Jumping on the bandwagon, following the grain, and lost in the crowd, students at Suncoast often get grouped in with the majority. However, each has their own unique take on common debates. More specifically, unpopular ones. Several students and staff have expressed beliefs they assume make them an outlier. Unpopular opinions are controversial ideas that are likely to be challenged or agreed with abashedly. Whether they are truly unconventional or not, that is for you to decide.

“Zaxby’s is better than Chick-fil-a,” says Ian Smikle, a sophomore here at Suncoast.

Zaxby’s, a chain of casual restaurants, has a menu centered mainly around chicken, similarly that of Chick-fil-a. When comparing the two restaurants, one must consider many factors, such as: hospitality, wait, quality, and prices. Chick-fil-a and Zaxby’s both participate in having a hospitality director, and the job descriptions of each are about the same. However, the pay for these jobs vary. At Chick-fil-a, hospitality coordinators are paid from $11-15 an hour; at Zaxby’s the price ranges from $10-12 an hour. The wait time at an average Zaxby’s drive-thru is around four minutes, and Chick-fil-a is about eight minutes– double the amount. It is reported to be one of the slowest fast food drive-thru’s.

When finding the quality of fast food, it is best to look at a wide variety of reviews or ratings and find the average number of stars. For Zaxby’s that means that out of 106 people, the average rating is about 1.26/5 stars; out of 528 reviews Chick-fil-a was rated around 3.9/5 stars. To compare prices, a universal fast food restaurant item was the best way to go. At Zaxby’s, a regular size fries is $1.49 and at Chick-fil-a, regular sized fries are $1.65. To conclude this review, out of the precedent categories, Zaxby’s did better than Chick-fil-A two out of four times, according to the categories on the list; Chick-fil-a also scored two out of four. Do with this information what you will, as it is now up to personal preference and interpretation.

“Cheerleading is not a sport,” says Stone Bureau, another sophomore at Suncoast, lending his own input on controversial topics.

Traditionally, cheerleaders perform at sporting events such as football games in order to encourage the players and raise the spirits of the crowds. However, many, such as Bureau, feel that these performances are less of a sport and more of an activity, much like dance. Common definitions for the word “sport” include: physical exertion and skill which involve competition. 

Now, there are two types of cheerleading: sideline and competitive. Sideline cheerleading includes cheering on the sidelines of football games and hyping up the crowd; Competitive pertains to cheerleaders who attend state and national competitions against other teams. A couple of years ago, cheerleading, whether competitive or not, was not nationally recognized as a professional sport by the NCAA or by U.S. federal Title IX. Recently, however, the IOC voted to declare it an official sport. Unfortunately, it is not a financially stable career, and thus one can not solely be a professional cheerleader. Although if one is going by the textbook definition, competitive cheerleading definitely meets the criteria in athleticism and competitiveness.

“Apple users are in a cult,” claims Monica Russell, club coordinator and mathematics teacher at Suncoast.

In order to qualify Apple users for a cult, one must know what defines a typical cult. There are different types of cults that center around different principles, such as: religion, devotion, and practices. The one regarding Apple users is most likely related to a cult surrounding devotion and loyalty to Apple products and their “supremacy” over other brands. Apple users, however, is a very broad umbrella, thus one must assume Russell is suggesting those that only utilize and argue over the legitimacy of Apple products such as iPhones. However, Apple users do not usually assemble or believe in any certain philosophies like many usual cults. Neither do they devote their lives to a certain figure or ideology, or partake in a social movement. Most of the time anyway. Fortunately, a cult is usually a smaller group and could probably never be as widespread as the global Apple company. But, in the end, no one knows for sure.

These opinions, however many are for or against each of them, showcase originality and the unique viewpoints of certain students. Hopefully, these arguments have you adequately convinced for any of these topics, but if not: congratulations, you are in the majority! Ya basic.