I feel the same way Anti. I dont get out much but find myself reflecting my pauper days!
I remember my daughter bussing tables and tipping pulling my packinghouse wages.
Nothing against that, good for her, good for them, but feel compelled to organize the table.

Read an article lately about this...the consensus was servers don't like when you stack plates and clean up cause it messes up their system and makes it harder on them...not sure if I believe that, What I see is a Guatemalan busboy toss everything in a tote with no "system", lol
We always clean up anyway....

Any past servers here to comment?

Most places we eat out (the few times we do) start picking up plates as each person is done.

We tend to at least organize our mess if they leave them.

At fast food places we take the trash and dispose of it.
There are a couple of fast food types that do not have trash cans and we have learned to leave it neatly on the table at those

We don't eat out to often but when we do we always clean up the best we can. Seems like the best thing to do.

I do not like a messy table. To help the water -ess organize our mess.

Some restaurants use compartmented totes so silverware goes into its own spot separate from plates and glass.

I

I do wipe the table down after eating, but expect the waitress or whoever will wipe it down with a wet rag for the next customer. It seems to be the ethical thing to do.

yes , stack the plates silverware on top , napkins on that.

however the last several times I have eaten out there wasn't even a plate left on the table when we got up to leave just glasses. as we finished each plate the server took it off the table. That could be because about the only time I eat in a restaurant any more is to meet people and talk. Saturday I met my MKE kids near Oconomowoc. I also try and avoid crowded restaurants because I want the space and time to talk. if they have people waiting for a table we would move.



counter service restaurant with a trash can clean it off everything short of wiping it down with the soapy rag that isn't there.


I was at Oakland Gyros last month while I was helping my MKE kids move apartments the south side and Cudahy have some huge masques now there was a group of arab men they had pushed several tables together so the 8 of them could sit at one table.
They left shortly after we got there about 10pm , they had all 4 tables covered in plates napkins everything left lay , they were maybe 10 feet from the trash can.
They appeared to have been out golfing from their golf attire. left in 4 cars no man rode in the back seat.

there was such a mess the employee that came out of the kitchen to clean it up brought a trash can he probably spent 15 minutes cleaning and resetting the tables and chairs , there was enough of a mess he moved the tables and swept also before putting all the tables and chairs back in their spot.

they were the only people I have ever seen leave such a mess in there every other customer it seems was raised right.

I think it is that they culturally believe that cleaning is women's work and beneath them. well it was a man who came and cleaned up that mess.

Right after I clean the toidy and swab the floor.
Like the good winch of the East.

You ever see the mess left by the country
music concert goers? Maybe that is regional.

Ditto.

maybe it is regional , I work a music festival that is folk, bluegrass and country and as long as the trash cans are not overflowing 98% of trash will be in the can.
we have volunteers to regularly empty the cans they get in the festival for free and get a t-shirt for taking a 2 hour shift over the weekend emptying cans.




they say the litmus test for a good society is how many shopping carts are left out , this is carts left in the parking lot and not returned to the cart corals stationed around the parking lot.

almost never a cart left un-returned = a good and just society

some carts left out some times = you have some bad apples

you pull into a store and there are several carts out nearly every time just left where someone loaded their car and drove away. pushed and let to ride down the hill to the end of the lot , turned over , out near the bus stop = you are living around animals and it really starts to make you rethink your pro-life stance.

No. Except for putting trash in the waste basket I don't clean motel rooms either. Pricey as though services are I feel I'm paying to have it done. FWIW I don't eat fast food.

Funny thing about shopping carts, most people "here" don't return carts to the corrals, they just grab the closest one and use that...every place has cart boys to go round them up once in awhile...it's always been like that...perfectly nice, normal people, but rarely return a cart....No one thinks badly of them cause they mostly do the same, lol

deffinently........or I get spanked lol

Sure do, every time

Yup. Every time.

Just a slight detour from the original topic. Regarding shopping carts. Always took them to the cart corral. But about three years ago as I was leaving a store with one,an "older" gentleman sitting in the handicap parking stall asked me to bring mine to him when I was done. He wanted to use it for a support to go into the store. Don't know how long he was or would have been sitting there. Since then if there is one near that spot I go to the corral if not I leave it close to that area. G.

Yep....My wife needs the handicapped parking spots, she uses the cart as a walker too, I leave it in the blue hatched area next to the spot so the next handicapped person doesn't have to go find a cart.

I'll put my napkin & Silver ware on my plate...

But iam not stacking all the dishes ...

That's why we go out to eat...to get a break from that.

If I want to clear the table and stack dishes ...I'll stay home

Chris does but I seldom do but I don’t leave a mess either