# Leaving your trash at fast food joints. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234 "2008-08-16T17:44:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/41 "2008-08-19T02:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] Should I take my own orders. They should maybe get rid of the counter people and just have me punch into a computer and slip the money into a slot. [/QUOTE] I’d be happy with that! ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/42 "2008-09-28T19:02:19Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > IME working fast food, a table is more likely to be sanitized if it’s free of rubbish. So, as long as the employee doesn’t have to shag trash then they’ll take the time to clean a table? > [@Student\_Driver](#): > > Usually a crew member is sent to clean up the dining room as time permits, typically a cashier. Since \*\*the time to do so is usually pretty short (just a minute or two \*\*until the next guy drives up to the drive-through or a customer goes up to the counter), any time spent ferrying garbage to receptacles is less time that can be sent spraying down and wiping tables and chairs. Now I know the reason for the condition of the bathrooms. > [@Student\_Driver](#): > > This is one of the reasons why I got tired of hearing the “they pay someone to clean that up” excuse by folks who choose to be slobs in public. No, they usually don’t have crew members on hand to take care of clean-ups, it’s an employee who has other responsibilities who gets to try to work that extra janitorial work into their day. Fast food is predicated on the concept of self-service in the dining room, and that includes the clean-up. Be untired! I do not throw trash in public, even if I have to walk a couple of feet to the trash can. But if I find myself in a trash dump then I do not hesitate to leave trash. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/43 "2008-09-28T20:30:57Z")
I clean up after myself. It’s just the way I was brought up. Working in Burger King as a teenager just reinforced this. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/44 "2008-09-28T21:38:52Z")
If you take a shit in a restaurants restroom and don’t flush, eventually someone will come along and flush it for you. However, it’s still incredibly uncourteous not to do so. Same principle with leaving trash on the table, though it’s a much lesser degree of obnoxiousness. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/45 "2008-09-28T23:18:22Z")
I bus my own table and those of the customers around me. Not necessarily before they’re finished. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/46 "2008-09-28T23:26:06Z")
I always dump my own trash and anyone else’s that was left onmy table but I try to find a clean table first. I once counted 32 separate items of trash resulting from my minimal Mickey D breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/47 "2008-09-28T23:31:25Z")
I think you’re always better off at these establishments to throw away the refuse they call food as well. It’s all trash, people. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/48 "2008-09-29T00:00:43Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The only circumstances under which I would not throw my trash in the bins would be if the bins were so overflowing that I could not do so without getting somebody else’s ketchup and grease on my hands. This reminds me of working at a fast-food campus snack bar while in college. One of my duties was to empty and re-line the trash bins. I had to keep an eye on them, because people would pile their trash on an overflowing bin even if there was an emptier one right next to it. I also quickly learned to reline the first bin immediately upon removing the full bag, or people would throw trash in the unlined bin – again, even if there was a lined one right there. And yes, I always bus my table at a fast food place. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/49 "2008-09-29T00:05:53Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Wendy’s opened in the Baltimore area around 1980 or so, and I definitely remember **not** clearing our own tables. I can’t even begin to guess as to when they started putting trash cans out for the customers like the other fast food places. In my home town – and I remember hearing this from a friend who worked there (we were in high school) – Wendy’s quickly moved to a “customer clears the table” model because that was what people were used to from McDonald’s and so they would wander around looking for the trash bins and eventually bring the garbage back to the order counter. People didn’t understand a “half-fast” restaurant, where you ordered in line, got food on a tray, but someone else cleared up. And yes, I always bus my own table if there isn’t wait service. I think that’s only fair since I’m not leaving a tip. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/50 "2008-09-29T01:25:44Z")
I always figure the rule is, if it’s not a place where you leave a tip, and the trash bins are in view and have tray-stacking space on top, bus your own table. Panera even expects you to separate your dishes and silverware from your trash and tray… ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/51 "2008-09-29T03:56:08Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > On the other hand, I can see how a trash filled table would be a more obvious signal that the table needed to be wiped, rather than relying on the attentiveness of the cleaning staff. This is the only thing I worry about. I always take my trash, but I find myself wondering if I should leave the empty tray or a napkin or something as a sign that someone was there and the table needs to be wiped. It’s obvious if I’ve spilled something on the table of course, but with the tray this isn’t usually the case. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234/52 "2008-09-29T12:49:08Z")
> [@Will\_Repair](#): > > So, as long as the employee doesn’t have to shag trash then they’ll take the time to clean a table? Yeah, at least at the places I worked as a teen. In fact, by having to spend time busing trash off of a table, the harried employee may _forget_ to wipe the table down afterward, since when they return from the trash can, they can forget at which table they left off spraying/wiping. The ideal situation is for the employee to spray and wipe each table, one right after the other. Anything which interrupts the spray/wipe/next-table pattern increases the likelihood of a missed table. Plus, the employee has limited time to clean, so anything which eliminates tasks means more tables will be cleaned before the employee has to run back to the register/drive-through window/grill. For the posters who mention wanting to leave a visual cue that a table needs to be wiped down, it’s unnecessary. The cleaning procedure means that every table gets sprayed and wiped in an order, regardless of whether it looks clean or not. Now, if you want paranoia about dining-room cleanliness, time to start wondering how often the _seats_ are sanitized! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leaving-your-trash-at-fast-food-joints/460234.md?page=2)