Period 4 lunch versus period 8 lunch. 10:02 a.m. versus 1:14 p.m. The question: which is worse? The only way to find out is to put them head-to-head. The lesser of two evils is about to be revealed.

It’s time to put the extreme conditions to the test. Let’s meet the contestants: we have the painfully early lunch versus the never ending wait for lunch.

The game is simple—we will consider possible food options, time spent hungry, and overall experience and enjoyability. Let’s get ready to rumble.

Period 4. Beginning at 10:02 a.m., a normal, if not relatively early, time that WHS students wake up on a lazy Sunday morning. But, for many students at WHS, 10:02 a.m. is lunch time.

Even though the reasonable option at this hour is pancakes and omelettes, the only things offered are pizza and salad.

You’re not very hungry because just three hours have passed since school has begun. But, by the time 2:45 p.m. rolls around, it’s like you never even ate. You’re never quite hungry enough to finish lunch during period 4, but you’re always regretting that decision when relentless stomach growls interrupt your focus during period 9.

However, an advantage to period 4 lunch is that it’s the first lunch period of the day, so it gives you first grabs at the fresh cookies and chicken baskets, which are always the first to go.

On a scale of very satisfying to dissatisfying, fourth period comes in at: somewhat dissatisfying. Even if you get first dibs at the cafeteria food, no one wants to feel like they’re eating breakfast twice.

Now, time to meet our next competitor: period 8 lunch. Annoyingly late, and approaching the end of the day at 1:14 p.m., period 8 takes longer than you think to arrive. Those six hours spent waiting for a turkey sandwich or a bag of goldfish can feel like an eternity. After all, the Cheerios you ate for breakfast can only hold you over for so long.

When you have period 8 lunch, snacking throughout the day is a must. But beware, snacking comes with its risks; be careful of chewing too loud during math class or spilling your snack all over the floor. 1:14 p.m. is a more traditional lunch time than 10:02 a.m., so that slice of pizza and salad are amazing options.

Also, period 8 lunch is often close to empty since many will eat during earlier free periods or leave if they have period 9 off. And when 1:14 p.m. finally rolls around, options in the cafeteria are picked over because this is the last lunch period of the day.

Overall, all food options taste great,  but you had to wait six painful hours to enjoy them. So, like period 4, period 8 lunch is also somewhat dissatisfying.

The whole competition boils down to this: does the long wait and unlimited food options of 8th period lunch outweigh the short wait, but limited food options of period 4 lunch? It’s debatable, but to say the least, the real winner of the competition is the WHS student who packs snacks to enjoy throughout the day.

Who’s your winner?