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Buffet Manners


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Lala, I think if Tana and/or Mags wanted to be In Charge In Seattle, they could easily pull it off!

Cynthia G, if Tana and Mags want to be in charge in Seattle, I say go for it! Like I tried to say (if I wasn't clear), for Anyone to be in charge here would make a nice change(as opposed to our usual lethargy by committee, and Ignoring the voter's wishes) ...oh, I'm getting political now... must go stand in sunshine...

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

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:huh:

How so, Mongo? More important: why so?

:huh:

merely combatting the "only in america", "makes me embarassed to be an american" etc. kind of thinking that this sort of a thing brings out in some people. i'm an indian who lives in the u.s and i've seen this kind of behavior from all kinds of people in all kinds of places. and i'll reiterate: if you stacked up the biggest jerks from all over the world and let them have at each other, my money would be on the jerk from south delhi.

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It's not necessarily a sheep mentality...the Jaywalking/crossing against the light fine in Seattle is about $80.00, and the police are very gungho about enforcing this (must be easier to catch a jaywalker than a drug dealer, right?) If you're in a neighborhood, you can usually get away with it, but downtown, you can get nabbed by a cop hiding around the corner.

Actually I work downtown and do it all the time, in clear view of the police station, cop cars, bike cops, whatever, just to test that theory, because that's what the "wait for the light" followers always tell me. It's just not true, it's a myth to keep you guys under big brother control! :raz:

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:biggrin: I think you lead a sheltered life -- sheltered, at least, from the kind of spectacularly boorish arrogance that can be produced by the combination of 26-year-old mane + ridiculously inflated salary + aggressively hierarchical corporate ethos that constantly promotes the message that one is either a "player" (i.e., somebody who "matters," and thus whose every whim shall be indulged) or pond scum. The financial industry is particularly gifted at putting together this combination of factors,

Not especially sheltered but I've learned who to avoid :rolleyes:

I recall reading a book about Wall Street frivolities in which this particular species was described as "Big Swinging Dicks". And... there was a constant competition to see who was the Biggest Dick (not who had one - just who was one by virtue of their arrogance and self-possessed grandiosity).

You have just clarified for me why I intuitively avoided certain places when I lived in the NYC area.

Liar's Poker? That was an interesting read. Young guy frm New Orleans who bumped into a job while having dinner at the same banquet table as some big shot's wife.

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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I can see the owner's POV. However, as I was reminded last Sunday at an All You Can Eat Chinese place, you may not want to eat all that was on your plate. I did my usual light serving first pass. Everything was horrid. The egg rolls smelled of sulphur, the green beans had sand in them, and I could rant for hours about the rest of the "food".

The place was full of smiling people happily gorging themselves, and I'm thinking that this would have to be the only place open in a hundred miles before I would come back. I ditched the first plate, with only a few bites taken from it. I got a second, trying different items. The only thing the didn't screw up was the fruit.

I normally don't waste food. At least on purpose. But when the food sucks, and the rest of the customers aren't complaining (flippin heathens) then it must be me, right? I wasted a bunch of food that day, but I'm not going to eat crap. I left there and hit the drive through at Burger king for a meal. And was much happier with that.

Screw it. It's a Butterball.
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I will only be in charge in Seattle if the climate changes. Actually, the week I was there, the weather was 100% sunny the entire time. I have the best vacation weather karma in the world.

Where will you put me up? Vintage Park? (I stayed at the Alexis and the Sorrento -- fabulous food at the Sorrento. My God.)

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It's not necessarily a sheep mentality...the Jaywalking/crossing against the light fine in Seattle is about $80.00, and the police are very gungho about enforcing this (must be easier to catch a jaywalker than a drug dealer, right?) If you're in a neighborhood, you can usually get away with it, but downtown, you can get nabbed by a cop hiding around the corner.

Actually I work downtown and do it all the time, in clear view of the police station, cop cars, bike cops, whatever, just to test that theory, because that's what the "wait for the light" followers always tell me. It's just not true, it's a myth to keep you guys under big brother control! :raz:

I used to work downtown... maybe I just attract cops! It's my rosy cheeks and curly hair that makes them suspicious, I guess :wink: ... I have seen people get arrested for jaywalking. However, I also jaywalk, if the coast is clear. Yessss....I live life on the edge...

from tana butler:

"I will only be in charge in Seattle if the climate changes. Actually, the week I was there, the weather was 100% sunny the entire time. I have the best vacation weather karma in the world.

Where will you put me up? Vintage Park? (I stayed at the Alexis and the Sorrento -- fabulous food at the Sorrento. My God.)"

Don't tell anyone, but the weather is much nicer than we let on. And we'd put you up anywhere you wanted :rolleyes:

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

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Would like to go on record as stating definitively that I have no desire to be In Charge In Seattle.

I would want to start smaller. Maybe Spokane.

At least in Spokane you can move around downtown without being subject to the weather, in Seattle you've just got to take the wetness as it comes.

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Let me play devil's advocate here.. what would the reaction have been if I had said the owner was really rude and lectured the guys on wasting their food :raz:

He's still right, let's face it other diners are going to pay for those asshole's bad behaviour, and if I was another diner there I'd help the owner throw them out.

Not that I'd ever be there in the first place, buffet is spawn of the devil.

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He's still right, let's face it other diners are going to pay for those asshole's bad behaviour, and if I was another diner there I'd help the owner throw them out.

presumably food wastage is factored in with a reasonable buffer when costing is done. food wastage also occurs at the end of the night or service, when they throw out the slop that no one ate.

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Would like to go on record as stating definitively that I have no desire to be In Charge In Seattle.

I would want to start smaller.  Maybe Spokane.

At least in Spokane you can move around downtown without being subject to the weather, in Seattle you've just got to take the wetness as it comes.

In Spokane, you take the SNOW as it comes. Rain is much friendlier.

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

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In Spokane, you take the SNOW as it comes. Rain is much friendlier.

Yes, quite. And just because you can -run- Spokane doesn't guarantee you'll be able to get anyone to try anything other than Cyrus O'Leary's and fast food. :wink:

Anyway, that whole buffet manners thing really grosses me out. What is wrong with people. (I know, rhetorical question)

I'm sure the whole thing around power buying layers of disconnect from the source of things figures prominently into it. Even so, the parents of those young men should be slapped for breeding them.

Pat

"I... like... FOOD!" -Red Valkyrie, Gauntlet Legends-

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I have to admit, I've done that at buffets before and it didn't bother me. (Although I generally try to stay away from buffets.)

Now that I read your post and really think about it, I'm thinking that at a buffet, you take a small amount of all of the foods you want to try (instead of a heap of it).

If you really like something, you can go back and get more, instead of wasting and throwing away what you don't like.

You've opened my eyes, thanks.

To eat good food is to be close to God." -Big Night

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My mother doesn't care for the food at buffet restaurants but will go on occasion because my father likes them. She maintains that her real pleasure in going there is that she feels so darn skinny when she looks around in those places. She could lose a few pounds but says she's always way skinny in that context.

presumably food wastage is factored in with a reasonable buffer when costing is done. food wastage also occurs at the end of the night or service, when they throw out the slop that no one ate.

Who says they really throw it out? Slop is easily reheated :shock:

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It was intentionally rude behavior, sounds as if it was done on a  dare

:biggrin: I think you lead a sheltered life -- sheltered, at least, from the kind of spectacularly boorish arrogance that can be produced by the combination of 26-year-old male + ridiculously inflated salary + aggressively hierarchical corporate ethos that constantly promotes the message that one is either a "player" (i.e., somebody who "matters," and thus whose every whim shall be indulged) or pond scum. The financial industry is particularly gifted at putting together this combination of factors, though large white-shoe law firms also field a strong team. The arrogance tends to be particularly unpleasant in the case of young men, because within the context of their offices, it is they who are the pond scum, regularly peed on by (and required to indulge the whims of) the real "players," who are typically at least 10 years older, with even more inflated incomes. In the time honored way of things, the young men then go looking for people that they themselves can pee on.

It's not a pretty sight.

Editing for spilling

i had a boss like that in 80's..he was "IT" and everyone ellse was pond scum...i always knew when he got home at night, however nasty he was to me, his wife was 10x nastier to him...probably kicked his dog in the wee hours when i was not around

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My mother used to say"take all you want but eat all you take". However,she also calls all the buffet places around here"troughs" for more reasons than one!!!

Every new food you try adds a year to your life.Therefore,I am immortal ;=)
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the owner was right but as a buffet owner in today's society, he has to know that - sadly and unfortunately - some people are lazy, sloppy, pigs. if he's worried about wastage, he should switch to a more traditional restaurant. i think unless the buffet posts a whole set of draconian rules, there will always be more waste than at a traditional restaurant.

sure, he can try to change those people, but it's not the soundest business strategy if he wants to make money.

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A sign that used to be displayed, at least in some army messes: Take all you want, but eat all you take.

That is what a buffet should be about.

Hardly ever go to a buffet restaurant, even if the meal is included in a hotel package.

Can't eat all that much (often have to apologize to the waiters if I am out of town and cannot take the stuff home with me), and the last thing I want is to eat at a restaurant that is catering to those who want quantity in lieu of quality.

For me, most buffets are places where I can eat a little bit of food that I probably do not like all that much.

The young men at that buffet were probably just young guys who were feeling self important and believed themselves the centers of the universe.

I agree with the manager in politely addressing the situation.

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