I was recently in Japan and was pleasantly shocked at how after a meal, say at a food court, everybody returns their tray and even wipes down the table for the next customer! This is unheard of in Hong Kong where there is definitely a who cares mentality for the next customer.

A pretty uninteresting topic lol but do you return your tray after eating say at McDonald's or at a food court? How do you feel when others leave their food on the table expecting someone else to clear this away?

I have to admit I have fallen into the hong kong style of eating and simply leave my tray at the table and walk away once I have finished.

Happy travels
Toby

Germany:
if you receive your food on a tablet at a counter you are expected to clear you place when finished.
( carts made available. some places service personnel is faster than you and your place is cleared before you move out. )
Not usual to clean the table too. But that should not be necessary except you are a messy eater "food exploder"

toby25 wrote:

I was recently in Japan and was pleasantly shocked at how after a meal, say at a food court, everybody returns their tray and even wipes down the table for the next customer! This is unheard of in Hong Kong where there is definitely a who cares mentality for the next customer.

A pretty uninteresting topic lol but do you return your tray after eating say at McDonald's or at a food court? How do you feel when others leave their food on the table expecting someone else to clear this away?

I don't believe there is a single answer to this (except possibly in Japan)

In some countries, in some restaurants, it is normal to clear your table and return your tray.

In others, there are dedicated staff assigned to clear tables, and whilst they may smile and thank you for "helping" them, they will also have one eye on the possibility that management will see them as surplus and make them redundant.

The world needs people who clear tables, collect supermarket trolleys from far corners of vast car parks, and serve customers at non-automated supermarket tills.

In that context, doing the "right thing" with your food tray, might also be doing the wrong thing.

Feel free to call me boring, but personally, I look around and follow whatever I see other people doing.

toby25 wrote:

I was recently in Japan and was pleasantly shocked at how after a meal, say at a food court, everybody returns their tray and even wipes down the table for the next customer! This is unheard of in Hong Kong where there is definitely a who cares mentality for the next customer.

A pretty uninteresting topic lol but do you return your tray after eating say at McDonald's or at a food court? How do you feel when others leave their food on the table expecting someone else to clear this away?

I have to admit I have fallen into the hong kong style of eating and simply leave my tray at the table and walk away once I have finished.

Happy travels
Toby

Here in Malaysia it's the same way in Hong Kong, though there are a small minority who do clean their tables at a self serve restaurant/food court. I do it myself, especially when the restaurant is super busy & the staff are busy manning the counters.

In some restaurants, they urge you to leave the tray behind (and they kinda force you by not having trash bins readily available to throw away trash or stack trays). However, when I'm at your regular fast food restaurant, yes, I do take the tray to a trash bin or return it to the front if no stack is available. I'll even wipe away any crumbs that may have fallen on the table before I leave.

It's good manners and being considerate of the next customer and the employees who are already paid meager wages to have to put up with a snotty attitude. Now granted, if there's dedicated staff for it (bus boys, for example), then I'll do everything I can to make their job easier (stack dishes, wipe away crumbs, etc.).

Having worked in customer service, you see the world differently and realize that a little generosity can make someone else's job easier.

Always. I've taught my kids that it's their job to clean up after themselves, and my wife and I lead by example. That is not to say, that if I didn't have kids, I wouldn't. I would, and do, when the kids aren't around, but I believe it is especially important to ensure that kids take responsibility for themselves and their actions.

Now, if I'm somewhere that discourages the practice, e.g. Jason's Deli, we'll police up the table and leave it as neat as possible and leave a couple of dollars for the person that cleans up after us.

i try not to eat at fast food joints, but life happens. If i see a attendant in the lobby who job is obviously to clean up after others.
I will at least stack things on the tray to make their job easier, usually when i start doing that they will come over and take my tray away from me. If they don't i do it.

I always clear my table regardless of being home or abroad. I find it rude to let the employees do it and it shows a lack of respect for their work.

In the US, you are expected to clean up your tray. Some don’t. I think they’re probably the same lazy slobs that leave their grocery carts against someone else’s car because they’re too fat to walk it to the cart return 5 yards away. Same mentality for not throwing away your own trash.

WIederling wrote:

Germany:
if you receive your food on a tablet at a counter you are expected to clear you place when finished.
( carts made available. some places service personnel is faster than you and your place is cleared before you move out. )
Not usual to clean the table too. But that should not be necessary except you are a messy eater "food exploder"

Yup, simple rule to follow: leave a place the way you would like to find it.

Do i wan´t tables dirty and with other peoples trays sitting on it? Nope...

best regards
Thomas

787Driver wrote:

I always clear my table regardless of being home or abroad. I find it rude to let the employees do it and it shows a lack of respect for their work.

Unless that is literally their job, in which case you aren't showing respect for their need or presence.

787Driver wrote:

I always clear my table regardless of being home or abroad. I find it rude to let the employees do it and it shows a lack of respect for their work.

+1 if you get it on a tray or in a bag and there is a visable bin and place to leave the tray afterwards then I do too.

OA260 wrote:

787Driver wrote:

I always clear my table regardless of being home or abroad. I find it rude to let the employees do it and it shows a lack of respect for their work.

+1 if you get it on a tray or in a bag and there is a visable bin and place to leave the tray afterwards then I do too..

I usually always do it - unless I can't find the bin or tray return; it is hard to get to, e.g. there are a crowd of people standing around it, or I am in a real hurry, which is not usually the case.

I clean the table down of rubbish and crumbs. I don't like it when the only tables spare are dirty ones and I have to sit there, so I don't like someone else to have that yuck experience either.

Sometimes the person clearing the trays is right nearby so I leave it for them, as they will often have things to clean the table with them as well.

I am a generally neat and tidy person but there is also the image thing, of walking away from a table of rubbish left there, and what other people in the public space might be thinking and notice.

SheikhDjibouti wrote:

In some countries, in some restaurants, it is normal to clear your table and return your tray.

In others, there are dedicated staff assigned to clear tables, and whilst they may smile and thank you for "helping" them, they will also have one eye on the possibility that management will see them as surplus and make them redundant.

The world needs people who clear tables, collect supermarket trolleys from far corners of vast car parks, and serve customers at non-automated supermarket tills.

In that context, doing the "right thing" with your food tray, might also be doing the wrong thing.

Feel free to call me boring, but personally, I look around and follow whatever I see other people doing.

They are good points I agree. It is good to follow what other people are doing, particularly if you are abroad.

[quote="fr8mech"]Always. I've taught my kids that it's their job to clean up after themselves, and my wife and I lead by example. That is not to say, that if I didn't have kids, I wouldn't. I would, and do, when the kids aren't around, but I believe it is especially important to ensure that kids take responsibility for themselves and their actions.

Now, if I'm somewhere that discourages the practice, e.g. Jason's Deli, we'll police up the table and leave it as neat as possible and leave a couple of dollars for the person that cleans up after us.[/quote

Exactly the way I tought my kids and now my Grandchildren and believe in doing along with the tip.

Lol...I am eating at a Starbucks in Miami and reading this thread. As soon as I am done eating I am going to clean the table and throw my plastic tray away.

Sometimes when I eat at Ikea I quite like returning the tray on the little belt they have.

Was at Costco a few months ago. Shared the table with a bunch of Chinese. Despite the bin and tray return being 5 steps they just got up and left their rubbish, half eaten food and everything for someone else to clean up.

Yes, I returned my tray like what you are meant to do. Can't stand people who treat others like servants.

joffie wrote:

Sometimes when I eat at Ikea I quite like returning the tray on the little belt they have.

Was at Costco a few months ago. Shared the table with a bunch of Chinese. Despite the bin and tray return being 5 steps they just got up and left their rubbish, half eaten food and everything for someone else to clean up.

Yes, I returned my tray like what you are meant to do. Can't stand people who treat others like servants.

Amen to that, unfortunelty there are many who do.

joffie wrote:

Sometimes when I eat at Ikea I quite like returning the tray on the little belt they have.

Was at Costco a few months ago. Shared the table with a bunch of Chinese. Despite the bin and tray return being 5 steps they just got up and left their rubbish, half eaten food and everything for someone else to clean up.

Yes, I returned my tray like what you are meant to do. Can't stand people who treat others like servants.

I find that very easy to believe.

Just my personal observation but I often noticed how in my opinion Chinese people have behaved very rudely. For example they often skip ahead of other people who’ve lined up in a queue or they make sure to enter and exit the elevator first even though someone had been waiting for a longer time than them. Even experienced it this morning in a hotel where I was standing in line to be seated at the hotel restaurant. A Chinese woman behind me sees some colleagues further ahead in the line and she then thinks it’s okay to jump the line ahead of me and a few other people but luckily a staff member in the restaurant kindly told her to wait for her turn.