Water Bottle Scarcity Runs Rampant
By: Kaylee Nieves
After a grueling 14-hour Monday on campus, it is reasonable to suspect that one would become parched sooner or later. Succeeding multiple consecutive semesters done almost entirely remotely, I traversed to a place that felt familiar to me – the study lounges located at the entrances of every class building. I spotted the vending machine, complete with Aquafina branding and a rather large water bottle motif on the side.
You, too, would be horrified at learning there were no water bottles to be found.
Ironic, isn’t it? Like a Popeyes with no chicken. A library with no books.
Momentarily suspending disbelief, I trekked to 3S. Then 1S. Even the N buildings.
No water bottles, in any of the vending machines.
You would think that if restaurants have regulations to provide free water to the public, a college campus would have water, the most basic drink there is, in its facilities. I can assure you, I do not need orange-flavored sparkling drinks in a can, that’s gentrification.
Hell, I’d even settle for Dasani (gross).
And no, I’m not going to put my mouth on a public water fountain like some animal. I need something portable, something to continuously sip throughout the long day. Buying a Hydroflask to refill is too costly (~$30), and why should I be led to do that, if, on a normal campus, I could find a vending machine water bottle for roughly two dollars?
Now, there may be water sold at the 1C Campus Center – admittedly, that might be one of the only places I haven’t checked. But should I have to go to an ATM, add money to my Dolphin Card, and wait in a long lunch line in a building that is nowhere near my classes just for one bottled water?
CSI’s outrageousness knows no bounds.
