Wasteful people

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This is just a general rant about something I observed today at lunch.

Anyways, as part of plan of mine to try an ease my social discomfort in crowded places, I've been forcing myself on wedensday and friday to eat lunch at the dinning commons during the 12:30-1:00pm time frame when the place is absolutlely packed. For the most part, I've been getting better at dealing with crowds in the dinning commons, but today as I left, I witnessed something that I found rather disturbing.

Once we get done with our meals, there are two giant rotating carrosuels where the students can put their trays when there done eating. As the carrosuel rotates around into the kitchen area, the trays are removed by the kitchen workers who clean and dry them for use again. When I got done, both of these carrosuels were almost packed full with trays from the sudden rush of students leaving, but what bothered me was the fact that almost every single tray was still half full of food that was not eaten, but was going to be thrown out. I also saw one person spit their gum out onto the carrosuel.

What a waste! Maybe it's just me, but I think that this could serve as an metaphore for how I've been treated by others.

Use me for what you want, then get rid of me.

I agree, it's such a waste. I noticed this kind of thing even in grade school. School lunches are yucky most of the time but I remember watching kids throw away oranges, apples and bananas and untouched cartons of milk without touching them. When I asked the lunch attendants why they didn't save them for someone that would like them, they said that it was against health codes to do so. Go figure. I would have loved fresh fruit for lunch but never asked any of those, that were wasteful if I could have it, instead. I was abused by them enough at lunchtime so why give them another excuse to attack me?

I work at a boarding school, and have just recently joined in with the dining hall routine. We have a self service system, with a fantastic salad bar. The other lunchtime, one of the nicest housemasters, did a Jekyl and Hyde, and stood angrily berating the students that didn't put any salad on their plates. He was literally hopping up and down with rage (this is a boys highschool, so salad is probably the last thing they would volantarily eat). The point was, I guess, no one took any more salad than usual, but at least the plates were clean when they got to the sink.
I've got to admit it's terribly intimidating getting into those lines, and sitting in a crowded room to eat. I can't do it on my own - I have to go with other people I work with.

the problem stems from multiple issues. People on the whole are lazy. THey don't normally serve good food in lunch lines. THey don't give enough time to eat / people don't eat, but talk instead.

I Agree!

I see it all the time at all-you-can-eat places. I don't understand this behavior, as it is always easy to go back to the bar and get more food, should one still be hungry. I usually eat all that I put on my plate(s), unless I try something new that turns out not to be tasty. However, I usually take only a small amount of the "unknown" food, so that waste is minimized, and this does not happen often. I suspect that in fact less food is wasted that we think, as the uneaten food finds its way into next day meatloaf, soup, stuffing etc.

I see this happen in my school cafeteria as well. They serve rather large portions for entrees, and a lot of people just get all of the food because the price isn't reduced even if you ask for less than the normal portion (sometimes the cafeteria workers even refuse to give you less). I just get my food in "to go" containers so that I can eat half of the food for one meal, and save the rest for another time.

Heheh, so true. I discovered how true this was when we had "BLT soup" one day.

"I suspect that in fact less food is wasted that we think, as the uneaten food finds its way into next day meatloaf, soup, stuffing etc."

erg yes, They recently prosecuted a food place here, (like a mall food-hall) for 'washing' and reusing meat from chinese meals, ugh. Like they pick the meat pieces out, wash them and put them back in the next days menu items.

I'm a bit paranoid about eating food I haven't prepared myself, I used to work as a kitchen hand and when you know something about hygiene practices or food storage, you know how easily it can all go wrong. I still eat take-away but uh yeah, it's very easy for people to get away with stuff when food isnt' prepared in front of you.

I notice a lot of this at my school too...I think that a lot of it is the age group. It seems they take a lot of things-like food, or even people-for granted. They seem to complain a lot, too. Not that there's anything wrong with it every now and then, but sometimes the things they complain about seem really trivial and selfish. I think it will get better as we get older and we are around older, wiser people (who've had a chance to catch up with us-j/k!), and I also think that there are a lot of people our age and otherwise who aren't like that at all (if only there were more of them, though!). I also think that as people get to know us and know more about us they will appreciate how amazing we all are and won't take us for granted and use us as they may have-intentionally or unintentionally- before. I especially hope this is the case for you because it doesn't sound like you have been treated very well in the past.

Oh dear.. that's not the type of uneaten food I was referring to. What I was thinking about in my post was that there are a lot of leftovers which don't get served, since they just order food in bulk and what doesn't get cooked or served to students on one day inevitably gets made into something else (sometimes a bit too erm.. creatively) the next day. For example, we once had nacho and taco related items for a whole week because they ordered a surplus of nacho chips.

Well, it still was funny imagining it that way.

I tend not to eat during recess, and if I do, its a light snack like a sandwich.

Let me just add my $0.02 USD here (I don't know where that saying came from, but anyway . . . ).

I usually leave food on the plate (and not eat it), and thus "wasting it", because I don't like to eat a lot of food during a short amount time. Rather, I like to eat food little-by-little, over a long period of time.

That's it folks.

I get annoyed when people buy food and then not finish it.

I often wonder why restaurants give such huge portions, at least here in the U.S. I mean restaurants like Denny's, your basic family restaurant, and not fancy places. Any meal you can get consists of a huge plate heaped with food, a plate of bread or huge pancakes--basically enough food for a family of four. But that's one person's food. The only people I've ever seen who actually can eat that much in one sitting are huge, obese people. So why not serve half as much food for half the price? And if the person wants more, they can order appetizers or dessert. My 12 year old is too old for the kids' menu, and wanted some pancakes, bacon, and hashbrowns. One pancake, a strip of bacon, and a little square of hash browns would have been perfect, but the only way he could get it was with portions big enough for a horse. You eat and eat and eat, and when you're done, it looks like you haven't even touched it.