Imagine finishing a long day of classes, practice or working in the student newsroom. You are tired, hungry and ready for something quick to eat. You open the new Grubhub app, place your Chick-fil-A order and head to the John Garrick Hardy Center. Instead of a hot meal and a warm ‘my pleasure,’ you are met with a line that snakes around the lobby and a wait that stretches into 40 minutes or more.

The Chick-fil-A that students have come to know and love at Alabama State University did not start with cold food, long lines, broken drink machines or bad customer service.

New kiosk machines were placed in the John Garrick Hardy Center this summer. This new system was supposed to make student life easier, service faster and more efficient. The kiosk ordering and Grubhub partnership promised all these things. Instead, students are dealing with malfunctioning kiosk machines, Flex dollars that mysteriously fail at checkout, and employees who shrug and say, “I do not know what to tell you.”

Chick-fil-A, the one place students count on, is now the poster child for long lines, rudeness and frustration. I waited for two weeks before writing this column because I was hoping that this issue would be repaired but unfortunately not.

I felt like I was in one of those movies where the waitress says, “We ain’t got no chicken, we ain’t got no water, we ain’t got no ice.” The grammar may be off, but the point is not. This is not excellence. This is foolishness.

My experience felt like a scene from the movie, “Coming to America.” Remember the McDowell’s? They swore McDowell’s was just like McDonald’s, but everybody knew better. With the introduction of the kiosk machines, we thought we had Chick-fil-A, but what we really have is the McDowell’s remix, food that tests your patience long before it touches your taste buds.

I spoke with more than 50 students who were waiting in line, students in the marching band who had practiced for hours, football players who were leaving practice late, cheerleaders, student leaders, and everyday students who all face the same problem: long waits, poor service and cold food. When the cafeteria is closed, what other option do students have?

Here is the part that stings: customer service should not be optional. It should not magically appear only when university leadership is in the building.

The truth is simple.  This is not Black excellence. This does not help us develop Hornet pride. This is not the Alabama State University that students brag about. It is time to stop hiding behind kiosks and excuses. If the technology is not working, fix it. If the system is broken, stop pretending that it is not.

Chick-fil-A, your slogan is “service with a smile.” On this campus, it has become “service with a sigh.”  Until Aramark stops playing hide-and-seek with accountability, students will keep feeling shortchanged. Our money pays for this food. Our time pays for these lines.  Our trust deserves better. Where is the “gold standard” when you need it?

And this is bigger than the university. A 2015 study found that more than 70 percent of college students reported eating fast food at least once a day.  It is not just about eating whatever we want, it is supposed to be about convenience. We are up late, we need something quick, and fast food is meant to fill that gap. But somehow with the introduction of the kiosk machines, “quick” comes with long lines, broken machines and bad attitudes.

That leaves students cycling through the main options: Prime Grill, Subway, Chick-fil-A, and, of course, the cafeteria. Chick-fil-A is the option students depend on the most. I find myself in that line two or three times a week. It has become part of my routine, even if the service does not match the reputation.

And as Big Worm once said on Friday, “It’s the principalities.” Chick-fil-A, you are not doing your job.  Students deserve answers and action, not excuses. So, Chick-fil-A, Aramark, … What’s up?