Dining in groups (1 Viewer)

[Terminalxylem]

If there are multiple empty plates, I occasionally stack them as well. I may be wrong, but I believe this helps the server, while decluttering the table

I always do this

Yeah, I think it’s the right thing to do, but sometimes wonder if the waitstaff prefers stacking plates/utensils in a specific way.

Related, I don’t like unnecessary removal of unused, or even lightly used flatware. Also try to reuse plates when I (rarely) go to buffets.

in general, the server would prefer you not to stack the plates.

a bullet point for fine dining service: anything that is not being used should be removed from the table ASAP.

Fair enough. What about moving plates/used silverware to a unused area of the table, within server’s reach, but out of the way of those still eating?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

If there are multiple empty plates, I occasionally stack them as well. I may be wrong, but I believe this helps the server, while decluttering the table

I always do this

Yeah, I think it’s the right thing to do, but sometimes wonder if the waitstaff prefers stacking plates/utensils in a specific way.

Related, I don’t like unnecessary removal of unused, or even lightly used flatware. Also try to reuse plates when I (rarely) go to buffets.

in general, the server would prefer you not to stack the plates.

a bullet point for fine dining service: anything that is not being used should be removed from the table ASAP.

Fair enough. What about moving plates/used silverware to a unused area of the table, within server’s reach, but out of the way of those still eating?

with good service this should be unnecessary. but it will be a signal to the server that they aren't paying attention and those items should be removed immediately. etiquette dictates that no ones plate should be cleared until the last person is finished. unless the plates are pushed away and or stacked. the reason for this is that it sends a not so subtle message to the person still eating that they need to hurry up.

i guarantee that the servers at the fancy places you were at have been trained to follow the above. whether they do so, is another story.

the circle is now complete

 

[shuke]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

 

[General Malaise]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

Soak it in your water dish. WA LA.

 

[the moops]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

What do you think happens to that napkin when it hits the floor? Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating? For those meaty paws of yours have touched door handles, menus, chairs, etc that hundreds of guests have already touched.

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

What do you think happens to that napkin when it hits the floor? Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating? For those meaty paws of yours have touched door handles, menus, chairs, etc that hundreds of guests have already touched.

Just speaking for myself, I absolutely wash my hands after entering a restaurant. My wife also carries sanitizer that I may use. I can’t imagine why someone would not ask for another napkin if yours fell on the floor. Why would that be an inconvenience to the wait staff?

 

[gianmarco]

@Keerock

Ripe for a What's Normal.

What do you do if your napkin falls on the floor?

 

[Keerock]

@Keerock

Ripe for a What's Normal.

What do you do if your napkin falls on the floor?

Wipe my hands on my pants and my face on my sleeve... duh.

 

[Joe Bryant]

FWIW, my best friend is a MD. I asked him why he doesn't get sick being around all those sick people.

He said some of it's a build up of immunity. But most of it is he's a world-class hand washer / don't put your hands to your mouth guy.

 

[gianmarco]

FWIW, my best friend is a MD. I asked him why he doesn't get sick being around all those sick people.

He said some of it's a build up of immunity. But most of it is he's a world-class hand washer / don't put your hands to your mouth guy.

This.

Or your eyes.

And, in public, avoid touching lots of surfaces with your fingers if you can avoid it. Hand rails, elevator buttons, etc. Use your knuckle, for example, for buttons.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

What do you think happens to that napkin when it hits the floor? Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating? For those meaty paws of yours have touched door handles, menus, chairs, etc that hundreds of guests have already touched.

Sure do. I wash my hands after I’ve stacked that nasty menu.

 

[Gally]

I’ll add this To the list. I loathe all of the picture taking.

I understand the group picture to commemorate the outing and I will give it a pass for a single picture kind of thing. The multiple pictures of food.....not just your food but trying to take pictures of each person's meal is totally annoying. When I am with a group that has someone like that I try and take a bite or move stuff around so they won't want to take a pitcure of my plate.

I just don't get the point of this but I also don't get the point of the guy in the front row filming from his phone at a sporting event. Just watch the game yourself. That's why you are there.

 

[the moops]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

What do you think happens to that napkin when it hits the floor? Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating? For those meaty paws of yours have touched door handles, menus, chairs, etc that hundreds of guests have already touched.

Sure do. I wash my hands after I’ve stacked that nasty menu.

You like get up and use the bathroom just to wash our hands after touching the menu?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

What do you think happens to that napkin when it hits the floor? Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating? For those meaty paws of yours have touched door handles, menus, chairs, etc that hundreds of guests have already touched.

Sure do. I wash my hands after I’ve stacked that nasty menu.

You like get up and use the bathroom just to wash our hands after touching the menu?

Absolutely.

 

[shuke]

Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating?

100%

 

[General Malaise]

What do you guys do on camping trips?

 

[gianmarco]

What do you guys do on camping trips?

Definitely stack the menus.

 

[Gally]

What do you guys do on camping trips?

Definitely stack the menus.

and stock up on cloth napkins

 

[Scoresman]

We use hand sanitizer after giving the menus back to the server. Seems to solve the issue and you dont have to get up.

 

[General Malaise]

Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating?

100%

Do you fly in on your Spruce Moose?

 

[the moops]

This has gotta be shtick

 

[General Malaise]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

 

[Scoresman]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

 

[the moops]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

OMG germs!!

 

[Scoresman]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

OMG germs!!

I used to think the same way. Then the pandemic hit and I got a lot better about washing hands and stuff like that and I've only gotten sick once since 2019. I dont obsessively wash my hands, but I do when I touch stuff that has been handled by a lot of other people in a short amount of time like menus and anything in an airport.

 

[General Malaise]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

Most people don’t give a second thought to using their cell phone everywhere, from their morning commute to the dinner table to the doctor’s office. But research shows that cell phones are far dirtier than most people think, and the more germs they collect, the more germs you touch.

In fact, your own hand is the biggest culprit when it comes to putting filth on your phone. Americans check their phones about 47 times per day, according to a survey by Deloitte, which affords plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to move from your fingers to your phone.

“Because people are always carrying their cell phones even in situations where they would normally wash their hands before doing anything, cell phones do tend to get pretty gross,” says Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Research has varied on just how many germs are crawling on the average cell phone, but a recent study found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones of high school students. Scientists at the University of Arizona have found that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I have a friend who I absolutely loathe dining out with because she cannot order something off the menu as is. She is the world’s most picky eater and she has no idea how insulting some of her requests are to the chefs.

The other parts of dining out with people just are what they are imo. Learn to deal.

But we have one of these in our friend group, and she drives me mad. She gets left off of invites on occasion because she's so high maintenance. I cringe every time she goes to order. You just know what's coming.

"This Chef Dave's Fried Nashville Hot Chicken Breast... is that white meat? Uh-huh. And can they bake it instead of frying it? No? Wow, OK. Well is it spicy? I can't really do spicy foods. Oh. Is there any way to get it without being dipped in the sauce? You have a grilled chicken sandwich? No, why would I want that? Just bring me the turkey club with no mayo or bacon. And if you have ham instead of turkey, that would be great.

*30 seconds after meal is set down*

"I had no idea this would have tomato in it or come on toast. Can you just box it up for me? Maybe my daughter will eat it."

*headexplodes*

 

[gianmarco]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

Most people don’t give a second thought to using their cell phone everywhere, from their morning commute to the dinner table to the doctor’s office. But research shows that cell phones are far dirtier than most people think, and the more germs they collect, the more germs you touch.

In fact, your own hand is the biggest culprit when it comes to putting filth on your phone. Americans check their phones about 47 times per day, according to a survey by Deloitte, which affords plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to move from your fingers to your phone.

“Because people are always carrying their cell phones even in situations where they would normally wash their hands before doing anything, cell phones do tend to get pretty gross,” says Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Research has varied on just how many germs are crawling on the average cell phone, but a recent study found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones of high school students. Scientists at the University of Arizona have found that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.

I honestly don't worry too much about touching things that are dirty. The bigger issue is avoiding touching my mouth with my hands and/or washing my hands frequently, especially when I MIGHT touch my mouth (like eating). It's just a habit. My fingers don't ever really go in my mouth or in my eyes. If they do, I wash before I do so.

 

[General Malaise]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

Most people don’t give a second thought to using their cell phone everywhere, from their morning commute to the dinner table to the doctor’s office. But research shows that cell phones are far dirtier than most people think, and the more germs they collect, the more germs you touch.

In fact, your own hand is the biggest culprit when it comes to putting filth on your phone. Americans check their phones about 47 times per day, according to a survey by Deloitte, which affords plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to move from your fingers to your phone.

“Because people are always carrying their cell phones even in situations where they would normally wash their hands before doing anything, cell phones do tend to get pretty gross,” says Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Research has varied on just how many germs are crawling on the average cell phone, but a recent study found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones of high school students. Scientists at the University of Arizona have found that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.

I honestly don't worry too much about touching things that are dirty. The bigger issue is avoiding touching my mouth with my hands and/or washing my hands frequently, especially when I MIGHT touch my mouth (like eating). It's just a habit. My fingers don't ever really go in my mouth or in my eyes. If they do, I wash before I do so.

No, I get it. I wash my hands too, especially if they've come in contact with pennies.

I'm just amused at the folks that are militant about washing their hands after they touch a menu but will have no problem with their hands using their cell phone/QR Code as a menu when cell phones are FULL of germs.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

What do you guys do on camping trips?

Bury my napkins

 

[Scoresman]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

Most people don’t give a second thought to using their cell phone everywhere, from their morning commute to the dinner table to the doctor’s office. But research shows that cell phones are far dirtier than most people think, and the more germs they collect, the more germs you touch.

In fact, your own hand is the biggest culprit when it comes to putting filth on your phone. Americans check their phones about 47 times per day, according to a survey by Deloitte, which affords plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to move from your fingers to your phone.

“Because people are always carrying their cell phones even in situations where they would normally wash their hands before doing anything, cell phones do tend to get pretty gross,” says Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Research has varied on just how many germs are crawling on the average cell phone, but a recent study found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones of high school students. Scientists at the University of Arizona have found that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.

But is it bacteria that can get me sick? Because if it is, then we'd all be constantly sick. The point of washing my hands after touching a menu is there's a decent, non-zero chance that a person who recently touched it also may have sneezed/coughed/wipe their nose before touching it. That's not happening with my phone. Hell, I saw someone licking a menu just a few weeks ago at Spaghetti Factory.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

Most people don’t give a second thought to using their cell phone everywhere, from their morning commute to the dinner table to the doctor’s office. But research shows that cell phones are far dirtier than most people think, and the more germs they collect, the more germs you touch.

In fact, your own hand is the biggest culprit when it comes to putting filth on your phone. Americans check their phones about 47 times per day, according to a survey by Deloitte, which affords plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to move from your fingers to your phone.

“Because people are always carrying their cell phones even in situations where they would normally wash their hands before doing anything, cell phones do tend to get pretty gross,” says Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Research has varied on just how many germs are crawling on the average cell phone, but a recent study found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones of high school students. Scientists at the University of Arizona have found that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.

If my hands are clean, how dirty is my phone getting? I was a compulsive hand washer before Covid. I was already adhering to All of the handwashing edicts

 

[General Malaise]

Feel like maybe this thread could use a Schoolhouse Rock on how germs work.

 

[gianmarco]

This has gotta be shtick

These same people will use their phone or iPad and think nothing of putting a morsel of food in their mouths.

The phone has my own germs on it. The menus have germs from whatever disgusting people touched it over the last few hours/days.

Most people don’t give a second thought to using their cell phone everywhere, from their morning commute to the dinner table to the doctor’s office. But research shows that cell phones are far dirtier than most people think, and the more germs they collect, the more germs you touch.

In fact, your own hand is the biggest culprit when it comes to putting filth on your phone. Americans check their phones about 47 times per day, according to a survey by Deloitte, which affords plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to move from your fingers to your phone.

“Because people are always carrying their cell phones even in situations where they would normally wash their hands before doing anything, cell phones do tend to get pretty gross,” says Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Research has varied on just how many germs are crawling on the average cell phone, but a recent study found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones of high school students. Scientists at the University of Arizona have found that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.

If my hands are clean, how dirty is my phone getting? I was a compulsive hand washer before Covid. I was already adhering to All of the handwashing edicts

Doesn't really matter how clean your hands are. Your phone is filthy. From being put in pockets, setting it down, and hands are just notoriously dirty even with frequent hand washing.

Hand-washing definitely helps. It's one of the best ways to fight transmissible diseases. But, again, more importantly, do not put your fingers in your mouth, or in general, touch your face. Just imagine you put your hands in dirt and they are just covered in mud and stuff and think of them being like that 24 hours per day and you'll cut down on picking up stuff significantly.

People above say they wash their hands after touching the menu. I don't. I wash my hands right before I eat. That just usually happens to be after I touch the menu, but it's not the menu itself that's making me wash them.

ETA -- Here you go. STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE

The Australian study counted a total of 2346 touches over 4 hours among 26 students. Its results suggest that, on average, people touch their face around 23 times per hour. The researchers also kept a tally of whether students touched the 'mucosal area' (eyes, nose, mouth) and other places around the face (such as ears, chin, cheeks, forehead). Touching the mucosal area is especially relevant to respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2 because that region is the main entry point for an invading virus particle. In the Australian observations, 44% of touches involved the mucosal area while 56% were to the other facial regions.

 

[the moops]

But, again, more importantly, do not put your fingers in your mouth, or in general, touch your face.

If not me, then who the hell is going to stroke my magnificent beard?

 

[Terminalxylem]

1. Don’t waste time, order quickly and decisively. If you have to wait to be seated, check out the menu in advance.
2. After the obligatory delay between selecting drinks (unnecessary imo), stack the menus to signal your server you’re ready to order the food.
3. Keep changes to menu items at a minimum. While OK for legitimate food allergies/dietary restrictions, it’s unreasonable to do much more than omit a single ingredient.
4. Unless service/food is terrible, you really shouldn’t need to summon the server back to your table.

1. Relax
2. Seriously, relax.
3. Let people order what they want.
4. There are a number of reasons to summon the server. Need another drink, the kitchen didn't deliver what I asked for, I dropped my napkin on the floor and need a new one. I'm curious to hear some examples of when people have and you don't think they shouldn't have.

Hold up.....

Napkin? The thing you use to wipe off your hands? If that hits the ground you need a new one? What are you, British Royalty? It's a napkin, not a piece of gum.

I use my napkin to wipe my mouth. My moustache seems to soak up a lot of food.

What do you think happens to that napkin when it hits the floor? Do you also wash your hands after entering the restaurant and before eating? For those meaty paws of yours have touched door handles, menus, chairs, etc that hundreds of guests have already touched.

Sure do. I wash my hands after I’ve stacked that nasty menu.

Good point. I wash my hands after the "thanks" emoji.

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

What do you guys do on camping trips?

Camping “filth” is a completely different “filth” than a public place like a restaurant.

Dirt and mud that I might encounter on a campsite is not a big concern for me. It’s the guy that wiped his butt and didn’t wash his hands and then handled the menu that I just had to touch that is the big concern for me.

 

[Scoresman]

What do you guys do on camping trips?

Camping “filth” is a completely different “filth” than a public place like a restaurant.

Dirt and mud that I might encounter on a campsite is not a big concern for me. It’s the guy that wiped his butt and didn’t wash his hands and then handled the menu that I just had to touch that is the big concern for me.

Exactly. Or the person who is sick who touched the menu. Society didn't learn a thing from the pandemic and still has no problem going out while sick, oblivious to whoever they might be infecting.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I’ll add this To the list. I loathe all of the picture taking.

I understand the group picture to commemorate the outing and I will give it a pass for a single picture kind of thing. The multiple pictures of food.....not just your food but trying to take pictures of each person's meal is totally annoying. When I am with a group that has someone like that I try and take a bite or move stuff around so they won't want to take a pitcure of my plate.

I just don't get the point of this but I also don't get the point of the guy in the front row filming from his phone at a sporting event. Just watch the game yourself. That's why you are there.

Agree. Nostalgia is almost as bad as leisurely dining.

 

[ChiefD]

You people are weird.

 

[Terminalxylem]

What do you guys do on camping trips?

Surreptitiously extinguish the fire.

 

[Terminalxylem]

We use hand sanitizer after giving the menus back to the server. Seems to solve the issue and you dont have to get up.

But you now need to lug a vat of sanitizer everywhere you go.

 

[the moops]

You people are weird.

Seriously. Open the restaurant door - excuse me everyone, I need to wash up. Order some food - excuse me again. Waiter brings a glass of water - sorry I need to wipe this glass down. Fork touches the table - excuse me, can I have a new fork please...on and on

 

[General Malaise]

You people are weird.

Seriously. Open the restaurant door - excuse me everyone, I need to wash up. Order some food - excuse me again. Waiter brings a glass of water - sorry I need to wipe this glass down. Fork touches the table - excuse me, can I have a new fork please...on and on

Right? But the person asking for a slight modification to their order is the weird one.

 

[Scoresman]

We use hand sanitizer after giving the menus back to the server. Seems to solve the issue and you dont have to get up.

But you now need to lug a vat of sanitizer everywhere you go.

A one ounce travel size is a vat?

 

[Scoresman]

Anyone do any studies on how much bacteria there are on all the straw men you guys are carrying around?

 

[General Malaise]

Anyone do any studies on how much bacteria there are on all the straw men you guys are carrying around?

Good point. I wonder how many of you order a cocktail with a straw and then delouse the straw before drinking the cocktail.

 

[Peggy]

Anyone do any studies on how much bacteria there are on all the straw men you guys are carrying around?

Good point. I wonder how many of you order a cocktail with a straw and then delouse the straw before drinking the cocktail.

Alcohol is a sanitizer. It's probably why I haven't been sick in decades.

 

[The Gator]

Anyone do any studies on how much bacteria there are on all the straw men you guys are carrying around?

Good point. I wonder how many of you order a cocktail with a straw and then delouse the straw before drinking the cocktail.

i take the straw out and sip/grab another one if the bartender touches it with his/her bare hands.

when making drinks at home i never touch the rim of the glass someone else will drink out of.

 

[Goldminer1]

In general, I am with the original poster on most of what he is saying.

I would explain it this way:

Scenario A: Eating a meal at say, Applebees after we go to see a movie, as a family - that is more of a "lets be quick and efficient" type of situation. This is a we're eating at a restaurant because it is "easier" faster and less of a hassle than going home and doing the whole "lets cook dinner" routine. Lets get in, lets get out. Have your order ready, lets not confuse the server with a bunch of subsitutitons or changes to our order. In. Out. Done.

Scenario B: A big gathering of people that don't see each other often in social settings, where a "big" get-together is planned and you may be at an establishment that you don't frequent all that often because it is a "special occassion" type of place. In this scenario - feel free to ask for subsititutions, call the server back to the table, ask for more food - whatever. This is a gathering that happens to be at a restaurant, lets enjoy it.