At the end of a meal at a restaurant, some people like to help servers out by preparing their plates to be cleared off the table. While this may seem like a simple task, there are many ways that a customer can mess up that make cleaning up the table harder for the server, not easier.
Recently, TikTok user Courtney Mae (@bubblesonthemoon) spotted a comment from another user asking servers to show how to properly stack dishes at the end of a meal. In a video with over 680,000 views, she obliged.
@bubblesonthemoon Replying to @readlitandweep My preference of stacking for easy clean up. Had training going on so perfect timing! Of course, this is all my opinion and preference. Cups you do not stack together to avoid suction and getting stuck. Some people prefer stacking, some don't. All depends on the person. Hope this helps! #stackingdishes #restaurant #serverlife ♬ This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
In the video, a person can be seen scraping all of the excess food onto a single plate and stacking the remaining plates under it. Silverware is then placed on the top plate. Bowls and any remaining small plates are similarly stacked.
“My preference of stacking for easy clean up. Had training going on so perfect timing! Of course, this is all my opinion and preference. Cups you do not stack together to avoid suction and getting stuck,” Mae wrote in the caption. “Some people prefer stacking, some don’t. All depends on the person.”
In the comment section, many users stressed that this was not a requirement for eating out—it’s just something that one can do if they want to help servers.
“I already do that and people think I’m crazy,” wrote one user. “Why not make someone’s job easier if you can?”
“I was a server and I didn’t care if anybody did this,” added another. “If you did, okay. If you didn’t, okay too.”
“Doesn’t always have to be this well done; but an effort is always appreciated,” shared a third.
Still, some users seemed vehemently opposed to the idea.
“I believe part of the enjoyment of eating out is not having to do anything, especially scraping plates,” stated a commenter. “I have been a server and still believe this!”
“Up next: taking the plates into the kitchen and rinsing them off before you leave,” joked a second.
“So first it was Walmart with the self-checkout,” observed a further TikToker. “Now we are cleaning our own tables and we eat out.”
Regardless, many users believed that picking up after themselves at a restaurant was common courtesy and a widely-understood practice.
“I’ve never been a server. I thought this was common knowledge,” said one commenter.
“Never been a [server]. But I was taught this as it was respectful to the one serving you,” claimed an additional TikToker.
The Daily Dot reached out to Courtney Mae via Instagram direct message.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
Source: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/how-servers-prefer-customers-leave-tables/