Saturday, November 5, 2011

Theft or Not?

If you order something off the menu that states "All You Can Eat" or "Endless", exactly what do you think that means?

Apparently, six college-aged girls thought it meant something else altogether.

At a recent visit to national chain restaurant with our friends, we watched these girls continue to order shrimp item after shrimp item and dump the contents into to-go boxes – all in front of the waiter. My husband had ordered the same "endless shrimp" entree and only asked for one "refill" because he was full.

When we paid our bill, our friend asked the waiter if my husband could get a to-go box and order four more skewers of shrimp (yes, he was joking). The waiter then asked my husband if he wanted more (no, he wasn't joking). My husband said no. Our friend then asked about those girls.

Seems the waiter is not allowed to say anything, even though it states on the menu (albeit in small print) that it's for consuming in the dining room only. He was under the impression he could lose his job if he did.

Frankly, I think the waiter was an idiot if he didn't bring it to the attention of the manager. And if he did, then the manager was an idiot not to put a stop to it.

So, is it stealing if the restaurant doesn't enforce their rule?

And would it be Karma if those girls got sick eating it later?

5 comments:

DL Hammons said...

The manager is an idiot for not making the policy clear to all his servers!!

Stacy McKitrick said...

That's what I think, too, DL. Thanks for stopping by!

Anne Gallagher said...

As a former manager of a restaurant, yes, it is stealing. Shame on the manager for not being on the floor during dinner service. Shame on him also for not making a big deal out of it during the staff meeting.

And yes, Karma will pre-dictate those girls get wickedly sick. Nothing worse than food poisoning.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Wow Anne - you get up early on a Sunday morn! Thanks for visiting me.

While I think the restaurant was stupid, I still blame those girls. Or should I blame their parents? When I told my daughter what they did, she said she'd never do anything like that, because she wouldn't even think about doing it. Makes me wonder how those girls were raised.

B.E. Sanderson said...

Yep, it's stealing. I'm gonna guess the waiter didn't want to say anything because he didn't want to tick off a table full of potential dates. Stupid.

Depending on how many shrimp they took and how fast they end up eating them, they could get very sick. Food poisoning off a bad shrimp is a horrible thing to go through. But I'm betting those girls still won't learn.