WANT MILK?

Do you want milk?” A phrase oh so familiar to me from my lunch room memories. One memory in particular stands out to me the most. I can remember getting a carton of milk and being so dissatisfied and disgusted with it.

    “Do you want milk?”

    “Sure, chocolate please.”

    “Here you go have a nice day.”

I sat down to drink my chocolate milk and all was well. I had always gotten this creamy drink to accompany my lunch since I was the age of five. Milk was part of the meal, the other drinks like water or juice cost extra. My friends would buy water or Gatorade, leaving me part of the milk drinking minority.

I began munching on my ham and cheese sandwich from the deli bar. I love the way cheese and ham go together in perfect harmony. I peeled open the corner of my carton of chocolate milk and slid my red and white striped straw inside. Slurrrrrpppp! In went my first gulp of chocolate milk. My friends watched judgingly as my chocolatey childhood friend climbed up my straw and into my mouth. “How do you drink milk everyday? Don’t you ever want juice?” I couldn’t think of the correct response to give my friends. Of course milk wasn’t my first choice, but I didn’t have money to buy water or juice every day. I responded with, “I love it so much, its my favorite drink you guys are really missing out.” As I competed this sentence I plucked my straw from my carton and raised the triangle shaped opening to my mouth out of spite. I squinted my eyes and poured the chocolate milk down my throat. I was greeted by a large chunky curdle on the back of my tongue. I began to cough and gag ferociously. My friends laughed until their stomachs hurt. I went running from the cafeteria heading towards the nurses office.

Looking back now, I wonder why milk is a staple of all school lunches? First of all, it has the potential to spoil easily. Secondly, it doesn’t compliment most foods well at all. When it was pizza day, milk was still served. Milk and pizza? Yuck! After my traumatizing experience with milk in the cafeteria, it took me a long time to ever drink it again at home. Nonetheless, I never touched it again at school. But still I wonder, why not serve children a small bottle of water or small can of apple juice? Water has a far higher health value than milk does. Additionally, water goes well with just about anything you could possibly eat. Yet, our school system seem to have an unbreakable contract with the milkman.