Clean your damn plate!

I just love it! Dragon House folks are my heroes… (I just have to post the whole article!)

Family Kicked Out of Buffet Restaurant
From the Associated Press

Fri May 5, 5:36 PM ET

DES MOINES, Iowa - Wendy Dershem may think twice before leaving that egg roll on her plate at her next Chinese buffet. The Des Moines woman, her boyfriend and her two children were kicked out of a restaurant last week after management accused her of leaving too much food on her plate.

“They told us we are not welcome there anymore,” said Dershem, a repeat customer at the Dragon House buffet. “We waste too much food. But the buffet is all you can eat. And you know kids. They won’t always eat everything and they want something else.”

Dershem said she paid her $5.95 fee on Saturday but was abruptly told to leave after eating one plate of food.

Employees said they had been watching her family on previous trips to the restaurant and were fed up with her habits.

“They just take one bite and throw it away,” said cashier Lin Huyen. “They take four egg rolls and crab ragoon, take one bite of egg roll and throw the whole plate. That is wasting food.”

Dershem said she was shocked by the scolding and complained to management when she paid her check. “It was embarrassing. … If it’s a one-stop buffet, post it,” she said.

Dragon House manager Kent Cao said his restaurant offers all you can eat buffet, not all you can waste. Dershem’s family took food, didn’t finish it and then piled on the same food again, he said.

“Shes done that too many times,” Cao said. “We would welcome her back if she has respect and knows what she wants.”

Bob Oberbillig, an adjunct professor at the Drake Legal Clinic, says the patron would have no legal case against exclusion from a business unless there are other factors such as racial discrimination or mental health issues.

“An establishment can exclude people if they smoke or waste food,” he said. “It’s still a private business.”

I’m very familiar with Chinese culture thanks to some friends of mine. What Dershem and Company did is considered very disrespectful. But lets leave Chinese culture out of this for a second. Why in the hell would you fill up a plate of food, take a bite, and throw it away? Not once. Not twice. But many times? What is the point? Didn’t our parents teach us to clean our plate and never take more than you can eat? And why pay $6 for bites? Sadly, I feel this sort of behavior is a part of American culture. This whole weirdness with food and those that prepare it. There’s a Chinese buffet a few miles from me. They have a big sign on the wall written in Chinese, Spanish, and English. It simply says:

Happiness is much good food and a clean plate!

AMEN! Now eat your damn food or go buy a kiddie meal at Mickey D’s. You get a dabble of food and a nice toy.

3 Responses to “Clean your damn plate!”

1. Enigma says:

   May 7, 2006 at 9:39 pm

   i heard about this on the news. i think it’s hilarious. first of all, how are you going to use your children as an excuse? you’re the parent. either tell them what and how much they can have or make their plate. if they take a bite and don’t finish, then they don’t eat, especially since they’d been there several times. damn idiots!
2. Marcy L. says:

   May 8, 2006 at 8:56 am

   I so agree with you Enigma! Blaming the kids is just pathetic. This is a BIG PET PEEVE of mine. Why even go to a buffet anyway? Don’t you go there to EAT?
3. Caltechgirl says:

   May 8, 2006 at 8:42 pm

   I guess I would want them to have warned her on the previous trip that they were going to do that. Otherwise, I totally agree with them. It’s all you can eat, not all you can toss in the trash, and blaming your kids is pretty low. After all, who’s the parent?