Fast Food and Cleaning Up - A Rant (Yes, it's another one)
By BittyBiddy
@BittyBiddy (2903)
Ireland
December 30, 2006 9:23pm CST
Does anyone else get annoyed when they go into a place like MacDonalds and the tables are piled high with garbage from the people who were sitting at the table?
I thought the whole purpose of fast food was that you got your food, ate it, and cleaned away after yourself? Isn't that why there are bins provided? I always tell my kids to leave a clean table after them and it really annoys me when I see people (adults included) getting up and leaving a pile of rubbish after them when it's so easily disposed of.
Funnily enough, when on the continent I thought people were much better at tidying up after themselves, so I'd be interested to hear what everyone else thinks. Does this go on where you live? Do you think it's right or wrong?
14 people like this
53 responses
@lissaj (532)
• United States
31 Dec 06
People are just getting too lazy these days. They expect everything to be done for them. I know, it's just so hard to put your trash in that bin that you have to walk right by on the way out the door right? Give me a break. It's just plain laziness. I always clean up my table, and am teaching my kids to do the same thing. Of course, I am a bit of a neat freak lol, but still.
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
31 Dec 06
Well I'm just the messiest person every, especially at home. But when I'm out it's a different story. I'd die of mortification if I was to leave a filthy table after me. I had my daughter and her friends in town a few weeks ago and they got up from the table and my daughter was the only one who cleared away her stuff. So I told the girls we were going nowhere until everything had been removed from the tables. I was surprised that they hadn't been taught to tidy up after themselves. So it restores my faith in humanity when I see there are people agreeing with me here.
2 people like this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
1 Jan 07
Yeah, I wipe down the tables too. I hate having to wipe the table before I sit down.
@thinkingoutloud (6127)
• Canada
31 Dec 06
Add me to the list! I hate it that people assume that someone else should clean up their mess. Sure, if you're eating at a restaurant with table service, that will include clearing and re-setting the table. But if you get your food wrapped up on a tray, seat yourself, eat and leave, you better being throwing your trash in the bin on your way out! We clear our table automatically (kids included) and I have a habit of wiping down the table with napkins because I figure no one else appreciates spilled salt or dabs of ketchup on the table when they're looking for a seat!
2 people like this
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
31 Dec 06
here in the philippines, we don't clean up after we have used a table. the staffs do it for us. and i understand what you are telling. my boyfriend from sweden says that after eating, they are the ones cleaning up their own tables. so, he was surprised when he came to the philippines seeing the staffs clean the table for the next customer to use it.
2 people like this
@sechsey (1831)
• Canada
26 Jan 07
This is funny. My husband who is from canada is also cleaning up after eating in fastfood places. But the first time it happened here in the Philippines, I was just like no no.. Someone does that for you. Now i understand. Most countries are definitely self service when it comes to this. If you were surprised that no one cleaned up in your Mcdonalds table, people here are surprised when you stand up carrying your tray and trash with you.:)
@Ambur25 (1006)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I agree. I think people (especially at fast food places) should clean up after themselves. It just goes to show you how barbaric some people are. Even at an establishment that isn't considered "Fast food" I will always leave my place neatly organized so the waiter can come along and take my plate. The silverware is in the plate, along with any napkins that are there. (assuming they're paper) It's ridiculous to leave a public establishment worse than you would leave your own home. Although, most people seem to leave their homes in that kind of shape as well. Gross. :|
2 people like this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
1 Jan 07
Speaking of silverware, it's surprising to see the amount of people that don't know that they should leave their knife and fork at a position of 6.30 to signify that they've finished.
@amafrias (455)
• United States
31 Dec 06
Again, just pure, outright laziness!! And to think what else they might be teaching their children. And we wonder why kids are so out of control these days. The apple don't fall far from the tree. I think Americans are becoming more and more lazy everyday. Kids don't play outside anymore, they are glued to their video games, they sit on the sofa, and let their Moms wait on them hand and foot. Not in my house! If my daughters ever left a mess like that in a fast food restaurant, they may find themselves cleaning off 3 more tables just for it.
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
1 Jan 07
Good point. This is not restricted to any one society though. I think people everywhere are becoming more unwilling to lift ahand to do a bit of work.
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
1 Jan 07
I mean GENERALLY by the way. I know that thre are those of us who work very hard.
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
1 Jan 07
Yeuch. I hate leftover food on the table. It's unhygienic as well as filthy.
@teenal (1400)
• Dublin, Ireland
5 Jan 07
I would always tidy away after myself if the bins are provided. My daughter in law manages a Mc Donalds and believe me all of the staff there or in any other fast food outlet like Mc D's work very very hard. The last thing they need is to have to pick up after some lazy slob.
@southernpixie (741)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I've been to a few fast food places where people left their trash on the table. I think it's just plain sorry for people to do that. Whenever my family and I go out to eat, I try to leave the table clean enough for someone else to use. Some people just have no manners whatsoever.
2 people like this
@xXmeganxX (4421)
•
31 Dec 06
good discussion you put up, yes well every single time i go to mcdonalds chances out of 10 i will get a clean table are 2! i think the people before are just pure lazy and haven't got any consideration for the people that are going to be eating there next! it only takes a second to put it in the bin, sure this can't be hard. i admit every time i do go out and eat there i always put my rubbish in the bin because i think to myself why should somebody else do it? it's my rubbish so i have to put it in the bin! the thing what comes to my mind is if they are like this outside, who knows what there house is like in terms of cleanliness? :-/
2 people like this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
1 Jan 07
I know. I always wonder about that too. And I wonder are they the same people that leave their rubbish after them in the cinema.
@kathy77 (7486)
• Australia
31 Dec 06
Yes I get very annoyed when I go into a fast food place, and they look very messy especially when you see the adults mosly mothers just leaving their rubbish all over the table and not doing the right thing and putting their rubbish where it should go and not teaching their own children to do the right thing and therefore it does go on in some places where I live not all of them which is quite strange but there are a lot of them that are messy and of course it is wrong to do this as I have always cleaned up after myself and told my children to take their rubbish and put it in the bin it is a lot easier to do it this way then having to wash up all the plates etc, and they think it is too!!
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
1 Jan 07
I don't agre that it's mostly mothers who do this. It probably looks that way because places like McDonalds are family oriented. If guys go to McDonalds, chances are they'll probably grab a takeaway or use the drive thru. I've often been in on a weekend and families will leave their rubbish after them, but there are both parents present.
The fact that the fast food restaurants in Malta are clean seems to reinforce the point that these places are a lot cleaner on the continent. I wonder why this is the case.
1 person likes this
@tictac714 (975)
• United States
31 Dec 06
yes, that kind of thing goes on all the time, and I think it's very disrespectful to the people who work at the restaurant, who are not getting paid enough/tipped for them to deserve to have to pick up trash. It's also rude to the other restaurant patrons.
How lazy can you be that it is too much work to dump a tray of garbage into the trash?
2 people like this
@BittyBiddy (2903)
• Ireland
31 Dec 06
I don't know. Sometimes I look at these people and they're actually sitting in a big heap of their rubbish eating away. I try to tidy up as we go along so that we haven't got papers all over the place.
2 people like this
@mom2rottie (620)
•
31 Dec 06
That happens all the time here and if it's a busy time and there is nowhere else to sit, you have to clean someone elses trash before eating. That is so gross
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
31 Dec 06
Well, a lot of it is people are taught when they are young by adults when they go in these places, is people are hired there to Clean up after you, so you do not have to worry about the Garbage, etc. And they never stop to think about cleaning up after themselves, and keeping the place looking nice for the next customer.
But then the person could be someone who is on Business and used to eating at Restaurants that do always clean up after them, so they do not know in places like this it is alright and exected to clean up after yourself.
I used to work in a Burger King so I can tell you about mess, and messy customers, and it was just not messes left on the tables. What about the Restrooms?
@14missy (3183)
• Australia
31 Dec 06
I personally sound like you in that I tell my children to put their empty bixes etc in the bin before we go. Macdonalds in Australia seems to be very clean though. I have noticed staff very quickly cleaning up after customers and have never been to a dirty macdonalds here. I do think there is an attitude of wanting to be waited on when people go out to eat anywhere and they seem to leave their manners at home.
2 people like this
@brightbluesea (1143)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I have to chuckle because I have read a few fast food posts today that have cured me of any desire to eat at a fast food restaurant in the near future :) I think that it is a case of bad manners to leave your garbage behind. My kids try to pull this with their snacks and I'm on them pretty quickly to dispose of their wrappers and stuff. Adults really have no excuse and I have noticed this too
@tba123 (457)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I think fast food is just that fast food, its not where you get a waitress or bus boy to pick up after yourself. Thing is they leave their trash and don't even leave a tip for the people who do clean the table after them. I prefer to take fast food out.
2 people like this
@djshocker (400)
• United States
31 Dec 06
I have worked in Fast Food before. I don't know how many of you know of Hardee's (we have quiet a few of those around here) But, its amazing how many people don't even at least throw away their trash. My mother always made me clean up my trash even in restaurants that had waiters do it for you after you left. I would always stack my plates that way the person could easily grab them and go. But for those people that DON'T clean up after themselves, be careful. What goes around comes around and you may end up working at a fast food place or serving people and cleaning up after the ones that don't have the decency to help out. I have since moved up in the world LOL
2 people like this
