Unfiltered Story #32338

(At my special ed school, there was no cafeteria so we ate lunch in our homerooms. However, in ninth grade, you were allowed to buy food for lunch from their cantina. It was mostly junk food like pizza pockets and French bread pizza. Part of my disability is extreme sensitivy to textures and flavors, to the point where most foods set off my gag reflex and I physically cannot eat them. This is the last time I took part in their lunch program.)

Me: (Returning to homeroom, seeing my lunch order on my desk.) Excuse me?

Teacher’s Assistant: Yeah?

Me: There’s been a mistake with my lunch. I ordered a pepperoni pizza pocket. This is a meatball pizza pocket.

TA: The cateen was out of pepperoni. We had to substitute.

Me: Okay, but I can’t eat this.

TA: Sorry, but that’s all we can do.

Me: Well, can’t you substitute it with a French bread pizza? I can pay the difference.

TA: No. All lunch orders have to be done in homeroom. They can’t be changed.

Me: But you did change it.

TA: Because we were out of pepperoni.

Me: So you changed it to meatball, but I can’t eat meatball.

TA: You should have thought ahead.

Me: You sholud have told me you were out when I could still change my order.

TA: We didn’t know then.

Me: Well, can I get a refund?

TA: No refunds allowed.

Me: But you don’t have what I ordered.

TA: Right, so we substituted it.

Me: With something I didn’t order and can’t eat.

TA: Those are the rules. You should have done something.

Me: The rules are you can take my money and give me something different from what I ordered? I don’t think that’s how it works.

TA: Don’t get smart with me. You should have thought ahead. It’s not our fault you don’t have lunch.

(I gave up and went without lunch that day. When my mom heard about it, she called the school and whatever she said was enough to at least get me a refund. I brought my lunch every day after that. Lesson learned.)