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Clean up after you, you inconsiderate pig (Fast food restaurants rant)

Commotion Ocean

I occasionally go to McDonalds or Burger King or KFC with the fairer half, Mrs. Dfeo on a Friday or Saturday night when out for pints. I know they're not examples of fine dining before anyone mentions it.

What really pisses me off, is seeing tables abandoned with trays, drinks and wrappers all over the place. How hard is it to keep everything on your tray when eating, and lift it up and put it in the bin when finished.

EVERY time I go to McDonalds, I make it my business to clear the table after me and if I leave a spill or a bit of sauce, I'll dab it up with a tissue.

And before anyone says it's the job of the staff to clear up; why can't you just lift your tray and put stuff into the conveniently-placed bins? Not only is it inconsiderate to leave a mess for staff to clean up, it's also the height of rudeness and inconsideration for the person using the table next.

Last night, I arrived in a packed-to-the-rafters McDonalds to tables that were strewn with rubbish and little puddle of liquid on the table.

Inconsiderate b*****ds.

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Bongalongherb

Darkglasses wrote: »

I'm aware of this, but I think it would be wise if there were more signage around restaurants advising people that this is a thing.

And that's the crux of it, just put a few signs up telling folk not to dispose of the remains of their meal, as we the employees will clean it up, and we don't want any interns doing it for us, please. Thank you.

That will put an end to half cups of liquid dripping all over the floor and then someone slips on it and claims the business.

meeeeh

Bongalongherb wrote: »

I wouldn't say that a person lifting 400 blocks a day is lazy or a slob. It's nothing to do with laziness.

What you have to do at work to get paid has nothing to do whit it. It's what you do when you don't have to do it that shows true character.

[Deleted User]

Even in "proper" restaurants, I will always tidy the table somewhat and stack plates neatly so that it is easier for the server to clear. A few seconds of your time can make someone who has been run of their feet all day have a less sh*t day.

Please stop stacking plates neatly, its a real pain for wait staff to move. I know you mean well, but just leave them as they are. When you work as a waiter you are shown how to carry multiple plates on day one. Its drilled into you that you can't put your finger or thumb on top of the plate, you must support it from the bottom. This applies when both serving, and clearing. When serving, its for hygiene and aesthetics - When I land down your 35 quid prime rib steak, you don't want to see my thumb print on the edge of your plate. When clearing its for practicality - if servers were putting their hands near the top or sides of the plate, gravy, ragu or bechamel would inevitably end up on the fingers. You dont want wait staff continuously having to go wash their hands.

A stack of plates, even worse with the side plates stacked on top is too heavy to hold with one hand underneath. The bottom of each plate now has the residue of whatever was on the plate beneath it, so I can't redistribute them across my arms. I appreciate you intending to make the waiters job easier, but please, just leave the plates as they are.

Bongalongherb

meeeeh wrote: »

What you have to do at work to get paid has nothing to do whit it. It's what you do when you don't have to do it that shows true character.

In most other ways indeed, but not in this case here in my opinion. To be honest, I'm not even sure if the employees like people putting their rubbish in the bin, as it seems folk put half full liquid cups in there as well.

Witchie

Deleted User wrote: »

Please stop stacking plates neatly, its a real pain for wait staff to move. I know you mean well, but just leave them as they are. When you work as a waiter you are shown how to carry multiple plates on day one. Its drilled into you that you can't put your finger or thumb on top of the plate, you must support it from the bottom. This applies when both serving, and clearing. When serving, its for hygiene and aesthetics - When I land down your 35 quid prime rib steak, you don't want to see my thumb print on the edge of your plate. When clearing its for practicality - if servers were putting their hands near the top or sides of the plate, gravy, ragu or bechamel would inevitably end up on the fingers. You dont want wait staff continuously having to go wash their hands.

A stack of plates, even worse with the side plates stacked on top is too heavy to hold with one hand underneath. The bottom of each plate now has the residue of whatever was on the plate beneath it, so I can't redistribute them across my arms. I appreciate you intending to make the waiters job easier, but please, just leave the plates as they are.

Good to know. Will take that into consideration in future.

twowheelsonly

Muahahaha wrote: »

Well you can enjoy eating your food whilst wallowing in someone elses flu ridden germs. Some of us have higher standards than doing so and expect a place we eat in to have clean tables, which is the job of the staff, not the customer. So I will continue to leave my tray behind so the staff wipe the table down properly, and especially more so as it annoys you

I would, but some yoke left a tray full of germs on the only free table in the place. :rolleyes:

Elliott S

I was in Heuston a few weeks ago and had a bit of time to kill before boarding my train so I headed into Supermac's for a cup of tea. The staff there will sometimes bring your order to your table if it's going to be a few minutes and if they have time. This table of heroin heads sitting me beside seemed to think that meant that the staff there are waiters and waitresses.

They were completely fúcked and of course, spilled one of their drinks. They started yelling at a staff member at the top of their lungs, in the way self-centred junkies tend to. She came over and they asked her to get another of whatever they spilled. She said "Sure, I'll come back with a mop in a sec". I don't know if she heard their request and ignored it, or just geniunely thought they wanted the mess cleared up (they weren't massively coherent and she wasn't Irish) but I felt simultaneously pleased that she wasn't going to fetch whatever they wanted and seriously annoyed at their staggering rudeness and obliviousness that they are in a self-service kinda establishment.

Darkglasses

Witchie wrote: »

Good to know. Will take that into consideration in future.

I thought it was fine when I was a waiter. I'd rather sort the plates out in my hands than walk all the way around a table.

I just wiped my hands on the inside of my apron or something, there's obviously no need to wash your hands every single time they get dirty.

Just don't be a nonce and stack plates on top of plates with lumps of cutlery and food in each layer :mad:

Witchie

Darkglasses wrote: »

I thought it was fine when I was a waiter. I'd rather sort the plates out in my hands than walk all the way around a table.

I just wiped my hands on the inside of my apron or something, there's obviously no need to wash your hands every single time they get dirty.

Just don't be a nonce and stack plates on top of plates with lumps of cutlery and food in each layer :mad:

Never do that! Always scrapped to the top plate if there was anything.

I will stop stacking plates and just tidy the table with all the plates neatly together so that the waiter doesn't have to stretch or walk too far.

Darkglasses

Deleted User wrote: »

Please stop stacking plates neatly, its a real pain for wait staff to move. I know you mean well, but just leave them as they are. When you work as a waiter you are shown how to carry multiple plates on day one. Its drilled into you that you can't put your finger or thumb on top of the plate, you must support it from the bottom. This applies when both serving, and clearing. When serving, its for hygiene and aesthetics - When I land down your 35 quid prime rib steak, you don't want to see my thumb print on the edge of your plate. When clearing its for practicality - if servers were putting their hands near the top or sides of the plate, gravy, ragu or bechamel would inevitably end up on the fingers. You dont want wait staff continuously having to go wash their hands.

A stack of plates, even worse with the side plates stacked on top is too heavy to hold with one hand underneath. The bottom of each plate now has the residue of whatever was on the plate beneath it, so I can't redistribute them across my arms. I appreciate you intending to make the waiters job easier, but please, just leave the plates as they are.

Disagree, especially if you're working a wedding or something. I loved lucking out and having a table of 10 that had their plates perfectly sorted.

Darkglasses

Witchie wrote: »

Never do that! Always scrapped to the top plate if there was anything.

I will stop stacking plates and just tidy the table with all the plates neatly together so that the waiter doesn't have to stretch or walk too far.

It's funny looking back, it's like this - http://www.3dtotalgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/helping.jpg

Elliott S

Summer wind wrote: »

Anytime I eat in a fast food restaurant I always clear the table and put my stuff in the bin. Wouldn't dream of leaving a load of rubbish for someone else to clean up.

Yeah, it's different from other restaurants in that it's disposable stuff you are leaving on the table and you are eating at a high turnover, low cost place.

I don't know why people compare fast food joints to other restaurants. You're hardly going to head into a restaurant kitchen with your plate, cutlery and glasses and hand them to the kitchen porter.

People who don't dump their waste in the bins provided are little piggies.

[Deleted User]

Darkglasses wrote: »

Disagree, especially if you're working a wedding or something. I loved lucking out and having a table of 10 that had their plates perfectly sorted.

A wedding is very different to a restaurant. At a wedding, 100 guests finish eating around the same time and the job is to clear the tables as quickly as possible. Few people will complain about a waiter carrying 10 plates with thumbs on top of the plates back to the kitchen in that scenario.

You take the top plate off, and put it into your elbow and and stacj yourself in your normal way, get to the kitchen put them down and now you notice youve gravy all over yours arms. Then the chef screams at you, then the manage screams at you, then you go change your shirt. In the meantime, Larry from the other side of the restaurant gets your tip.

Darkglasses

Deleted User wrote: »

A wedding is very different to a restaurant. At a wedding, 100 guests finish eating around the same time and the job is to clear the tables as quickly as possible. Few people will complain about a waiter carrying 10 plates with thumbs on top of the plates back to the kitchen in that scenario.

You take the top plate off, and put it into your elbow and and stacj yourself in your normal way, get to the kitchen put them down and now you notice youve gravy all over yours arms. Then the chef screams at you, then the manage screams at you, then you go change your shirt. In the meantime, Larry from the other side of the restaurant gets your tip.

Even working at a restaurant, I didn't mind customers sorting their own plates. Tell your chef he put too much sauce on the dish if you were so dirty you had to change your shirt, after they had finished the meal :P

Elliott S

Deleted User wrote: »

To all the people who clean their table in the Golden Arches, can I ask, do you throw your empty cup half filled with ice in the bin too? If so, please don't do this. Speaking as a former fast food employee, Please, please, do not do this. The number of times I lifted the bin bag out only for the weight of the water and ice to split the bag spilling cold water, ice, wrappers, bits of burger, unwanted nuggets, forlorn looking chips and all manner of other things to the floor, I could not count.

Please don't put your full, half full, or even nearly empty cup in the bin. Place it on top of the bin, or better yet, leave it and the tray on the table.

If the cup has liquid, I'll finish it before popping it in the bin. Liquid waste must add a lot of weight to the binliner!

Darkglasses wrote: »

I'm aware of this, but I think it would be wise if there were more signage around restaurants advising people that this is a thing.

And there should be a sink provided to pour off the liquid.

[Deleted User]

Elliott S wrote: »

I was in Heuston a few weeks ago and had a bit of time to kill before boarding my train so I headed into Supermac's for a cup of tea. The staff there will sometimes bring your order to your table if it's going to be a few minutes and if they have time. This table of heroin heads sitting me beside seemed to think that meant that the staff there are waiters and waitresses.

They were completely fúcked and of course, spilled one of their drinks. They started yelling at a staff member at the top of their lungs, in the way self-centred junkies tend to. She came over and they asked her to get another of whatever they spilled. She said "Sure, I'll come back with a mop in a sec". I don't know if she heard their request and ignored it, or just geniunely thought they wanted the mess cleared up (they weren't massively coherent and she wasn't Irish) but I felt simultaneously pleased that she wasn't going to fetch whatever they wanted and seriously annoyed at their staggering rudeness and obliviousness that they are in a self-service kinda establishment.

Im in Heuston once a week and sometimes go to SuperMacs when I've no other choice. Its a lot better now than it used to be. There was a time when there'd be pigeons scavenging under and on the tables, but they put a stop to that. Theyve not come up with a junky deterrent yet though.

Elliott S

Deleted User wrote: »

Please stop stacking plates neatly, its a real pain for wait staff to move. I know you mean well, but just leave them as they are. When you work as a waiter you are shown how to carry multiple plates on day one. Its drilled into you that you can't put your finger or thumb on top of the plate, you must support it from the bottom. This applies when both serving, and clearing. When serving, its for hygiene and aesthetics - When I land down your 35 quid prime rib steak, you don't want to see my thumb print on the edge of your plate. When clearing its for practicality - if servers were putting their hands near the top or sides of the plate, gravy, ragu or bechamel would inevitably end up on the fingers. You dont want wait staff continuously having to go wash their hands.

A stack of plates, even worse with the side plates stacked on top is too heavy to hold with one hand underneath. The bottom of each plate now has the residue of whatever was on the plate beneath it, so I can't redistribute them across my arms. I appreciate you intending to make the waiters job easier, but please, just leave the plates as they are.

I'd disagree. When I was a waitress, I appreciated people doing what they could to help, including stacking. It certainly made it easier for me.

Elliott S

Deleted User wrote: »

Im in Heuston once a week and sometimes go to SuperMacs when I've no other choice. Its a lot better now than it used to be. There was a time when there'd be pigeons scavenging under and on the tables, but they put a stop to that. Theyve not come up with a junky deterrent yet though.

Yeah, there's a nice seating area there now. I like their tea too as they give you proper milk and not that UHT shíte like other fast food establishments. :pac:

[Deleted User]

Darkglasses wrote: »

Even working at a restaurant, I didn't mind customers sorting their own plates. Tell your chef he put too much sauce on the dish if you were so dirty you had to change your shirt, after they had finished the meal :P

Talk back to the chef? Did you really work in a restaurant?

If the cup has liquid, I'll finish it before popping it in the bin. Liquid waste must add a lot of weight to the binliner!

Thats you. Loads of people throw near full and half full cups in the bin. Yes sinks should be provided. or signs saying "Don't clean up!".

Clampdown

One of the first little cultural differences I noticed when moving here from the US was people leaving all their mess behind in Abra.

Found it really odd considering how Irish mammies are such sticklers for manners.

Elliott S

Deleted User wrote: »

Thats you. Loads of people throw near full and half full cups in the bin. Yes sinks should be provided. or signs saying "Don't clean up!".

Sinks are definitely needed. But yeah, many unthinking people still wouldn't use them.

Muahahaha

Grandeeod wrote: »

And there should be a sink provided to pour off the liquid.

iirc Supermacs used to have sinks for unfinished drinks, not sure if they still do as I havent been inside a Supermacs since Pat McDonogh took a court case to deny his own employees a quarter extra pay an hour for working on Sundays. Pat can never have enough cash without having to give his own staff a kicking.

Darkglasses

Deleted User wrote: »

Talk back to the chef? Did you really work in a restaurant?

Yes, it's a joke, grumpy :P

[Deleted User]

Darkglasses wrote: »

Yes, it's a joke, grumpy :P

So was mine, Sleepy

Arghus

My opinion on this - as it was on the other thread about the exact same subject a few months ago - is that you are basically an ignorant fool if you leave your rubbish behind you.

You've really no excuse aside from your own rudeness and laziness. To dismissively leave your scattered leftovers and rubbish on your table is the height of disrespect towards the people who work there - who probably have a plenty crap job already. It also shows a lack of consideration for the next person to sit where you just were. I don't know you, but if you do this habitually, I'm 99% sure that I don't like you, and I'd also be 100% fully certain that your clear lack of manners and decency doesn't just stop when you leave the fast-food restaurant - you reprobate. Did you wash your hands after you pissed all over the toilet seat upstairs?

It takes a few seconds to clear it up. Saying, "yeah, but there's staff to do this" is a complete cop-out. There may be staff, but, chances are, if it's like any retail establishment I've ever worked in, they'll probably have another few tasks to deal with right at that second and will appreciate the tiny bit of help, especially at times of peak busyness.

Have a bit of class, clean up after yourself.

Outlaw Pete

Depends what you mean by 'clean up'.

When I leave I will usually have left a 'neat mess' and anything I have spilled / dropped will have been put on my plate / tray to make it a little easier for staff.

However, 'cleaning up' such as bringing tray to the bin etc? No I bloody well don't and doing so does not help anyone either.

If you bring your tray to the bin it will just mean that someone will sit down at the table you were at and that table will not be all that clean and if a manager sees that, staff will get crap for it. That goes doubly so if a customer complains about it.

Leaving your tray / plate on the table alerts staff to the fact that the table has been used and is not ready for the next customer yet. Staff in those places only get to rest when they are either on a break or their shift ends. If everyone cleaned up and staff ever had time on their hands, the restaurant would just factor that into deciding how much staff they need to have on each shift.

tl:dr

Leave the God damn stuff on the table.

Arghus

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Depends what you mean by 'clean up'.

When I leave I will usually have left a 'neat mess' and anything I have spilled / dropped will have been put on my plate / tray to make it a little easier for staff.

However, 'cleaning up' such as bringing tray to the bin etc? No I bloody well don't and doing so does not help anyone either.

If you bring your tray to the bin it will just mean that someone will sit down at the table you were at and that table will not be all that clean and if a manager sees that, staff will get crap for it. That goes doubly so if a customer complains about it.

Leaving your tray / plate on the table alerts staff to the fact that the table has been used and is not ready for the next customer yet. Staff in those places only get to rest when they are either on a break or their shift ends. If everyone cleaned up and staff ever had time on their hands, the restaurant would just factor that into deciding how much staff they need to have on each shift.

tl:dr

Leave the God damn stuff on the table.

To be honest staff in fast food places are usually put where they are needed. To assume that staff will be completely idle if there's no rubbish to bin is a bit naive.

Ever wonder why it takes so long for your burger or chips? Or why their isn't a cashier free when you need one? Chances are there's a couple of staff out there, on the floor, binning leftovers who could probably be putting theirs AND your AND everyone's time to better use actually doling out the service and production of food.

I don't currently work with serving food but I have in the past. And I know that to assume, on your part, that you are somehow doing people a favour by leaving your rubbish behind you, neat and all as it is, is delusional.

All you are really doing is contributing to the clusterfuck that an oftentimes busy day on the job actually is. You are contributing, negatively, to the logjam of tasks that can pile up all at once for a member of staff. You might think it means nothing, but if you'd ever had to bin hundreds of trays day in day out when you could have been doing something else to help the place run more harmoniously, then you'd probably understand how a little contribution goes a long way. It isn't a cast iron certainty that a table is going to be wiped down just because a tray is left on it, it's often the first thing forgotten about when the rush is on.

Outlaw Pete

Arghus wrote: »

To be honest staff in fast food places are usually put where they are needed. To assume that staff will be completely idle if there's no rubbish to bin is a bit naive.

You're misunderstanding what I am saying.

Fast food restaurants factor in work load to how many staff are needed. The only reason staff are not left idle is because they monitor how many staff they did for each shift. If McDonalds on O'Connell St tonight had ten extra staff members from Midnight to 8am, then of course most of them will be left idle. Clearing tables is factored into how many staff they need for a shift. If cleaning tables suddenly wasn't that big of a job anymore thanks to helpful customers, then that won't result in staff having an easier time it would just result in less staff needed.

Ever wonder why it takes so long for your burger or chips? Or why their isn't a cashier free when you need one? Chances are there's a couple of staff out there, on the floor, binning leftovers who could probably be putting theirs AND your AND everyone's time to better use actually doling out the service and production of food.

That's absolute nonsense. Now you're suggesting fast food restaurants would run faster if people cleaned up?? Ha.

I don't currently work with serving food but I have in the past. And I know that to assume, on your part, that you are somehow doing people a favour by leaving your rubbish behind you, neat and all as it is, is delusional.

It's not delusional. It's hard for staff to see sometimes if a table is dirty from a distance. What highlights them to a table needing to be cleaned or not is a used tray or dishes.

It isn't a cast iron certainty that a table is going to be wiped down just because a tray is left on it, it's often the first thing forgotten about when the rush is on.

Never said it was a "cast iron certainty" but there is far more chance of a table being cleaned if it has used dishes / a tray still on it than if someone has removed them.

Muahahaha

Arghus wrote: »

To be honest staff in fast food places are usually put where they are needed. To assume that staff will be completely idle if there's no rubbish to bin is a bit naive.

Ever wonder why it takes so long for your burger or chips? Or why their isn't a cashier free when you need one? Chances are there's a couple of staff out there, on the floor, binning leftovers who could probably be putting theirs AND your AND everyone's time to better use actually doling out the service and production of food.

I don't currently work with serving food but I have in the past. And I know that to assume, on your part, that you are somehow doing people a favour by leaving your rubbish behind you, neat and all as it is, is delusional.

All you are really doing is contributing to the clusterfuck that an oftentimes busy day on the job actually is. You are contributing, negatively, to the logjam of tasks that can pile up all at once for a member of staff. You might think it means nothing, but if you'd ever had to bin hundreds of trays day in day out when you could have been doing something else to help the place run more harmoniously, then you'd probably understand how a little contribution goes a long way. It isn't a cast iron certainty that a table is going to be wiped down just because a tray is left on it, it's often the first thing forgotten about when the rush is on.

Fast food managers deliberately under staff their restaurants to get customers to do the clean up shocker.

You direct your ire at the customers for not wanting to do the bosses work for him. Instead you should direct it at the boss who deliberately under staffs the restaurant.

Weatherspoons here and in the UK operate a food business where the prices of their daily specials are on a par with a buying a large Big Mac meal. The staff in Weatherspoons take your food to your table and then clear the plates afterwards. Last time I checked Weatherspoons was listed on the stock exchange and is a very profitable company whilst still operating on tight margins. If they can provide enough staff to keep their tables clean then so can McDonalds. There really is no excuse for it and really the only reason fast food restaurants do it is to increase profitability. By putting "Thank You" on their bins they think they are shaming customers into doing their work for them. More fool the people that do I say, if no one did it they would simply have to employ more staff. Not much wrong with that that I can see.

Arghus

"Outlaw wrote:

That's absolute nonsense. Now you're suggesting fast food restaurants would run faster if people cleaned up?? Ha.

Absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt. And I say that from first hand experience. And that goes for all retail. It's not the be all and end all, but it sure helps.

Might even get you service with a smile.