It’s not stealing if you’ve used a meal swipe.

Every time I go to the dining hall, there’s one thing I always leave with: fruit. Lots of it. That bowl of strawberries in Ferris? Every time I go, I take at least one full-size box of them. Now, this isn’t the only thing I take from the dining halls (I’m looking at you, half gallons of oat milk), but the fruit is by far what I take the most of, as well as being the item with the highest value. So when I got bored, I decided to calculate how much money the fruit I take from dining halls each week is worth.

I have 100 meal swipes per semester, which means I can go to dining halls roughly 5-6 times per week. For the sake of calculation, we’ll assume that each time I go to the dining hall, I leave with one and a half to two pints of strawberries and one banana. (The apples are entirely flavorless and not worth taking.) A single banana is worth about $0.50, and a pint of strawberries at New York prices is about $6. 

As such, I am leaving the dining halls each week with anywhere from $47.50-$74.50 of fruit on average. This number does not count the other items I take. I am not sorry.

Strawberries via Pixabay