Context : when i go to a restaurant or a party or anything i have always felt that there should be a culture to clean our own plate like if i just tried to do that at a party or in a restuarant people would think i am weird and the staff will stop me . Like i always thought that cleaning other peoples plate was kinda degrading as in i wouldn’t like to do that myself . So i am think that whole culture should change . This is the reason i kinda prefer takeouts . What are your thoughts on this ? (Disclaimer : I do not work in the food industry it is just my opinion and i am sure some people who work there would agree) .
Edit : i am not implying these kinda jobs are degrading but when the consumer is perfectly healthy and capable and is just demanding this service because they are paying and the food industry workers have to do it is kinda degrading atleast in my eyes.
EDIT : Also i am not implying the servers don’t have to do anything i am saying the customer should deploy the waste in the basket and give it a little rinse under the water with some soap . Ofcourse the staff still should clean it for food safety . And maybe the price could be a little lower not by much because you still pay the same for in restaurant dining and take away.
I dunno, from both having worked in a few food service jobs and as a customer, I think it’s a bad idea.
Any fast food joint, the trash cans are in the seating area. I promise you that people are idiots and will screw things up, even in nice restaurants. You have no idea how careless people are, even when they’re otherwise very nice and respectful. And you have accidents, which the customer isn’t equipped to handle. Many a time back in those days, the front staff would end up doing more work cleaning up problems from people honestly trying to get their refuse in the right place than they would have if they’d had to clean the tables themselves.
At a regular restaurant? You’ve got plates, cups, silverware, and all of that has some degree of food waste on/in it. The nicer the place, the nicer those things are. Can you see how much chaos and expense there would be in each table of customers trying to carry their stuff to a drop off for the items, and get rid of trash/food waste? Nah, having staff do it is less expensive, better organized, and less likely to cause lawsuits.
Besides, cleaning isn’t degrading. It’s just a job. Doesn’t matter if you’re cleaning at a restaurant, a home, or someone’s ass (hello fellow nurse’s assistants!), you’re doing a good thing that harms no-one, and helps someone. That can never be degrading. A given employer may be degrading, but that’s a different thing. You can run into jerk customers that try to make it degrading, but the work itself is just life.
The point of going out to eat is everyone does stuff for you. If people had to do non-relaxation-related work at a restaurant, they probably wouldn’t see the appeal.
Lol. No.
And in many places in the world the service is expected to be even better. You wouldn’t be carrying anything or cleaning anything and that’s just normal behaviour that does NOT deserve or get a tip from anyone.
Constantly pushing worse service and higher prices at the same time is such a scam that Westerners are falling into.
What you’re describing does exist. There are plenty of restaurants with a cafeteria style dining area and no wait staff. The difference is that these places tend to be a lot cheaper than a proper restaurant with wait staff.
People do “degrading” work all the time and at a much larger scale than this. I think a more important part is to get everyone on board with not degrading people because we’re all just paying each other for things we don’t want to or can’t do anyway. A coder wouldn’t expect a client to clean up old comments in source code because that’s an expected part of the job.
I do think we should also be considerate to each other though and not leave a total mess for someone to clean up. If someone at the table is getting judgy about you cleaning your space they’re probably entitled. If staff asks you to stop though keep in mind they may have a specific way they clean tables and they don’t want you disrupting that flow (this is especially true for stacking dishes or piling things like silverware and napkins on something).
