Etiquette

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It's OK, there aren't too many old people around this week, just us young wans.

:eek::(:mad:

Muahahaha wrote: »

I never do it but not out of laziness but hygiene. If you clear your own table then there isn't a hope in hell a staff member will sanitise it after you're gone as all they'll see is an empty table. A doctor friend of mine reckons one of the most likely places outside of your own workplace to pick up a cold, cough or flu is in a fast food restaurant where you're eating your food hand to mouth while the table you eat off is infested with thousands of germs from the previous customer. We might not see germs and bacteria but they're there and multiplying by the minute. If staff haven't wiped the table then that's what you're eating in. It won't kill you or anything but don't be surprIsed if you pick up someone else's cold because of it.

Based on the above logic, you should piss all over public toilet seats for hygiene's sake.

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Are you planning to eat off the toilet seats?

So toilet seats never need to be wiped down then, no?

Uhh.... Piss all over the tables, then?

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

I can only assume when you're finished at a restaurant with table service you insist on taking the plates into the kitchen yourself to wash them?

No, and I don't think you genuinely believe your bizarre assumption, as you have probably never seen or heard of someone doing what you claim to assume I do. Yet have probably seen loads of people get rid of rubbish in fast food places. In regular restaurants I often do help clearing up, I will gather glasses together, but cutlery on plates neatly, scrap leftovers on one plate, hand them up the plate, just like I would in a friends or family members house, where I would also do more.

I thought you would have assumed my comment about throwing stuff on the floor was tongue in cheek, but instead came up with a different outlandish assumption. I have seen litterers use this excuse of "keeping jobs", and no, I am not saying you are littering.

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

I can't for the life of me understand why this is a thing tho. Does anyone know when this first started?

Fast food places have no formal seating, and no reused cutlery or glasses etc. When people are finished they will often see people holding tray waiting on a table, so many will take their finished tray away as a courteous gesture. Rather than just leave it there and expect the new people to either clean it themselves or wait for staff to do it, just the decent thing to do. Some will do it if there are no people waiting, as they expect they might be there soon. Some know these businesses are offering really low prices on the basis of needed less staff, if nobody cleaned up the prices would go up to be on the same profits.

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

How's it lazy or insulting to enter, pay, eat and leave?

The very common situation above is why some consider it lazy and/or inconsiderate.

Also people are not usually tipped in these places so it can be a gesture towards the staff who in small places like abras may may have also served you and cooked the food. I used go to an abras which often had just 1 or 2 people, the person behind the counter would shout out thanks to me as I left, it was minimal effort, they would have had to come all the way around the counter to jet my rubbish.

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

. A sandwich in O'Briens will cost you about the same or more than a big mac meal, but people aren't expected to clean up after themselves there or in other similar cafe type places.

I have seen people in cafes clean after themselves, the tray can be harder to manage if there are heavy plates etc, and in a cafe it is not binned but placed back. In college & airports etc I often saw people take finished trays back with cutlery, but there would be a obvious place for it to go. In some places I have seen staff run over to take trays from customers, probably in case of breakages or them not stacking things rightly.

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

It's totally arbitrary and it's one of those things that people get really worked up and offended over. Totally bizarre.

I've never seen anyone get worked up over it.