Kiyomi Kishaba
Opinion Editor
Breaking news: PLU students can now view and edit dining dollars and meal plans
without having to talk to real people! All you have to do is download the Get Mobile app onto your smart device; yet another way phones can decrease face-to-face interaction.
Back when I lived off a meal plan, we had to ask the worker who swiped our cards for the dining dollar balance, and then peer at the black and yellow chart displaying where our dining dollar balance should be based on where we were in the semester. So rudimentary.
Usually I either forgot to ask or simply wasn’t in the mood to initiate human inter-
action, so I just continued swiping on blind faith, which is probably why I ended up with
nine-hundred dollars in the last month of freshman year, and 60 dollars after spring break
of sophomore year. I went from dining-dollar daddy to dining-dollar broke.
Speaking of dining-dollar daddies, the app can send a link allowing the recipient to make a direct payment to your account. Send it to grandparents, other family members, rich friends, or sugar daddies; your account will never be empty.
However, it is challenging to use your dining dollars if you no longer have a Lute card. I can proudly say I have never lost my Lute card, but I know many of you out there cannot. Through the app, you can deactivate Lute cards so no one steals those precious dining dollars. You can also, and I just learned this today, submit a picture for your ID photo! Instead of taking a terrible, sweaty picture on move-in day surrounded by parents and chaos! The future is now, people.
And back in my day, we had to order food from Old Main Market in real time. Yes, that means wait for our order to be ready, and consequently wander into class late clutching our sausage egg and cheese that took 20 minutes to prepare during rush time. But with this app, you can preorder drinks and breakfast sandwiches (before 10 a.m.) to be prepared and ready for pick up whenever you need it. And coming soon, you can order food and drinks from Kelley Cafe; those math, business, and comp sci kids may be cooped up in Morken but at least they’ll have coffee. Rushing from class to class, from the gym to work, or from your cozy dorm back to your cozy dorm just got a lot easier.
So, all you Lutes out there on a meal plan or sick of walking through puddles, I highly recommend this Get Mobile app. As spring semester surges upon us and chaos ensues once again, ease your mind by easily tracking your source of nourishment. Your grades on Sakai may never be up to date, but at least your dining dollars will be.
