As a student at Baruch, I always loved the idea of having the city as my campus. Since Baruch is in the heart of the Gramercy District, I am never limited by my options. Whether it be for grabbing a quick meal or stopping at a clothing store, I could walk one block in any direction and find something of interest. Before the pandemic, I would often grab lunch with friends between classes, whether to dine-in or take-out. Planning my time was a very delicate game, especially if I had less than 30 minutes before my next class. This was a very big problem for me, particularly because I am a very punctual person and being late makes me anxious.
When trying to pick a restaurant to grab lunch from, I would always consider how much time I actually have to spare. Before I decided on a restaurant, I would have to take into account the fact that there may or may not be a line outside the restaurant. This usually meant that I would settle on something fast and easy each time since I didn’t want to risk being late to class. Because of this, I would generally get the same meal each time. In addition, ordering ahead was not always a possibility since some Professors frowned upon technology use in class. Spending time ordering lunch during a lecture would also take away from important class time.
This problem is worth solving for me because it would save me a lot of anxiety and time. A potential solution for this would be having a way to know how crowded a restaurant is before you go to it. If there was a way to know how long the line is, that would make settling on a place for lunch much faster. This idea may also be especially helpful now because of the pandemic. By seeing exactly how crowded a restaurant is, people can decide whether or not they want to dine-in, take-out, or choose a new place altogether. Perhaps an app would be the best way to target this problem. An efficient app would include a map of restaurants nearby, a way to see line times, crowd level, seating times, menus, and even a way to order ahead.