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.
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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).
I think the idea is eating out is a break from all the chores associated with cooking and cleaning up.
You’re literally paying for someone else to take care of those parts so you can just enjoy a meal.
If the prices were noticeably cheaper maybe.
But if you had to work at the food industry wouldn’t you rather not clean others plates ?
I worked retail for fifteen years. Would I prefer customers leave me and my colleagues alone? Absolutely I would.
Unfortunately that’s the job. Without going full-boomer and telling people to suck it up in a job they don’t like…if you’re uncomfortable cleaning up after others then maybe hospitality isn’t for them?
I worked the last year at Lowe’s helping people find stuff in the store.
It was great. I love helping people. I didn’t consider it unfortunate at all that my job was to do things for people.
I bet everyone wouldnt want to do their job if they could.
But its their job, so they do it.If you worked as truck driver, wouldnt you want to not have to live in your truck? And unload it? The consumer can do that, for the same price of course.
You don’t usually unload or load your own trailer.
In my country thats part of their job, unless they are doing inner-company transport maybe.
That’s crazy. I would rather have the people who work the equipment every day do it.
I have been 1 or 2 places that didn’t do it, but they had people there that you hire to do it.
It really sucks from what i have seen.
They are also only paid on the road, so having to load/unload is kinda unpaid time (of course partly compensated via the time they do get paid)
But depending on the items… worse pay essentially, because more items or difficult ones does not equal higher compensation.You can get dock time if the place takes a while to get to you, but that original wait time is factored into the job bid
I used to do those dishes.
You scrape over, more likely knock it against, a trash can to get it all off and then, spray, rinse, machine.
The kitchen dishes were bad, customer dishes weren’t shit.
Finally someone with real life experiance what would you say if what i said came into fruition would you say it was for the better or worse ?
It wouldn’t really matter to be honest.
I would rather people just have a good time and not worry about it. It takes less than 5 seconds and people are already paying a lot just for the food.
Sit back, kick back, and enjoy
This is such a a weird thing to focus on. You are projecting your own idea that these jobs are degrading and you fail to think about why these are jobs in the first place.
Sanitization is a massive reason why you don’t have people doing their own dishes at restaurants. There is a process that needs to be followed and restaurants are required to follow to ensure pathogens don’t end up on clean plates/etc.
Take your average person who dines at a restaurant and expect them to know these rules, and follow them, is insanely idealistic, but no company would ever even try to implement it due to the risks.
You have an unrealistic and idealistic view of this situation. Along with that, who are you to determine what is degrading? What about sanitation workers who pick up the weekly trash? Custodians who clean restrooms? The list goes on forever.
who are you to determine what is degrading
No one i specifically said its my own view and asked for others opinion
There’s plenty of things at my job I’d rather not do. But that’s not how jobs work.
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People are paying money, they don’t want that extra hassle because otherwise, they’d just eat at home.
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The cafeteria at my work is like this. I don’t mind at all, however, I only go when the meals are free so that’s definitely a factor. If I was paying, I wouldn’t bother going.
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I can cook and clean at home. I’m not giving people money to make me do work.
If I am at a restaurant, I am either extremely tired or celebrating something. If I’m tired, I don’t want to get up or do anything. If I’m celebrating Grandma’s 88th birthday with her kids and their spouses all 60-75, I don’t want any of THEM to have to clean plates while trying to navigate their walkers with their shaking hands and aching backs. It is enough that they made it to the restaurant. Don’t make them work. Also, I want to be with them, but if we had the crew to clean up after the whole family, we would have stayed home. We paid the restaurant so we’d have less work to do.
Yeah i guess in the case of senior citizens they can tip the staff to do it or the person accompanying them can do it.
You’re obviously trying to be thoughtful, and to a certain extent this is entirely subjective. If you, as any decent person would, think there are lines that you do not cross and that you treat service professionals with respect, then where is the line? You definitely don’t throw shit on the floor intentionally, but you also don’t offer to help cook, which you might at a family dinner. Every non-shitty person person will land somewhere in between, though hopefully a good ways away from throwing shit on the floor.
I think you’re just running into a situation where your line is in a different place than other folks’, to the point where you’re a little out of step with the level of “help with the chores” that most people expect at a sit-down restaurant. If you continue to treat staff with respect, thank them for their help, and (if culturally appropriate/economically necessary) tip generously, then you don’t have to feel bad. My wife waited tables and tended bar for many years, and it’s not the specific tasks that are part of the job that ever made it feel degrading, it was people treating her shabbily and acting superior. No one expects you to clear the table when you’re out; just don’t act like you’re too good to.
Depending on the country different service is expected and contractually agreed on (even non-verbal) by both parties.
Of course you can lower that service level, but without compensating the cuetomer, you probably wont have many customers anymore… as thats kinda the whole point of going to a restaurant in the firist place, not having to do these chores.
In many jobs there are parts which maybe are not to your liking… imaginge having to cleanup after yourself in a hotel… just so the cleaners dont have to change your sheets and touch your towels? Not much service left then… so it better be cheaper.Yes of course i agree then it should be cheaper . And the hotel could just install a washine machine were you could just put those sheet and towel .
If the food costs less if I cleaned my own plates and cutlery, then maybe sure. I don’t think cleaning plates is degrading considering everyone does it at home anyway. Restaurants are providing service along with the food, and that includes the freedom to enjoy your meal without needing to clean up after.
When I was a student I used to eat at a charity that made you do that at the end of the meal, it was fine. You just scraped the plate over a bin then gave the plate a scrub in soapy water. They took it away to put in the machine.
It’s not really degrading to clean, though. It’s good honest work and it needs to be done.
In mine site messes in Australia you empty your plate into a bin and stack it in the industrial clean racks.
I wouldn’t trust that you clean your plate well enough that i would eat off of it again. (Not necessarily you, but the general population)
Same in Sweden unless it’s a high-er end restaurant.
Yeah of course they need to was it again . With soap and scrubber . But i am saying the waste disposal and first rinse and scrub should be done by cystomer
Yeah that i can get behind for sure, certainly improves my life when i have guests come over who do that with their own plate
Just to add an other aspect, I don’t want to have to deal with dirty plates because the guy before me was lazy.
The dishpit is also a lot more efficient.
Cook at home and you can wash all of the dishes you want. The food quality might be better too.
For those who don’t cook, spend 6 months on Hello Fresh, keep the recipes, then cancel and keep making the recipes. It saves so much money in the long run and you gain a skill.
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