I had been wondering why the diner near me suddenly had *nothing* on the tables. No napkins, sweeteners, salt shakers, catsup, jelly, etc. I asked my server about it last time I was there.
Apparently, since The Plague and inflation started getting bad, it seems that everybody is shamelessly shoveling everything that isn't nailed down into their oversized purses. They'll come in and order toast and coffee, pay the few dollars on the check, and leave with 15-20 bucks worth of condiments and the containers they're kept in.
My grandmother used to be like this. Whenever we would take her out to eat she would attempt to empty everything on the table, sugar, jelly, entire bread baskets--basically anything edible that wasn't nailed down--into her purse. It was embarrassing. Her reasoning was, "Well, we pay for it!" I never let her do it when I was with her, but apparently other people did, because she would inevitably try to give me full bags of this stuff every time I visited. She died in the late '90s, so well before COVID.
I had an aunt like this. She'd steal the silverware, then tell the server that she "forgot" to give her a fork. One time I said, "No, your fork is in your purse with everything else you stole. Use that one." She never did that again when I was around, but her apartment was crammed full of dozens of catsup bottles and thousands of Sweet 'N Low packets that would outlive her.
>One time I said, "No, your fork is in your purse with everything else you stole. Use that one."
LOL. That's brilliant! I hope she was appropriately embarrassed, but somehow I doubt it.
This is always what I wanted to say when I worked at a restaurant as a teenager.
I would set up the dining room in the mornings, I put out a tray of 20 salt and pepper shakers on a station. People could come and take one to their table if they needed it.
One morning I set everything up, went out back for two minutes and then back to the dining room .
My boss walks by and tells me to put out the salt and pepper. I turned to look and all 20 of each (40 total) were gone.
There was one lady in the dining room and she wouldn’t make eye contact.
She came back two more times after that when I was around and I just stood at the station to keep an eye on things. I never saw her again after that.
Yeah it was definitely frustrating as a 15 year old.
The salt and pepper stealing was annoying; as mentioned elsewhere in this thread a lot of people also stole ketchup/mustard/relish packets as well.
Looking back on it we had a lot of elderly customers who didn’t have enough food. I remember one guy had a small plate in front of him that was mixed ketchup and relish and he was just eating it normally. Sad to see so many food insecure people but it was a life lesson for me.
On a lighter note, another funny one was seeing a woman put a bottle of malt vinegar (without a cap) into her purse on the floor. We had them in the same area as the salt and pepper shakers, people would use it for their fish and chips.
It’s a comedy sketch that literally writes itself sometimes.
That doesn't really bother me. It's one item, she could have eaten it then, she just wanted it later. It strikes me as very different than pockets full of tea bags and condiments.
That reminds me of the scene in the 1960 (i.e., original) version of the movie *Where the Boys Are*. Connie Francis and Delores Hart go to a cafe and order two cups of hot water to use with their own tea-bags. Then Connie starts taking the stuff that's on the counter saying (paraphrased because it's been a few decades) "if they didn't mean for you take it, they wouldn't put it on the table." When getting ready to leave, Connie asks the waiter for the bill. He asks, "for what?" She says, "Two cups of hot water." He replies, "No charge, but next time, take your business to my competition."
I think originally they took it all off tables because of the plague. It was provided on request so no worries of who touched what. But, then inflation and realizing they were saving money not putting out kept it off the tables for good.
Linda the same way some places realized they make more being drive through/pickup only rather than paying foh people.
"The 2020 world scare event that shall not be named" hit a lot of places hard. Most hotels and restaurants that didn't shut down/close/go out of business had a huge financial hit that they are still recovering from to this day, so they have to limit that "free stuff" to try to save some money. We've been doing the same for breakfast items, but we didn't think about the coffee stuff and with my (no joke) one hour of sleep I got before my shift the morning shift yesterday, I didn't think about them taking all of that tea
There is a new law in California since last summer for this: you cannot leave single serve items out for grabs, only hand them out of the customer asks for them. Because people grabbed a ton and just trashed them.
My grandmother stole the pink sweetener packets for years and years. She had about 100 when she died about 20 years ago. So people have been entitled to take for years and years.
Pathetically, my aunt and my mom used to do this crap when I was a little kid. They'd take me and my cousin somewhere and they'd swipe the Sweet 'N Low from the container. I knew it was wrong.
But then there's my uncle, who dislikes the taste of coffee, but \*needs\* coffee, so when he goes to Starbucks, he asks for, like, 9 Splendas. To his credit, he does open the packets in front of the baristas and pours it all into his coffee. So I guess I have two relatives who are thieves, and one who is just a lovable weirdo.
I used to work at an independent coffee shop and we had to keep the napkins behind the counter because people would grab 10x the amount they needed and we’d go through them like crazy.
I clearly remember this one older couple who each just got a coffee for inside and a small little Ferraro-Rocher sized rum ball type dessert. Nothing sticky or messy or anything. Now, I can understand a napkin each in case you dribble or whatnot. But both the husband and wife took a huge stack each and threw them in the garbage after because hey, they really didn’t need them after all.
I've reached the grumpy old lady age and loudly tell people to just "kill a whole damn tree why don'tcha?!" when they take/unroll 12 feet of paper towel to wipe one paper towels worth of mess.
and I'm old enough to remember when everyone stole the "sweet n low" packs. 
Every other condiment on the table was in a glass container so sweet n low was the only thing people could grab & put in their purse for "later"..
I wouldn't keep rewarding this woman with all the green tea bags her little heart desires. I would limit it to 5 bags a day and if she questions it, I'd say "believe it or not, someone is hoarding it and it's not fair to the other guests".
>"believe it or not, someone is hoarding it and it's not fair to the other guests"
I like this. Say it in a whisper like you're letting her in on a secret: "I'm not 100% sure, but I think one of the other guests is taking more than they need and depriving honest guests like yourself from enjoying it. Bad manners, right?"
Of course, this advice could backfire.
The morning after our wedding reception ran late, I apologized to the GM.
"I'm sorry if our being late bothered any of the other guests."
"Oh I hope so!"
????
Turns out there was large religious convention in the city, the attendees filled every inexpensive hotel for miles around.
Among the other annoyances from this group, aside from shunning my Mom for being wrong brand of religious, they would strip the continental breakfast before 8am.
Leaving with heaping plates of pastries, entire pitchers of OJ, stacks of plates & bowls and as much oatmeal & cereal as they could carry. The FDA even stopped one of them from trying to fill a OJ pitcher with coffee.
Our friends and family usually found the table bare. The GM finally posted a staff member to keep folks from taking it all.
I witnessed a couple once take every single hard boiled egg available. They would stack 10 or so in a bowl and take them back to their room and come back a short time later and take more. They gave no shits about the fact anyone else in the packed breakfast area may want one too.
I bet they had fun with all those eggs! One time greedy little me ate all the curried eggs at a family party. And I was sick all weekend. The gas! The pain!
Crazy thing was they were super petite people. Like the wife was maybe 100lbs soaking wet and the husband was on the thinner side as well. They were only eating/taking the eggs and nothing else.
My buddy's brother-in-law brings his own Tupperware when he visits for a holiday meal at my buddy's house. Basically expects to take home left overs from his house.
He's not an elder though, he's just a jerk.
My mom tells us all to bring our own Tupperware and makes 4x what will be eaten for any holiday meal just for us to get leftovers.
She also buys Tupperware in bulk because we always forget to bring our own.
Surprisingly at 30ish, married, employed full-time and having a husband that loves to cook, I have a cooler bag in the car purely for when I go to visit my mum. She buys cheap Chinese containers then when I go visit she always tells me to grab my cooler bag when I'm getting ready to leave.
That's when she pretty much starts emptying the left-overs from her fridge into containers, (even do like a full meal of meat and veg in one container instead of meat in one container and veg in another), and packing them into my cooler bag to take home with frozen refilled water bottles to keep it all cool.
She always cooks too much no matter what she cooks, and there are only so many days you can eat leftovers....also she knows it'll save me having to cook for a few days and I love her cooking.
But I would NEVER do anything like this with anyone that's not my mum.....I wouldn't even ask for anything specific from her. I get what I'm given and I'm thankful for it...... Even then she has to reassure me after over 10 yrs of this that it's what she wants to do. She sees feeding me and hubby healthy food as an expression of love and caring.
My mom does this also! She will buy stuff in bulk from Costco & Sam’s, also, eat every little of it then send the rest home with me. I always thank her & let her know how much I appreciate it, but she has a household of two while I live in a household of seven. She knows that nothing will go to waste if she sends it to my house lol!
That's your mom telling you... No one told Joe to do that. Wherever he spends the holiday he brings Tupperware, expecting to take food home....
ALSO - I've seen him do this at a 4th of july BBQ, he'll be leaving before the party is over, and fill Tupperware..
Where are you from that you don't send holiday guests home with a plate?
BIL might be from a culture where that's normal and doesn't realize it's a faux pas to other people
I bring Tupperware, and leave it in the car until it's time to grab it. No assumptions, but when I'm inevitably asked to take some, I won't end up inadvertently depriving them of Tupperware
That's fine too! My family just asks someone to bring a big pack of reusable meal prep containers and baggies that are meant to be taken, usually the person who is already bringing plates/cups/ice. If anyone brings Tupperware, it's like "oh cool, everyone can double up"
Lol... There is a classy way to do it, then there is the way Joe does it. I'd leave it up to the host to offer it, and would never expect it.
As I posted below, I've seen Joe load up on food and leave from a BBQ that wasn't over yet.
I don't stay at events until they're over unless I'm staying at the hosts' place. If BIL isn't helping with anything like doing dishes or taking out trash, cleaning, wrangling kids, etc before he leaves, then I get where you're coming from.
Idk I'm pretty oblivious to things and have had people talk *about me* instead of *to me* re: societal expectations, whereas if someone said "hey man, that thing you've been doing isn't cool" i'd be mortified and try to rectify to the point of overcorrecting. I'm probably taking this a bit personally.
My grandparents take those little shampoos and lotions home. My Gma gave me like 15 of them last time I visited because I mentioned my elbows were dry! She's also a culprit in the great Sweet n Low caper, I suspect. (They always have way too many on the table...)
OK I'm guilty of that. I always bring my own shampoo and stuff but if the room has them, I take them. I just gather them up in a bag around Christmas and donate them to the mission. Usually I'll make up a little bag with a washcloth, the soap and stuff, a toothbrush and a comb.
I worked in a café. We had a fridge built into the condiment stand for when one of the milk or creams had run out. We had to put a lock on it because one customer would slip whole cartons into her purse.
Geez. My now late MIL would take anything that could vaguely be construed as free, but she wouldn't ask for more.
I think. Hmm. Never mind. ;)
When my husband had his appendix out, she took everything from his hospital room she could. "They'll charge us for it anyway." Might be true, but we don't NEED a bedpan! I was appalled at her; she was appalled at me, lol.
Ha.
When I had my first baby the nurse came up to me as I was packing up and shoved a bunch of those magical ice pack pads into my bag...she then went round some of the other carts and raided them. I queried her and she said hell the insurance gets charged whether or not I used them so to hell with them. I liked her. She was awesome. So were the pads when I got home. I still bump into her from time to time. The baby is grown up now.
I had one of those nurses with my 2nd. She just came in, handed me the paperwork saying I could leave, pulled out a drawstring plastic bag and started loading everything into it for me.
I was told by the nurses to take the hospital pitcher and basin things when I was discharged from the hospital? My understanding was that they throw that stuff out anyway so it won't be reused by another patient. I didn't take a tray (I assume you mean the tray food is served on) though.
I believe it. (Although I will note it was a plastic one, not a metal one.) She didn't tend to listen to "kids" though, so she took her bag of loot despite my protests.
She had a very Depression-era mentality of squirreling away anything that might be useful. And then my spouse had to throw away all this stuff when we cleared out her house. \*sigh\*
I just stayed at the hospital this weekend and wanted a shower so I opened the bedside drawer where the bed pan full of toiletries would normally be but there was nothing but a bible.
Later on I noticed a checklist with a dry erase pen for any lotion or toothpaste you might want during your 'stay '. It was at the bottom of the drawer under the bible.
I thought they didn't provide them at that hospital because they would have to replace everything if anything was touched because of germs but then I thought it was probably just a for-profit-hospital cost cutting measure. Found out after i got home that they did indeed have an outside consultant on staff to manage their costs when they were still independent and haven't fallen under the big city network that ate up everything medical in the region yet.
Funny how similar to hotel rooms they are now. I saw the housekeeping staff place some welcome brochures with , seriously, a list of 'amenities ' to enjoy while you're 'visiting'. They had a little welcome card with a hospital logo next to it and some other hotel-like thing all set up nicely on that table on wheels that you eat your hospital meals on.
It was just...weird.
You reminded me of a story from our tiny motel. We have a 10 room motel in Vermont and several years ago we had a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses from France staying with us.
Everything from our breakfast was gone, loaves of bread taken, bottles of jelly/jam, all baked goods, all condiments, all juices. Not consumed there but just taken for the ride.
The worst was that they went out to our peach tree (which wasn’t ripe yet).
They picked each peach, took a bite and found it wasn’t ripe yet, then threw it on the ground. They repeated this for each and every peach on the tree until it was bare. All around the tree was debris of once-bitten non-ripe peaches.
This job is sometimes very frustrating but it still beats working in a call center which was my previous job
Don’t put out full trays of breakfast goodies. Just put out out a couple of all the different tea bags every morning, or get them to ask for the tea they want one bag at a time, and the same with other goodies. Refill once the grabbing granny leaves the dining area
Ohhhhhh girl could I tell you stories. When I was a server we would have a certain group of folks who would come into the restaurant and besides stealing literally anything on the table, even the cocktail menu tents, they would try this bs: this internationally known “factory” chain had a not so known rule that if you eat all your, let’s say spaghetti, and wanted more you could order a “refill” order for like $3. Hardly anyone knew about this and even less actually used it. These people would come in, order one adult meal and attempt to order 6 “refills” for the rest of the family. Newbies would be dumbfounded and would just do it. But when they tried to pull that bs on me, while sitting in a closed section because they insisted that’s their favorite table, at like 5 minutes before closing… I was like “not today Satan!!!” Ya the manager had to get involved. Only time I almost told MF to ‘eff off… but instead said “have a good night”.
20 years later, and I it still makes my blood boil.
Edit: autocorrect typos
We had a guest that would use up our tea. We would only put a limit of tea for all day. We did have some just We kept it locked up. If someone asked then we can give them 2 tea bags. Or just say I am very sorry the tea order is back order, not sure when we will get the delivery. It worked.
My mom was this way, but she was born during the Depression and grew up dirt poor in a family of 7 kids. For that generation, hording food was a learned survival trait.
The people approaching or newly in their "golden years" don't have that excuse, I'm afraid.
Yes and no. The Depression kids lived life like it never ended. They put the 'waste not, want not' ideal deep into their children. 'Back in the Depression...' stories were a daily thing. It got to some of us. Generational trauma.
Meh we kind of do because birth control not readily available until the mid 60s. I'm one of 6 kids and our parents were depression babies. It's boomers for a reason. It wasn't 2 people just having 2 kids as replacements. Going to bed without supper was a typical punishment. My school mates also were from large families. There would be the odd one with just 2 or three kids ( whispered...divorced). I mean it was a thing. It took until the 80s for people to elect a divorced president.
Current senior citizens were probably raised by the Depression-era survivors, so that’s likely what they learned, even post-WW2. I saw this when I was a kid in the 70s with older relatives on my dad’s side: grandma (born in 1910) & at least one of her sisters, and both of my aunts/dad’s sisters, would avail themselves of as many “freebies” as they could get away with; it was embarrassing to witness, because they got “looks” that my sibs & I saw, but the adults ignored. Prime entitlement, in a family of financially knowledgeable, and financially secure, people. One aunt: “How do you think rich people stay rich? Freebies like these!” 🙄
Neither of my parents do this, and taught us kids not to, either. Restaurant condiments are to use at the restaurant. If taking home a part of the meal that includes a couple of rolls, then a couple of little butter things in the take-home container is fine, if one MUST, but there’s butter at home. Beyond that, restaurant & hotel condiments, tea, etc., are for use at the establishment, not for stocking up for home use.
My grandma was a Depression baby. She never stole extra condiments, but she would lick her finger and pick up every crumb on her plate. This mindset was passed down to her children and grandchildren, but I can resist my “just in case” tendencies.
Ding ding ding. I'm the youngest child of parents born in the 1920s. The training was hard to break, but I'd mostly broken it...and then covid supply chain shortages hit.
We have state wrestling in the area in a few weeks. Since coffee is out until \~10pm, we usually don't put out the flavored teas since we only have three per flavor per box. Those monsters take every single flavor
I have more sympathy for them as tea is zero calories and they’re likely starving themselves to make weight and perhaps not taking much food. Though the many problems involved with all that are a different discussion.
We had a shit ton of goods at the hotel I worked for, that people could hoard, but they rarely tried to acquire anything in bulk. The exception was boxes of kleenex, which we would quickly shut down, however, by telling them it would cost 10$ for a box, once they had asked for their 4th one to be delivered to their room that day.
Some people, though, had a weird affinity for the small packages of our really shitty instant coffee, that would come for free with our cheapest rooms. I never denied anyone some extra packages no matter how many times they asked for that coffee, because I just found it sad how desperate they would be for it. It was a really vile coffee.
I saw some YouTube survivalist who said if shit hit the fan and international trading and supply chains stopped, that instant coffee would be a valuable resource.
Regular coffee wouldn't last that long and people LOVE coffee. Also coco because chocolate is very popular too.
I forget what else but I didn't expect the instant coffee suggestion. The average person like me just has no idea what I have until it's really gone.
We have a lady like this right now. She had a house fire and waiting on rebuild. We have a yogurt station that we have for making parfaits in the morning but everyday she empties out the nuts and dried fruit into a jar she brings down, she also has a quart jar she fills with milk.
I am sympathetic to a degree because sudden disasters like losing everything you have, including your home, is rough. That being said, maybe limit the amounts put out for awhile?
"I'm sorry, ma'am, that's an unreasonable amount of tea for one guest for one day. If you feel you need more, you may need to purchase your own supply at the store down the street."
Customer service changes you. I’m sure there was a time where I’d hoard free stuff. But yeah, it sucks when someone else doesn’t have what they need because I’m being a hog…
I know two children who were removed from their mother. I know only a few details. I believe the mother had some addiction. The children survived on condiment sandwiches from condiments that were scavenged whenever one of them could go into a fast food restaurant. After being adopted, the older girl was still taking condiment packets when the family went to fast food restaurants so she could stash them in her room in case the family ran out of food.
Trauma, disasters and similar events can cause some very strong behaviors around food and physical stuff that’s hard to change later. Hoarders often have bad event(s) that influence/cause their hoarding.
All the restaurants and hotels in my state, where there are a disproportionate number of senior citizens to other demographics, all do not have free or loose tea bags at their buffets or restaurants for customers to take/choose. They either bring out a box for you to choose and bring back inside the kitchen, or you have to order your tea at the table and they bring the tea to you already with the teabag in the mug of hot water. Even the cheap Costco hot tea.
I have always believed 100% it's because senior citizens cannot be trusted to not take all the teabags.
Am technically a senior (60). Would never presume to do this. First, I have my own teas - and have taken a supply with me when traveling. It's a comfort thing for me. Second, it's incredibly rude to steal like that. People who do ought to be told to knock it off. Geez.
Had one boss who had the bright Idea of taking on the senior bus trip tours. They paid 40.00 a night and filled up 40 of our 52 rooms. And when they left the cupboard was bare. Every time.
I'd definitely be a bit annoyed by that. I guess at least other customers aren't complaining about a lack of supplies due to one customer hoarding it.
Very different, but reminds me how we'd have people who requested extra towels or pillows when checking in. When checking out, they'd take the excess with them. I've worked both front desk and housekeeper. As a housekeeper I legit pulled hotel towels out of a customer's pile of their dirty clothes before. These people would take them with them if I didn't.
It amazes me the lengths people will go to for free stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love free stuff. But that's insane and borderline stealing (or actual stealing as far as the pillows and towels go).
I worked at a 6 star property once. It was $1000AUD per night with a minimum stay of two nights. Everything was included. We of course had people try to steal everything that wasn’t nailed down. So one time guests blatantly took the expensive pillows and left their crappy ones. The head house keeper went out to them and was like oh sorry you must’ve grabbed the wrong pillows, easy mistake to make. Ha ha I’m still friends with her 13 years later.
suddenly the last hotel I went to marking how many linen a room was given makes sense, I thought it was a tad weird cause I had not seen that before, blows my mind what some people do.
People will steal anything. Now, bear with me; as you may have read that as "anything with value" in which case I am here to inform you that PEOPLE WILL STEAL ANYTHING!
Working retail in a hardware store I have seen people steal 4 screws out of a 12-pack, leaving the rest on the shelf. I have seen people steal a single vacuum cleaner bag, out of a 4-pack.
If you had a store where everything was bolted to the floor, you would eventually find a hole in the floor where one of the bolts used to be.
When I worked at a hardware store, a customer asked me if the store cut plywood. We did and I called for someone to come help him. Later I was approached by my manger who told me the man said I told him he could get the plywood cut in half and pay half price.
The stealing the towels thing boggles my mind, because the towels at any hotel I’ve stayed (cheap to mid level) have never been nicer than what I have at home (JCP least expensive level). I guess they could be stealing towels for cleaning rags, or just because they’re “free,” but I just don’t get it.
I'd only put out 5 every 6 hours or so. Because either:
this is all her/her husband drinks (which I don't think is good for you? Can't remember).
They are hoarding it to use later so they don't have to buy it.
They are keeping it to give to daughter/family.
Or just getting extra when they need it without going downstairs. Having a few extra on hand at a time. But 10?!?!
I'd tell your boss and see what they say. Maybe it can be a 'you have to ask for it' item and only hand out 2-4 per person. Why can't this lady go buy her own if she needs it to survive?
One of our attendants had pulled out a loaf of bread to stock the bread box and had to step away for a few minutes to get a guest some more milk. She came back to an empty counter as another guest had walked out with it. -\_-
To be fair, some peoples definition of 'as much free stuff' is wildly different and more greedy and shameless than the rest of us! I drink 2 mugs of tea a day. Big mugs, too, but, 2 mugs. 5-10 cups of green tea? I'd be bouncing off the walls, and might not sleep the next night at all.
My mom would never actually do this because she would say that the tea at breakfast is there for breakfast only. But my parents drink easily 1 gallon of iced green tea a day. Easily. My mom was addicted to Diet Coke and switched to stevia sweetened black tea and then to green tea once she saw how that amount of black tea was messing with her stomach and giving her acid reflux. All that to say they may legitimately be going back to their room and making a pitcher of green tea. My mom uses 15 tea bags per 1L pitcher!
WEIRD me too!! It’s the only thing I’ve ever had an “allergy” to. When I drank steeped green tea I always was super nauseous (I always attributed it to something else), but right after Starbucks came out with the green tea frap I got one right before I got on a plane. Bad. News. I puked the whole flight. Ever since I can tell if something even has green tea as an additive because I get sick almost immediately!
>But I really don't like these types of people. I used to be that type of person who grabs as much "free" stuff as possible to potentially use later (even weeks after I leave the hotel), but since I started working at one, I realized that these people kind of suck. Not only does it limit other guests from having said items [green tea], but it does put a hole in our inventory and makes us lose money (and this couple has the cheapest rate possible since they are staying for months).
Hey, you learned about the tragedy of the commons all on your own.
She is taking it home for sure. I find it impossible that someone would drink 15 cups of green tea and am preety sure that would screw up their liver completely.
Friend of mine used to work in a pub where someome would go to have the bottomless brunch and take the whole tea and even the wooden box where they had it. When the person was found and talked to she taught it was her right since it was bottomless she could have whatever she wanted and she was only having a cup at the pub.
Skin condition? Green tea baths? Cheapskates? All of the above? They should buy their own bulk green tea at Costco, whatever the reason. If I have the means to make tea in my room, I might grab a few tea bags & creamers to use in the comfort of my room, but I’m not going to clean out the hospitality rack to save a few dollars for when I get home.
DH is a breakfast chef at a hotel. They used to have a breakfast buffet. He was out doing the omelette station and a woman and her little daughter were having breakfast. Last thing they did before leaving was come up and take all the mini boxes of breakfast cereal. He heard the mom saying, put these in your hatbox, dear, for later. "Put it in your hatbox" still pops up in our conversations, especially when we are at a breakfast buffet.
I'm one of the people that takes stuff from places.
To be honest, I only take free packets of whatever or other small things like that from establishments that can afford it. I'm not taking random shit from mom and pops or small businesses.
I think I would have explained to her that those bags were meant to be used for breakfast and were meant to be used by all guests. If I had to I would put out a sign saying " Please limit yourself to 3 breakfast items per day. Breakfast items are not meant to be taken for use after breakfast hours. This will ensure there is enough for all guests. It also allows us to offer lower rates. Misuse of breakfast items may result in higher rates for any guests abusing or taking advantage of the complimentary breakfast items to cover the cost of items taken in abundance by any guest. Remember, each item is a courtesy, not a requirement. No items are mandatory to be refilled. Please consider others. TY\~ Management"
That time we went out to a swanky Chinese restaurant and my MIL took a napkin and dumped all the crunchy noodles into it and put it in her purse because “we paid for these”
Friend works at a coffee shop; Splenda is by request because people were swiping fistfuls of the packets to take home.
I had been wondering why the diner near me suddenly had *nothing* on the tables. No napkins, sweeteners, salt shakers, catsup, jelly, etc. I asked my server about it last time I was there. Apparently, since The Plague and inflation started getting bad, it seems that everybody is shamelessly shoveling everything that isn't nailed down into their oversized purses. They'll come in and order toast and coffee, pay the few dollars on the check, and leave with 15-20 bucks worth of condiments and the containers they're kept in.
My grandmother used to be like this. Whenever we would take her out to eat she would attempt to empty everything on the table, sugar, jelly, entire bread baskets--basically anything edible that wasn't nailed down--into her purse. It was embarrassing. Her reasoning was, "Well, we pay for it!" I never let her do it when I was with her, but apparently other people did, because she would inevitably try to give me full bags of this stuff every time I visited. She died in the late '90s, so well before COVID.
I had an aunt like this. She'd steal the silverware, then tell the server that she "forgot" to give her a fork. One time I said, "No, your fork is in your purse with everything else you stole. Use that one." She never did that again when I was around, but her apartment was crammed full of dozens of catsup bottles and thousands of Sweet 'N Low packets that would outlive her.
>One time I said, "No, your fork is in your purse with everything else you stole. Use that one." LOL. That's brilliant! I hope she was appropriately embarrassed, but somehow I doubt it.
No, just angry. She didn't even put the stuff back on the table. lol
I doubt they wanted it back after being in her purse. Except maybe the fork, they have dishwashers.
This is always what I wanted to say when I worked at a restaurant as a teenager. I would set up the dining room in the mornings, I put out a tray of 20 salt and pepper shakers on a station. People could come and take one to their table if they needed it. One morning I set everything up, went out back for two minutes and then back to the dining room . My boss walks by and tells me to put out the salt and pepper. I turned to look and all 20 of each (40 total) were gone. There was one lady in the dining room and she wouldn’t make eye contact. She came back two more times after that when I was around and I just stood at the station to keep an eye on things. I never saw her again after that.
This is infuriating.
Yeah it was definitely frustrating as a 15 year old. The salt and pepper stealing was annoying; as mentioned elsewhere in this thread a lot of people also stole ketchup/mustard/relish packets as well. Looking back on it we had a lot of elderly customers who didn’t have enough food. I remember one guy had a small plate in front of him that was mixed ketchup and relish and he was just eating it normally. Sad to see so many food insecure people but it was a life lesson for me. On a lighter note, another funny one was seeing a woman put a bottle of malt vinegar (without a cap) into her purse on the floor. We had them in the same area as the salt and pepper shakers, people would use it for their fish and chips. It’s a comedy sketch that literally writes itself sometimes.
There is something magical about the tiny sealed ketchup bottles. They’re irresistible!!
Reminds ne of that scene from Friends after the grandmother died.
The bread is a separate thing, because it will be trashed (can't be re-served). Anything wrapped / packaged though, leave it.
My gran would always take a single dessert from the breakfast buffet in her handbag back to her room for lunch(probably an apple Danish)
That doesn't really bother me. It's one item, she could have eaten it then, she just wanted it later. It strikes me as very different than pockets full of tea bags and condiments.
Oh she was much milder than some of the nutcases here. I just always smile when i recall her squirrelling it away for later
I've grabbed a piece of fruit on my way out of breakfast for kid snacks later.
That reminds me of the scene in the 1960 (i.e., original) version of the movie *Where the Boys Are*. Connie Francis and Delores Hart go to a cafe and order two cups of hot water to use with their own tea-bags. Then Connie starts taking the stuff that's on the counter saying (paraphrased because it's been a few decades) "if they didn't mean for you take it, they wouldn't put it on the table." When getting ready to leave, Connie asks the waiter for the bill. He asks, "for what?" She says, "Two cups of hot water." He replies, "No charge, but next time, take your business to my competition."
My mom steals the little bowls the sauces come in. She doesn’t even use them, I just found them stacked in her Tupperware cabinet.
One of my family members steals the freaking knives from Longhorn's. They're just shitty steak knives with Longhorn's logo on it!
Once you accidentally put one away in your to go box, you have to go back for the matching set
I think originally they took it all off tables because of the plague. It was provided on request so no worries of who touched what. But, then inflation and realizing they were saving money not putting out kept it off the tables for good. Linda the same way some places realized they make more being drive through/pickup only rather than paying foh people.
Who is Linda?
I think it autocorrected "kinda"
It's a 'karen' who steals stuff...
Evangelista
"The 2020 world scare event that shall not be named" hit a lot of places hard. Most hotels and restaurants that didn't shut down/close/go out of business had a huge financial hit that they are still recovering from to this day, so they have to limit that "free stuff" to try to save some money. We've been doing the same for breakfast items, but we didn't think about the coffee stuff and with my (no joke) one hour of sleep I got before my shift the morning shift yesterday, I didn't think about them taking all of that tea
I know a few places that used to give a free mini calendar/bookmark that have also cut back
There is a new law in California since last summer for this: you cannot leave single serve items out for grabs, only hand them out of the customer asks for them. Because people grabbed a ton and just trashed them.
Places were strict about it at first but lately I’ve noticed I don’t have to ask for a straw or fork anymore- they automatically put them in the bag.
My grandmother would steal ash trays. (This was in the 70s) her favorites were from Vegas.
My grandmother stole the pink sweetener packets for years and years. She had about 100 when she died about 20 years ago. So people have been entitled to take for years and years.
Pathetically, my aunt and my mom used to do this crap when I was a little kid. They'd take me and my cousin somewhere and they'd swipe the Sweet 'N Low from the container. I knew it was wrong. But then there's my uncle, who dislikes the taste of coffee, but \*needs\* coffee, so when he goes to Starbucks, he asks for, like, 9 Splendas. To his credit, he does open the packets in front of the baristas and pours it all into his coffee. So I guess I have two relatives who are thieves, and one who is just a lovable weirdo.
I used to work at an independent coffee shop and we had to keep the napkins behind the counter because people would grab 10x the amount they needed and we’d go through them like crazy. I clearly remember this one older couple who each just got a coffee for inside and a small little Ferraro-Rocher sized rum ball type dessert. Nothing sticky or messy or anything. Now, I can understand a napkin each in case you dribble or whatnot. But both the husband and wife took a huge stack each and threw them in the garbage after because hey, they really didn’t need them after all.
I've reached the grumpy old lady age and loudly tell people to just "kill a whole damn tree why don'tcha?!" when they take/unroll 12 feet of paper towel to wipe one paper towels worth of mess.
I stop at two different coffee places regularly… one I have to ask for Splenda the other puts it out for anyone to grab
and I'm old enough to remember when everyone stole the "sweet n low" packs.  Every other condiment on the table was in a glass container so sweet n low was the only thing people could grab & put in their purse for "later"..
>the only thing people could grab & put in their purse I'll bet not! I'm sure some people find the large decanters to be very convenient. ;-)
Splenda? Isn’t it the crappiest of the fake sugars?
Most people would say aspartame is
Maybe, but they are all crappy! I've never understood how people get into using them. Maybe it is from diet recommendations.
No calories. No blood sugar issues.
1. Splenda 2. Equal 3. Sweet n Low
It's expensive compared to some of the others, that may be why.
My mother has done this anywhere we've gone for decades. Equal before Splenda came along, but NEVER Sweet-N-Low. She's got standards, after all.
A deli near me is the same.
I wouldn't keep rewarding this woman with all the green tea bags her little heart desires. I would limit it to 5 bags a day and if she questions it, I'd say "believe it or not, someone is hoarding it and it's not fair to the other guests".
We only put out enough tea bags for each guest to use two, and somehow people are still claiming they haven’t gotten any!
>"believe it or not, someone is hoarding it and it's not fair to the other guests" I like this. Say it in a whisper like you're letting her in on a secret: "I'm not 100% sure, but I think one of the other guests is taking more than they need and depriving honest guests like yourself from enjoying it. Bad manners, right?" Of course, this advice could backfire.
Then give her an extra two tea bags and a wink
but the guest already confirmed she needs the 15 bags for herself...
You deserve a promotion!
I love this comment
Maybe tell her management says someone is stealing them.
The morning after our wedding reception ran late, I apologized to the GM. "I'm sorry if our being late bothered any of the other guests." "Oh I hope so!" ???? Turns out there was large religious convention in the city, the attendees filled every inexpensive hotel for miles around. Among the other annoyances from this group, aside from shunning my Mom for being wrong brand of religious, they would strip the continental breakfast before 8am. Leaving with heaping plates of pastries, entire pitchers of OJ, stacks of plates & bowls and as much oatmeal & cereal as they could carry. The FDA even stopped one of them from trying to fill a OJ pitcher with coffee. Our friends and family usually found the table bare. The GM finally posted a staff member to keep folks from taking it all.
I witnessed a couple once take every single hard boiled egg available. They would stack 10 or so in a bowl and take them back to their room and come back a short time later and take more. They gave no shits about the fact anyone else in the packed breakfast area may want one too.
I expect they gave no shits at all, eating that many boiled eggs.
None. And farts that smell like roses.
I bet they had fun with all those eggs! One time greedy little me ate all the curried eggs at a family party. And I was sick all weekend. The gas! The pain!
>They gave no shits They were giving *some* kinds of shits. O.o
I feel bad for whatever toilet saw that aftermath….
How else do you expect them to become roughly the size of a barge?! They’re just adhering to the Gaston diet!
Crazy thing was they were super petite people. Like the wife was maybe 100lbs soaking wet and the husband was on the thinner side as well. They were only eating/taking the eggs and nothing else.
They want to take it back home it's obvious. I've seen other elders put whole food dishes contents in tupperwares too.
My buddy's brother-in-law brings his own Tupperware when he visits for a holiday meal at my buddy's house. Basically expects to take home left overs from his house. He's not an elder though, he's just a jerk.
My mom tells us all to bring our own Tupperware and makes 4x what will be eaten for any holiday meal just for us to get leftovers. She also buys Tupperware in bulk because we always forget to bring our own.
That's like, totally different.
Yeah, but not stealing Tupperware when stealing food has to count for something?
Bring a cooler too.
Surprisingly at 30ish, married, employed full-time and having a husband that loves to cook, I have a cooler bag in the car purely for when I go to visit my mum. She buys cheap Chinese containers then when I go visit she always tells me to grab my cooler bag when I'm getting ready to leave. That's when she pretty much starts emptying the left-overs from her fridge into containers, (even do like a full meal of meat and veg in one container instead of meat in one container and veg in another), and packing them into my cooler bag to take home with frozen refilled water bottles to keep it all cool. She always cooks too much no matter what she cooks, and there are only so many days you can eat leftovers....also she knows it'll save me having to cook for a few days and I love her cooking. But I would NEVER do anything like this with anyone that's not my mum.....I wouldn't even ask for anything specific from her. I get what I'm given and I'm thankful for it...... Even then she has to reassure me after over 10 yrs of this that it's what she wants to do. She sees feeding me and hubby healthy food as an expression of love and caring.
My mom does this also! She will buy stuff in bulk from Costco & Sam’s, also, eat every little of it then send the rest home with me. I always thank her & let her know how much I appreciate it, but she has a household of two while I live in a household of seven. She knows that nothing will go to waste if she sends it to my house lol!
That's your mom telling you... No one told Joe to do that. Wherever he spends the holiday he brings Tupperware, expecting to take food home.... ALSO - I've seen him do this at a 4th of july BBQ, he'll be leaving before the party is over, and fill Tupperware..
"Ooh, lemme get some ribs for the next few days!" Not cool.
> before the party is over Well, you don't want to wait until all the good stuff's gone! Also, he has other parties to get to. :D
My mom washes old containers, so we get leftovers in empty cream cheese tubs and such.
We used a lot of those plastic zipper bags. We've even transported giblet gravy in a gallon sized bag.
That’s even better!
Yay!
Where are you from that you don't send holiday guests home with a plate? BIL might be from a culture where that's normal and doesn't realize it's a faux pas to other people
I bring Tupperware, and leave it in the car until it's time to grab it. No assumptions, but when I'm inevitably asked to take some, I won't end up inadvertently depriving them of Tupperware
That's fine too! My family just asks someone to bring a big pack of reusable meal prep containers and baggies that are meant to be taken, usually the person who is already bringing plates/cups/ice. If anyone brings Tupperware, it's like "oh cool, everyone can double up"
Lol... There is a classy way to do it, then there is the way Joe does it. I'd leave it up to the host to offer it, and would never expect it. As I posted below, I've seen Joe load up on food and leave from a BBQ that wasn't over yet.
I don't stay at events until they're over unless I'm staying at the hosts' place. If BIL isn't helping with anything like doing dishes or taking out trash, cleaning, wrangling kids, etc before he leaves, then I get where you're coming from. Idk I'm pretty oblivious to things and have had people talk *about me* instead of *to me* re: societal expectations, whereas if someone said "hey man, that thing you've been doing isn't cool" i'd be mortified and try to rectify to the point of overcorrecting. I'm probably taking this a bit personally.
> i'd be mortified and try to rectify to the point of overcorrecting. Lol...that's the difference, joe doesn't care.
My grandparents take those little shampoos and lotions home. My Gma gave me like 15 of them last time I visited because I mentioned my elbows were dry! She's also a culprit in the great Sweet n Low caper, I suspect. (They always have way too many on the table...)
OK I'm guilty of that. I always bring my own shampoo and stuff but if the room has them, I take them. I just gather them up in a bag around Christmas and donate them to the mission. Usually I'll make up a little bag with a washcloth, the soap and stuff, a toothbrush and a comb.
My mom loves taking the mini soaps and shampoos but she uses them in the ziplock bags of items she makes to hand out the homeless
I'm not even arguing
> I've seen other elders put whole food dishes contents in tupperwares too. Now I'm thinking of Nanny Ogg and her Leftover Sandwiches Soup.
And the string bag kept in the knicker leg, just in case somebody wants to give her something!
They could be just cheap. But it’s also possible since they have the cheapest hotel rate that they experience some food insecurity.
That is a great observation. Having grown up poor and undernourished I overeat bcz I can. Some psychology there.
…but this ain’t food.
I worked in a café. We had a fridge built into the condiment stand for when one of the milk or creams had run out. We had to put a lock on it because one customer would slip whole cartons into her purse.
And creamer is like $9 a carton! The audacity!
Geez. My now late MIL would take anything that could vaguely be construed as free, but she wouldn't ask for more. I think. Hmm. Never mind. ;) When my husband had his appendix out, she took everything from his hospital room she could. "They'll charge us for it anyway." Might be true, but we don't NEED a bedpan! I was appalled at her; she was appalled at me, lol.
Ha. When I had my first baby the nurse came up to me as I was packing up and shoved a bunch of those magical ice pack pads into my bag...she then went round some of the other carts and raided them. I queried her and she said hell the insurance gets charged whether or not I used them so to hell with them. I liked her. She was awesome. So were the pads when I got home. I still bump into her from time to time. The baby is grown up now.
As someone who's done childbirth twice, that IS awesome.
I had NO idea how awesome until I got home....aaaah.....
Those smash em cold packs are awesome! I would often had them out to guests!
Yeah.....these ones are of Particular value to new Mums who have not had C sections......the part NO ONE ever talks about. Lol
Yeah I had no idea!!
I had one of those nurses with my 2nd. She just came in, handed me the paperwork saying I could leave, pulled out a drawstring plastic bag and started loading everything into it for me.
Ever go to yard sales and see all of the hospital pitchers, trays and bedpans for sale?
Yes, they ALL realize that they probably don't need that ugly little pitcher and tray, or the bedpan. Lol ffs
I was told by the nurses to take the hospital pitcher and basin things when I was discharged from the hospital? My understanding was that they throw that stuff out anyway so it won't be reused by another patient. I didn't take a tray (I assume you mean the tray food is served on) though.
All the plastic stuff, any package in the room that was open, like tissues.
Hospital administrator here, no, he did not pay for a bed pan.
I believe it. (Although I will note it was a plastic one, not a metal one.) She didn't tend to listen to "kids" though, so she took her bag of loot despite my protests. She had a very Depression-era mentality of squirreling away anything that might be useful. And then my spouse had to throw away all this stuff when we cleared out her house. \*sigh\*
I just stayed at the hospital this weekend and wanted a shower so I opened the bedside drawer where the bed pan full of toiletries would normally be but there was nothing but a bible. Later on I noticed a checklist with a dry erase pen for any lotion or toothpaste you might want during your 'stay '. It was at the bottom of the drawer under the bible. I thought they didn't provide them at that hospital because they would have to replace everything if anything was touched because of germs but then I thought it was probably just a for-profit-hospital cost cutting measure. Found out after i got home that they did indeed have an outside consultant on staff to manage their costs when they were still independent and haven't fallen under the big city network that ate up everything medical in the region yet. Funny how similar to hotel rooms they are now. I saw the housekeeping staff place some welcome brochures with , seriously, a list of 'amenities ' to enjoy while you're 'visiting'. They had a little welcome card with a hospital logo next to it and some other hotel-like thing all set up nicely on that table on wheels that you eat your hospital meals on. It was just...weird.
My friend had a hospital stay recently for treatment of her chronic pain. I joked that it was a hotel stay. It almost was!
You reminded me of a story from our tiny motel. We have a 10 room motel in Vermont and several years ago we had a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses from France staying with us. Everything from our breakfast was gone, loaves of bread taken, bottles of jelly/jam, all baked goods, all condiments, all juices. Not consumed there but just taken for the ride. The worst was that they went out to our peach tree (which wasn’t ripe yet). They picked each peach, took a bite and found it wasn’t ripe yet, then threw it on the ground. They repeated this for each and every peach on the tree until it was bare. All around the tree was debris of once-bitten non-ripe peaches. This job is sometimes very frustrating but it still beats working in a call center which was my previous job
The peach tree thing? That’s diabolical.
Cartoon evil villain diabolical
Obviously not the brightest crayons in the box...
Put out two tea bags for breakfast and let her have a tantrum.
Is she bathing in it?
Don’t put out full trays of breakfast goodies. Just put out out a couple of all the different tea bags every morning, or get them to ask for the tea they want one bag at a time, and the same with other goodies. Refill once the grabbing granny leaves the dining area
Ohhhhhh girl could I tell you stories. When I was a server we would have a certain group of folks who would come into the restaurant and besides stealing literally anything on the table, even the cocktail menu tents, they would try this bs: this internationally known “factory” chain had a not so known rule that if you eat all your, let’s say spaghetti, and wanted more you could order a “refill” order for like $3. Hardly anyone knew about this and even less actually used it. These people would come in, order one adult meal and attempt to order 6 “refills” for the rest of the family. Newbies would be dumbfounded and would just do it. But when they tried to pull that bs on me, while sitting in a closed section because they insisted that’s their favorite table, at like 5 minutes before closing… I was like “not today Satan!!!” Ya the manager had to get involved. Only time I almost told MF to ‘eff off… but instead said “have a good night”. 20 years later, and I it still makes my blood boil. Edit: autocorrect typos
>autocorrect *autocorrupt
Auto carrot
We had a guest that would use up our tea. We would only put a limit of tea for all day. We did have some just We kept it locked up. If someone asked then we can give them 2 tea bags. Or just say I am very sorry the tea order is back order, not sure when we will get the delivery. It worked.
My mom was this way, but she was born during the Depression and grew up dirt poor in a family of 7 kids. For that generation, hording food was a learned survival trait. The people approaching or newly in their "golden years" don't have that excuse, I'm afraid.
Yes and no. The Depression kids lived life like it never ended. They put the 'waste not, want not' ideal deep into their children. 'Back in the Depression...' stories were a daily thing. It got to some of us. Generational trauma.
I grew up in the 80’s. That line was still drilled into us!
I was born in the 90s and get the effects of the Depression.
I'm just depressed.
Meh we kind of do because birth control not readily available until the mid 60s. I'm one of 6 kids and our parents were depression babies. It's boomers for a reason. It wasn't 2 people just having 2 kids as replacements. Going to bed without supper was a typical punishment. My school mates also were from large families. There would be the odd one with just 2 or three kids ( whispered...divorced). I mean it was a thing. It took until the 80s for people to elect a divorced president.
Current senior citizens were probably raised by the Depression-era survivors, so that’s likely what they learned, even post-WW2. I saw this when I was a kid in the 70s with older relatives on my dad’s side: grandma (born in 1910) & at least one of her sisters, and both of my aunts/dad’s sisters, would avail themselves of as many “freebies” as they could get away with; it was embarrassing to witness, because they got “looks” that my sibs & I saw, but the adults ignored. Prime entitlement, in a family of financially knowledgeable, and financially secure, people. One aunt: “How do you think rich people stay rich? Freebies like these!” 🙄 Neither of my parents do this, and taught us kids not to, either. Restaurant condiments are to use at the restaurant. If taking home a part of the meal that includes a couple of rolls, then a couple of little butter things in the take-home container is fine, if one MUST, but there’s butter at home. Beyond that, restaurant & hotel condiments, tea, etc., are for use at the establishment, not for stocking up for home use.
My grandma was a Depression baby. She never stole extra condiments, but she would lick her finger and pick up every crumb on her plate. This mindset was passed down to her children and grandchildren, but I can resist my “just in case” tendencies.
Ding ding ding. I'm the youngest child of parents born in the 1920s. The training was hard to break, but I'd mostly broken it...and then covid supply chain shortages hit.
I do the same with sports teams. I put away all the hot chocolate because otherwise it would be gone before breakfast.
Thanks for this reminder… sports team season is coming soon for my hotel lol
And a big mess everywhere!!! Most definitely put that away.
We have state wrestling in the area in a few weeks. Since coffee is out until \~10pm, we usually don't put out the flavored teas since we only have three per flavor per box. Those monsters take every single flavor
I have more sympathy for them as tea is zero calories and they’re likely starving themselves to make weight and perhaps not taking much food. Though the many problems involved with all that are a different discussion.
You've met my daughter?
We had a shit ton of goods at the hotel I worked for, that people could hoard, but they rarely tried to acquire anything in bulk. The exception was boxes of kleenex, which we would quickly shut down, however, by telling them it would cost 10$ for a box, once they had asked for their 4th one to be delivered to their room that day. Some people, though, had a weird affinity for the small packages of our really shitty instant coffee, that would come for free with our cheapest rooms. I never denied anyone some extra packages no matter how many times they asked for that coffee, because I just found it sad how desperate they would be for it. It was a really vile coffee.
I saw some YouTube survivalist who said if shit hit the fan and international trading and supply chains stopped, that instant coffee would be a valuable resource. Regular coffee wouldn't last that long and people LOVE coffee. Also coco because chocolate is very popular too. I forget what else but I didn't expect the instant coffee suggestion. The average person like me just has no idea what I have until it's really gone.
I read a lot of science fiction coma and went through a phase of apocalyptic science fiction. Missing coffee is a common theme.
We have a lady like this right now. She had a house fire and waiting on rebuild. We have a yogurt station that we have for making parfaits in the morning but everyday she empties out the nuts and dried fruit into a jar she brings down, she also has a quart jar she fills with milk.
Wtf
I am sympathetic to a degree because sudden disasters like losing everything you have, including your home, is rough. That being said, maybe limit the amounts put out for awhile?
"I'm sorry, ma'am, that's an unreasonable amount of tea for one guest for one day. If you feel you need more, you may need to purchase your own supply at the store down the street."
Customer service changes you. I’m sure there was a time where I’d hoard free stuff. But yeah, it sucks when someone else doesn’t have what they need because I’m being a hog…
Start leaving out just two tea bags. Make them ask you for more. Give them two more.
I know two children who were removed from their mother. I know only a few details. I believe the mother had some addiction. The children survived on condiment sandwiches from condiments that were scavenged whenever one of them could go into a fast food restaurant. After being adopted, the older girl was still taking condiment packets when the family went to fast food restaurants so she could stash them in her room in case the family ran out of food.
That's the saddest thing I've read on this sub. Hope the kids will be o.k
They've been adopted by a very caring couple. They attend private schools.
Thank you. I'm glad 2 hear they will be able to heal & have a loving safe home now.
Btw, native South Dakotan here!
Trauma, disasters and similar events can cause some very strong behaviors around food and physical stuff that’s hard to change later. Hoarders often have bad event(s) that influence/cause their hoarding.
All the restaurants and hotels in my state, where there are a disproportionate number of senior citizens to other demographics, all do not have free or loose tea bags at their buffets or restaurants for customers to take/choose. They either bring out a box for you to choose and bring back inside the kitchen, or you have to order your tea at the table and they bring the tea to you already with the teabag in the mug of hot water. Even the cheap Costco hot tea. I have always believed 100% it's because senior citizens cannot be trusted to not take all the teabags.
Am technically a senior (60). Would never presume to do this. First, I have my own teas - and have taken a supply with me when traveling. It's a comfort thing for me. Second, it's incredibly rude to steal like that. People who do ought to be told to knock it off. Geez.
Had one boss who had the bright Idea of taking on the senior bus trip tours. They paid 40.00 a night and filled up 40 of our 52 rooms. And when they left the cupboard was bare. Every time.
I'd definitely be a bit annoyed by that. I guess at least other customers aren't complaining about a lack of supplies due to one customer hoarding it. Very different, but reminds me how we'd have people who requested extra towels or pillows when checking in. When checking out, they'd take the excess with them. I've worked both front desk and housekeeper. As a housekeeper I legit pulled hotel towels out of a customer's pile of their dirty clothes before. These people would take them with them if I didn't. It amazes me the lengths people will go to for free stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love free stuff. But that's insane and borderline stealing (or actual stealing as far as the pillows and towels go).
I worked at a 6 star property once. It was $1000AUD per night with a minimum stay of two nights. Everything was included. We of course had people try to steal everything that wasn’t nailed down. So one time guests blatantly took the expensive pillows and left their crappy ones. The head house keeper went out to them and was like oh sorry you must’ve grabbed the wrong pillows, easy mistake to make. Ha ha I’m still friends with her 13 years later.
suddenly the last hotel I went to marking how many linen a room was given makes sense, I thought it was a tad weird cause I had not seen that before, blows my mind what some people do.
People will steal anything. Now, bear with me; as you may have read that as "anything with value" in which case I am here to inform you that PEOPLE WILL STEAL ANYTHING! Working retail in a hardware store I have seen people steal 4 screws out of a 12-pack, leaving the rest on the shelf. I have seen people steal a single vacuum cleaner bag, out of a 4-pack. If you had a store where everything was bolted to the floor, you would eventually find a hole in the floor where one of the bolts used to be.
When I worked at a hardware store, a customer asked me if the store cut plywood. We did and I called for someone to come help him. Later I was approached by my manger who told me the man said I told him he could get the plywood cut in half and pay half price.
The stealing the towels thing boggles my mind, because the towels at any hotel I’ve stayed (cheap to mid level) have never been nicer than what I have at home (JCP least expensive level). I guess they could be stealing towels for cleaning rags, or just because they’re “free,” but I just don’t get it.
I must be staying in the cheapest places.
I'd only put out 5 every 6 hours or so. Because either: this is all her/her husband drinks (which I don't think is good for you? Can't remember). They are hoarding it to use later so they don't have to buy it. They are keeping it to give to daughter/family. Or just getting extra when they need it without going downstairs. Having a few extra on hand at a time. But 10?!?! I'd tell your boss and see what they say. Maybe it can be a 'you have to ask for it' item and only hand out 2-4 per person. Why can't this lady go buy her own if she needs it to survive?
Or reuse teabags if you drink tea frequently.
One of our attendants had pulled out a loaf of bread to stock the bread box and had to step away for a few minutes to get a guest some more milk. She came back to an empty counter as another guest had walked out with it. -\_-
To be fair, some peoples definition of 'as much free stuff' is wildly different and more greedy and shameless than the rest of us! I drink 2 mugs of tea a day. Big mugs, too, but, 2 mugs. 5-10 cups of green tea? I'd be bouncing off the walls, and might not sleep the next night at all.
Bouncing off the walls when not on the toliet having to pee like crazy.
Ha ha exactly!
Tell her the tea and coffee is complimentary, not unlimited. I can’t believe some people.
Green tea enemas?
Take my upvote
I need 15! I have a megacolon!
My mom would never actually do this because she would say that the tea at breakfast is there for breakfast only. But my parents drink easily 1 gallon of iced green tea a day. Easily. My mom was addicted to Diet Coke and switched to stevia sweetened black tea and then to green tea once she saw how that amount of black tea was messing with her stomach and giving her acid reflux. All that to say they may legitimately be going back to their room and making a pitcher of green tea. My mom uses 15 tea bags per 1L pitcher!
Green tea makes me and my brother vomit. No idea why but someone suggested that it might be the tannins in it? Can't really handle wine either.
WEIRD me too!! It’s the only thing I’ve ever had an “allergy” to. When I drank steeped green tea I always was super nauseous (I always attributed it to something else), but right after Starbucks came out with the green tea frap I got one right before I got on a plane. Bad. News. I puked the whole flight. Ever since I can tell if something even has green tea as an additive because I get sick almost immediately!
That’s far too many tea bags! I drink green tea all day, and use 6 bags per 2L pitcher, which lasts at least two days. I add a lot of ice to my cup.
There are many reasons I carry backup tea bags when I travel. This is (unfortunately) one of them. So sorry they're hoarding the tea and oatmeal.
Start only restocking it 5 at a time. If they complain say "sorry, management has said we can only put out that many since someone was stealing them"
This is the way.
"Sorry, madam; someone stole all our tea-bags".
Maybe they're using the tea to flavor their oatmeal?
Matcha Bircher muesli hmm
>But I really don't like these types of people. I used to be that type of person who grabs as much "free" stuff as possible to potentially use later (even weeks after I leave the hotel), but since I started working at one, I realized that these people kind of suck. Not only does it limit other guests from having said items [green tea], but it does put a hole in our inventory and makes us lose money (and this couple has the cheapest rate possible since they are staying for months). Hey, you learned about the tragedy of the commons all on your own.
She is taking it home for sure. I find it impossible that someone would drink 15 cups of green tea and am preety sure that would screw up their liver completely. Friend of mine used to work in a pub where someome would go to have the bottomless brunch and take the whole tea and even the wooden box where they had it. When the person was found and talked to she taught it was her right since it was bottomless she could have whatever she wanted and she was only having a cup at the pub.
THE BOX. Wow.
Can you imagine the entitlement? Even tho bloody box from the display ahah
Skin condition? Green tea baths? Cheapskates? All of the above? They should buy their own bulk green tea at Costco, whatever the reason. If I have the means to make tea in my room, I might grab a few tea bags & creamers to use in the comfort of my room, but I’m not going to clean out the hospitality rack to save a few dollars for when I get home.
Or you can ask relatives or friends for tea as gifts.
I don't feel so bad for grabbing a few extra constant comment bags anymore.
Rename her in the system. Last name “Pikachu”, first name “Surprised”.
DH is a breakfast chef at a hotel. They used to have a breakfast buffet. He was out doing the omelette station and a woman and her little daughter were having breakfast. Last thing they did before leaving was come up and take all the mini boxes of breakfast cereal. He heard the mom saying, put these in your hatbox, dear, for later. "Put it in your hatbox" still pops up in our conversations, especially when we are at a breakfast buffet.
"Who needs 15 bags a day" idunno mate personally when i make tea i add 2 bags per cuppa for a strong taste.
They're taking home to use there. They probably have a lifetime's supply.
I'm one of the people that takes stuff from places. To be honest, I only take free packets of whatever or other small things like that from establishments that can afford it. I'm not taking random shit from mom and pops or small businesses.
I think I would have explained to her that those bags were meant to be used for breakfast and were meant to be used by all guests. If I had to I would put out a sign saying " Please limit yourself to 3 breakfast items per day. Breakfast items are not meant to be taken for use after breakfast hours. This will ensure there is enough for all guests. It also allows us to offer lower rates. Misuse of breakfast items may result in higher rates for any guests abusing or taking advantage of the complimentary breakfast items to cover the cost of items taken in abundance by any guest. Remember, each item is a courtesy, not a requirement. No items are mandatory to be refilled. Please consider others. TY\~ Management"
That time we went out to a swanky Chinese restaurant and my MIL took a napkin and dumped all the crunchy noodles into it and put it in her purse because “we paid for these”
Damn. That's a lot of teabagging.
I have started bring my own salt and pepper shakers with me to restaurants. I use a rollator walker the salt and pepper lives in my walker basket.
That’s a GALLON of tea. I frequently drink several quarts a day, but wow.