Ok, but your example is funny to me, as I spend a lot of time in Maine and get Fla folks all the time who specifically come because they want to experience the rocky, dramatic Maine beaches. 
Dude, that was from the Sheraton’s room service. Those fucks couldn’t even figure out what’s the standard meaning of “a coca cola”, trying to get them to reheat the food (maybe Sheratons have microwaves in the room now, but in 2003 they didn’t) might have caused a fire.
But there is no “standard meaning” of “a Coca-Cola.”
Ha ha. The point is that just because the hotels you stayed at didn’t have fridges or microwaves doesn’t mean that it’s useless for everyone to take leftovers back to their hotel rooms. Even without a fridge or a microwave, I am often content to each unrefrigerated, un-reheated dinner leftovers for breakfast.
And speaking of takeout, one place I worked charged 25 cents per box for “to go” orders. Why? The owner got tired of people ordering things to go, and then changing their minds and sitting down at a table to eat out of the box. She considered that a waste of a box, and if people were gonna do that she was gonna charge 'em.
It wasn’t Dutch Pantry, was it? I still remember that dang poem, which began:
“The Distelfink is a lovely bird,
His song’s not loud, nor is it heard,
but he’s our friend, a voice or not,
his presence here, a happy lot…”
Another kid with moldy food story: My parents took me and my sisters out to the then-famous steak restaurant Old Homestead for my birthday, must’ve been my 10th or so. Great food all around, until we got to the birthday cake. They cut me a slice of cake and, being the birthday girl, I got to eat the first piece. The inside looked a bit greenish but I didn’t think anything of it, I figured it was mint-flavored or just colored for decoration.
It wasn’t mint. Solid mold, through and through.
I have no idea what the upshot was, unfortunately; I can’t imagine they didn’t comp our meal, not to mention getting us another cake. I don’t even know how that would happen, unless for whatever reason someone grabbed one of the “display” cakes that used to be shown revolving in a glass case. I can still taste that cake. It was like the Cake of Death.
The only other ‘odd’ practice I can think of is from another steakhouse, Peter Luger’s. Not sure if their policy now is the same as it was back whenever my family used to go there (they have one restaurant in Brooklyn and one in Great Neck, Long Island, which is where we lived). But this expensive* restaurant did not accept any credit cards other than their own in-house card. Cash or their card, only. Our dinners were usually upwards of $200 (and again, this is in the '70s and '80s when this was unusually expensive) and fortunately my pop had a card.
- And worth every dime. Aged porterhouse steaks that melted like butter in your mouth, huge beefsteak tomato/onion salads, fried German potatoes, spinach smooth as cream… oh my God, soooo good. Never had as good a steak in my adult years as I did as a young child and teenager, thanks to my parents being able and willing to take us to Peter Luger’s for special occasions.
Yeah you’re over thinking it. He wants his sandwich in a certain way, the waitress insists the food only comes one way, he wants the order but with less stuff. She says she can’t do that, he tells her to hold an ingredient between her legs.
It’s ‘fuck you’ to restrictive conventional society.
For me it depends on what the the food is.
I know of a local place where the owner had a problem people ordering takeout, then sitting at a table to eat their food. It screwed the waitstaff out of a tip, and there was a tax issue as well.
I have also run into this but at a middle eastern fast food place with no waiters, and no extra charge on the bill that I can see. It is extremely off putting when there isn’t a customer inside the place but me and after I pick up my order I sit down to check it and put some sauce on a gyro and then pack it up properly in my backpack(so the hummus doesnt spill) for the ride home. Every fucking time the owner asks in a paranoid tone BUT YOU SAID TO GO?!?!?!:eek:
:rolleyes:Way to make me feel welcome, take your food and get the fuck out!
That is horrible and inexcusable. I would have demanded to speak to the manager, and hinted that I might take them to court–criminal or civil, or both—for serving me tainted food. Therer’s no reason for a restaurant to do that. It’s totally out of line! :mad:
Didja happen to notice the part where she said she was 10 years old and didn’t know what exactly happened afterwards?
I actually get drinks to go quite a bit. No one’s ever given me an issue, but I wouldn’t be bothered if they did. I usually offer to pay, but no place has ever accepted. Of course, these aren’t high end places.
The only time I feel bad is when I ask and then everyone else decides they want a drink to go!
I’ve had a few places around here (greater Los Angeles) offer a soda refill in a styrofoam to-go cup - usually when I request a refill near the end of the meal.
I can’t recall what restaurant(s), but they are fairly run-of-the-mill places. It’s happened more than once, but it’s also uncommon enough (in my experience) that it sticks in my mind.
In some places, after I finish my meal, I’m asked if I would like to have my drink put in a to go cup. Occasionally I accept. I’ve never been charged for this.
Heh. The latter is true, but I should reassure dougie_monty that though I don’t know what happened, I do know my parents were both a) regular customers of the Old Homestead (and thus known to the waiters/managers) and b) not the type to let their little girl’s moldy birthday cake go unremarked upon. My father particularly would have been fairly assertive, but behind-the-scenes – if he did say anything, my guess is that he got up to go to the restroom and then spoke to the manager, rather than make any demands from the table.*
I’ll have to ask my older sisters about it (unfortunately both mom and pop are gone now) to see if they recall what the recriminations were. Other than my still getting skeeved out by how that cake tasted, 35 years later! Like, it’s the sort of cake the Addams Family would serve.
- EDITED TO ADD: But honestly this was a very highly regarded steak place, and as I said, they were regular customers, so it really wouldn’t surprise me at all if the manager himself spoke to my parents without having to be prodded; my guess is he would’ve apologized profusely, with restitution of some sort being made.
EDITED AGAIN TO ADD: Holy cow (heh) they’re still around; I thought they’d closed in the 1980s. The Old Homestead. And I remember that cow!
I bet it must depend on local culture. Here, sharing is usually okay. I know I must have seen restaurants that have “no split plates” on the menu, but that’s not the norm around here, in my experience, though I tend to go to middle-brow and ethnic restaurants. Almost all of the places I go to allow sharing, and often won’t even charge extra for the extra plate. I even tell them that one plate will be okay, but they still give me two plates and two sets of cutlery. In fact, I honestly can’t remember the last time I was charged for a split plate.
That’s badass. No hats on in restaurants - I see douchebags wearing their hats at the table all the time. I’ve actually asked fellow customers to remove their hats before. 
The waitress could give me the change out of her own pocket in order to make up for the policy. The fact that she doesn’t means she’s stealing from me, too.
And, Rand Rover. It’s simple. It’s in our best interest to try and make such a policy as difficult as possible. If they have to worry about a customer raising a fuss, the small amount they save stops being worth it.
These are the basics of utilitarian morality. I do things that make things better for other people, and they will thus do things that will make it better for me. That way we both have more power than we had otherwise.
Mine is. The US is a big place, and I see plenty of people here (in Florida) from Spain on a regular basis.
Are you an 85-year-old Far Right Wing prissy upper-middle-class widow who thinks everyone should follow the rules of her sorority? IF SO, YOURE MY MOM.
…who hates hats indoors.
Yeah, asking a complete stranger to remove his hat is pretty obnoxious.