BB-INT016 — Megan Liu

Oh my god, okay, so — it was my friends? Like it wasn't me. [laughs] I feel like I never discover anything first, I'm always the last one. Um, so a bunch of us were at, like — there was this festival thing last summer, the food-truck lineup on the — I wanna say it was by the river? And they were just there, and everyone was like "oh the brisket one, get the brisket one," and I was like okay, sure, and — yeah. That was the first time. And then it turns out one parks near campus sometimes so it kind of became a thing. Does that make sense?

Yeah, one hundred percent. Like I would not have gone up to a random taco truck by myself and been like, "this is my brand now." [laughs] It's always somebody in the group who's like "oh we should get BorderBlend," and then everyone just goes along with it. I'm very much a go-along-with-it person when it comes to food.

Honestly? Cheapest and closest. Like — that's it, that's the whole thing. [laughs] I'm a student, I'm broke, so it's like, what's near me, what's open right now, and what's not gonna, like, destroy my week financially. If a place is even a ten-minute walk further I'm probably not doing it, I'll just get whatever's right there. So it's kind of — proximity first, then price, but honestly price is always in the back of my head the whole time.

See, that's — okay, this is the thing. It used to feel like a normal option, and now it feels a little bit more like a treat? Which is kind of a bummer. Like when I first started getting it, it felt like, oh, this is a good deal for actually good food. And now I'm like — hmm. It's creeping up. I feel like every time I go it's, like, a dollar more or something. Which, individually, whatever, it's a dollar. But when you're doing the math on every single thing you buy, you notice.

Okay so — see, this is where I get weirdly specific. [laughs] When I started it was like, I could get out the door for under twelve bucks, like a taco and a drink and I was fine. And now I feel like it's — with a drink it's closer to fifteen, sixteen? And that's the — like that's the psychological line for me, honestly. Once it's fifteen-plus I start going, is this basically just a restaurant now? Because at that point I could go somewhere with, like, a chair. Does that make sense? [laughs] So yeah. The price thing is real for me.

Um — yeah, mostly? Like the food's good, I'm not — I don't want to sound like I'm hating, the brisket one is genuinely really good, everyone's right about it. It's more that — it's the kind of thing where one taco isn't quite enough and two feels like a lot of money? So I'm always in this awkward middle zone of like, am I still hungry, or am I just being cheap. [laughs] I usually end up getting the one and then eating something at home. Which, I don't know, maybe that's just me being a student.

It's — okay it's always the same one or two people, honestly. There's like a designated food person in every friend group and it's not me. [laughs] Someone will just be like "BorderBlend?" in the chat and then it's — everyone kind of piles on. And then the funny thing is, when we go as a group, I'll actually spend more? Because everyone's getting two, and getting the drink, and I don't wanna be the person going "actually I'll just have one small thing," so I kind of — I get swept up. So it's cheaper for them to get me to spend more, if that makes sense.

Exactly, yeah. Solo I'm very disciplined, I get the one thing. In a group I'm a disaster. [laughs]

So — no. Like I'll watch it if it comes up? Like if the algorithm throws me a taco video I'm absolutely watching that, I'm not gonna scroll past a good first-bite video, that's — that's my Roman Empire. [laughs] But do I follow the actual brand, do I like check their page to see if they're around — no. Not really. I don't even know if the truck by campus has its own account, honestly. I feel like I found out where they'd be from my friends, not from, like, the brand telling me.

Yeah. And I definitely don't post. Like, I'm a watcher, not a — I'm not gonna film myself eating a taco, that's not my — some people do and that's great, that's not me. [laughs] I'll send it in the group chat maybe. That's about as far as my content creation goes.

Oh — do they? See, I didn't even — okay, no, I didn't know that. Um. I mean — maybe? Like here's the honest answer: if it was easy and it actually saved me money, yeah, I'd be all over it. I chase points on the coffee app, I have like four coffee apps, I'm not proud of it. [laughs] But the second it's, like, complicated or I have to make an account and remember a password and scan some — no. I'll just forget. So it'd have to be really easy. Like, my phone number at the window, done. If it's more than that I'm out, honestly.

One hundred percent. I'm lazy and broke, that's the — [laughs] that's the demographic. It has to save me money and it has to be, like, zero effort. If it hits both of those I'm genuinely a really easy sell. That's the thing, I don't think they realize people like me are actually easy to get, you just have to make it about the money and make it easy.

Ugh, emails. [laughs] Okay — normally, no. Like my inbox is a graveyard, I don't open brand emails ever. Butttt — if it was, like, a student discount thing? Or, like, "here's a deal this week" — okay, that I might actually do. Because that's just money. Like if signing up meant I get a code that knocks a couple bucks off, or there's a student night, or — yeah. That's literally the only reason I'd give them my email. The deal. Not the, like, "story of our brisket" or whatever. [laughs] Just — tell me how to spend less. That's the hook.

Yeah. Like a proper student thing, show your student ID, or a code, whatever. That would genuinely change how often I go, I think. Because right now the only thing holding me back is the price creeping up. If there was a way to make it cheap again I'd be back to it being my normal option instead of a treat. Does that make sense? Like — the food's not the problem. It's never been the food. It's the number.

Just — the price, or, like, a student version of the price. [laughs] I know that's boring. Everyone probably says something cooler. But genuinely — for me it's that. Make it not feel like a restaurant bill and I'm there like three times a week. Oh — and honestly just, like, being able to know if the campus truck is actually there that day, because half the time I don't know if they're around and I just get something else. But mostly the price. Yeah. Sorry, that's such a student answer. [laughs]

No worries! This was fun, I feel like I just talked about being broke for half an hour. [laughs] Good luck with it.

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