There is no doubt I am a messy eater. My son said one time recently they could always tell where I sat at the table. I'm that way at home, too. At home after a meal and after I have done the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, I grab the broom and sweep under my chair and around where I have eaten. All this has done is somewhat curtailed me from eating anywhere but home. I can't seem to help myself so I'm generally prepared to clean up the crumbs. I don't generally waste food and am more likely to leave one bite or leave the table still a little hungry.
Sometimes with buffets, people pile on food they think is tasty, but when they actually taste it, they cannot finish it, as they find it was not what it appeared to be. Proper labeling can correct some of this.
Hummmm, don't even get me going how some folks, including some teens, eat a the local buffet we go to. It's a very popular buffet. Anyway, last Saturday night, we had a table close to, but thank the Lord, not that close to, a table with five teens eating at it. Different colors of hair, face piercings, socks that didn't match and, to us, very weird clothing, how they left their table. I really think I would have quit the job if I would've had to clean up their mess. Yes, it was THAT bad on the table, under the table and immediately around their table.
Oh, no! Socks that don't match? The absolute horror of it all! <Hastily checking my athletic socks to see if they match......uh-oh, one has a blue heel and one has a green heel....I'm definitely not the type of person you'd want to be dining near at the buffet, not with my non-matching socks.> Yep, non-matching socks are a clear sign of a degenerate. But that doesn't surprise me, because not only do I have non-matching socks, I have....gasp...a tattoo.
Talking of buffets, just think of those all-inclusive buffets on cruise ships and "All-You-Can-Eat" or other flat-rate offers mostly in downtown restaurants all of which underline one thing: What counts is the money taken, not a potential waste of food. Small wonder that other restaurants have to offer big portions at least in order to keep up. What do people returning from and talking about a cruise mention first and foremost? What the weather was like and that they could stuff themselves at any time on the boat. Only then it was a good deal.
Adding to the appearance of messiness at some restaurants is the fact that some, in a cost-cutting measure, have cut back on those who clear off tables ("bus boys"), or require the busy waiting staff to do it themselves. This often results in empty tables littered with the dirty dishes and uneaten food long after the previous customers have departed...hardly an incentive to patrons!
Now, let's NOT get carried away at how we described these teens. I'm just the "observant" type of person. Anyway, we were sort of shocked at how they looked, yes, more like Punk Rock kids, which I do know that look, but HOW they were eating and how they left the table looking. Like some other tables that I noticed, not pretty messy, but totally messy. Did their parents teach them to eat this way, or is it just a "rebellious" thing? Using a fork, like it was a shovel. I was never taught to eat that way...……..especially in public!
Bad management pure and simple. I have fired more managers who believe that their exclusive job during business hours is to point fingers than I can count on both hands and feet. I even fired an owner of a restaurant because all he did was sit at the bar and entertain rather than presenting himself as a serious owner but that’s another good story. Whether there are bus people or not, everyone on the floor should know that part of their job is to bus and / or clean tables whether it’s their table or not. If the manager hasn’t instilled that in his people then he’s not doing his job. If the manager himself or herself isn’t acting as the “extra” person who is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to insure top production, it’s bad management. Obviously I am not a proponent of the Hilton Creed which states, “I’ll never go back”. In other words, perchance a dishwasher needs help, management (the Chef in this case) will not help wash dishes but allow the dishwasher to stay in the weeds or find someone in the utility department to help. It’s below his station to be found on the dish rack. In such places which tout that type of management, the overseer could lose his or her job if they are caught doing something below their pay grade. When I was on the dish rack, I worked hard to advance to a higher position so I wouldn’t have to wash dishes. Working hard to advance is a good thought process but the reasoning was stinkin’ thinkin’. Eventually, when I started running the kitchen or or whole house, I found myself having to teach, prep, cook, wash dishes, scrub floors, take out the garbage and yes, having to bus and wait tables and much later after the place closes, do all the paperwork because that’s just what the job calls for. If you go to a place and see the manager or owner standing around and pointing fingers when all heck is breaking loose on the floor or in the kitchen, it’s all bad management and lazy at that.