusiveness. 

4. Easy Access to Water.

Discovering your water bottle is empty during lunchtime can be emotionally devastating. You end up faced with the dilemma of soldiering on through lunch strapped down with dehydration, or going on a grueling march to a nearby water fountain. Eating lunch in the bathroom completely solves this dilemma, as you will never be more than a few feet away from a water source. 

Other Tips:

Bring a towel to sit on. Think of it as a picnic of sorts, but without having to worry about inclement weather! Bringing a towel sit on will make your lunch a little more picturesque, and will protect you from any lingering substances on the bathroom floor (this is especially recommended if you’re eating lunch in the boys bathroom).

Happy lunching, Raptors!