Weird restaurant policies

[Bijou_Drains]

@Dewey_Finn

The explanation I’ve heard for the odd cups for water was that the stores are tracking soda sales by the number of cups that were dispensed, rather than the specific amount of soda or syrup that’s used. So they’d have to charge as much for water as they do for soda if they gave you a regular cup. Also, it’s really obvious that way if you fill the cup with soda anyhow.

not all places give the real small cup. Some give you the smallest cup they use for soft drinks.

[DrDeth]

@Acsenray

Fuck that noise.

Manners are about how you interact with other people. What you choose to wear when you’re minding your own business, particularly something as ordinary as a cap, has nothing to do with manners.

It’s bad manners to police other people’s personal choices, like choosing to wear an ordinary cap.

We were dining in the nicest restaurant in San Jose, and a certain Director was there, wearing his signature ball cap, and no one thought he was rude.

[Dewey_Finn]

Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that no one said anything to the “certain Director” (whatever that means), rather than to say no one thought he was rude? Unless, of course, you surveyed everyone in “the nicest restaurant in San Jose”.

[DrDeth]

@Dewey_Finn

Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that no one said anything to the “certain Director” (whatever that means), rather than to say no one thought he was rude? Unless, of course, you surveyed everyone in “the nicest restaurant in San Jose”.

Our table didnt think so. How about that? Who gives a crap about wearing a hat?
Look, unless you “dress for dinner” in full white tie, you are being rude by old social"rules". But those rules change.

[Voyager]

@nearwildheaven

This makes sense, because so much soda is poured out because it overflows, or has too big a “head” on it, or they got the wrong kind, or any number of other reasons. And it’s a profit-maker because the soda mix is cheap.

Sweet Tomatoes, a salad buffet, has plastic glasses, with different colors for water (free) and soda/iced tea (charge.) The water glass is plenty big for soda, but I bet there is a behavioral economics study saying that giving a water glass that is different makes it obvious that you are cheating if you use it for soda and thus cuts down on the cheating - even if none of the employees would ever call a person on it.

[LLCoolL]

@GreasyJack

There was a vegetarian Indian restaurant in the town I went to college that had gender-divided seating the first few years it was open.

Six years later…

This is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on SDMB! Thank you!!

[Yorkshire_Pudding]

@pancakes3

Definitely too much rage over the right to bear hats. Pro-hatters, your hat really is an equivalent of elbows on the table, chewing with your mouth open, or slurping your soup.

Elbows on the table?!

clutches pearls and swoons

Really, how can you even stand to mention such base depravity? Some warning, surely, was warranted.

Come off it. Elbows on the table, really? My family used to get very sniffy about things like…oh, people holding their knives like pens, for example, and elbows on the table was in the same list of things that would see you cast out. In some quarters the more-commonly-American practice of cutting food then switching the fork to the right hand to pick it up (as opposed to spiking the piece which is to be eaten with the fork, cutting it free with the knife then lifting the still-speared morsel to the mouth) is frowned upon as unrefined - or at the very least childlike and gauche - despite its being perfectly normal to literally millions of diners. And - quite rightly - I think most people nowadays would say that’s ALL utter cobblers and anyone who gets bent out of shape about it should maybe just grow up.

[septimus]

@Labrador_Deceiver

That never actually happens in Georgia restaurants. Ever.

If you order a Coke in Georgia, you get a Coca-Cola. If they don’t have it, they’ll ask you if Pepsi is okay.

It’s six years too late, but those arguing with this missed the punchline: The headquarters of the Coca Cola Company is located in Atlanta, Georgia. I recall this from the days when I was hippie boy visiting many large data processing centers. (The Coca Cola mainframe I attended had a peculiar timing glitch that affected a diagnostic but not system firmware. Since customer insisted the diagnostics run error-free, I solved his problem temporarily by putting a capacitor, believe it or don’t, on a system clock! IBM mainframes come in two colors: red and blue. The salesman never needed to ask Coca Cola what color they wanted! )

@Rand_Rover

1. Re: short-changing–I don’t understand the complete freak-out some people are having over this issue. …

Yeesh almighty. Life’s too short to stress out about stuff like that.

@bouv

… But, knowing some people here, not giving back that four cents would still be an insult, or something.

I was also flabbergasted by the concern Dopers expressed about losing a few cents. I envy a life so care-free that such complaints are worth mention. OTOH I admit I was annoyed when a foxy waitress in Santa Cruz, Calif., noticing I seemed tipsy, made change for a $50 bill as though it were $20.

[D_Anconia]

@Acsenray

It’s bad manners to police other people’s personal choices, like choosing to wear an ordinary cap.

Yes, it’s bad manners to “police” other people. At the same time, it’s bad manners to wear a hat in a restaurant.

Hat Etiquette

[kayaker]

@D_Anconia

Yes, it’s bad manners to “police” other people. At the same time, it’s bad manners to wear a hat in a restaurant.

Hat Etiquette | HuffPost Life

From your cite:

Some people believe that it’s bad luck to put a hat on a bed, so when you take your hat off in someone’s home, look for a hat rack or some other place to put it.

Ummm, your cite sucks donkey balls.

[Procrustus]

@pancakes3

3 - Definitely too much rage over the right to bear hats. Pro-hatters, your hat really is an equivalent of elbows on the table, chewing with your mouth open, or slurping your soup. Some of those around you will be sufficiently brazen to say something to you. Of course it’s within your “right” to blow them off and continue with your offending behavior, but know that your hat is offensive to some. That’s all the anti-hatters are saying. I see nothing to get overly righteously indignant about, or how wearing a hat whilst eating helps curb racism in any significant manner.

I am offended by ball caps in any restaurant better than fast food. Not sure why, as it really is a pretty arbitrary rule and it doesn’t hurt anyone. On the other hand, I customarily flaunt the elbows on the table rule. I just like doing it and don’t care who I offend.

[running_coach]

@D_Anconia

Yes, it’s bad manners to “police” other people. At the same time, it’s bad manners to wear a hat in a restaurant.

Hat Etiquette | HuffPost Life

Oh look, she’s a plagiarist.
HuffPo

• Hats traditionally thought of as “women’s hats,” with ribbons, bows, feathers, flowers, or other ornamentation, or in delicate colors and materials, including the small hats worn on the front of the head and known as fascinators, may be kept on indoors for all occasions, except when you’re wearing a large hat at the movies, the theater, or any other kind of performance event. In this case, remove it and place it on your lap so that people behind you can see the stage.

The whole article, word for word.
From here.
Here and here.

[scr4]

@running_coach

Oh look, she’s a plagiarist.
HuffPo

The whole article, word for word.
From here.
Here and here.

Did you notice the copyright/posted dates on those sites? Huffpo: 2012, Mary-Anne Morrison: 2018, Laura Apsit Livens: 2015, Healdsburg Patch: 2013 (and by the same writer).

And yes, the HuffPo article says updated in 2017, but here’s the 2012 original and the part you quoted is the same.

[D_Anconia]

@kayaker

From your cite:
Ummm, your cite sucks donkey balls.

What on earth does hat racks in peoples’ homes have to do with wearing hats in a restaurant?

Also, people on this board routinely quote huffpo as if it were authoritative, but I don’t recall you complaining about it those threads. :dubious:

[kayaker]

@D_Anconia

What on earth does hat racks in peoples’ homes have to do with wearing hats in a restaurant?

Your cite claims it’s poor etiquette to place a hat on a bad because of bad ju-ju. Yeah, right. I’ll disregard the rest of the article as well.

[D_Anconia]

@kayaker

Your cite claims it’s poor etiquette to place a hat on a bad because of bad ju-ju. Yeah, right. I’ll disregard the rest of the article as well.

IIRC, you’re an older gentleman. Surely you were taught that wearing hats in a restaurant is poor form.

[kayaker]

@D_Anconia

IIRC, you’re an older gentleman. Surely you were taught that wearing hats in a restaurant is poor form.

I do not wear a hat in a restaurant by choice (I do not recall being taught not to).

If someone else wants to wear a hat, or a kilt, or crotch-less panties, I do not consider it any of my business (something I do remember being taught).

[DrDeth]

@D_Anconia

IIRC, you’re an older gentleman. Surely you were taught that wearing hats in a restaurant is poor form.

Sure, but so is showing up for diner in anything but white tie full dinner dress.

Customs change, and a hat isnt rude on the face of it, like chewing with your mouth open.

[Procrustus]

@kayaker

I do not wear a hat in a restaurant by choice (I do not recall being taught not to).

If someone else wants to wear a hat, or a kilt, or crotch-less panties, I do not consider it any of my business (something I do remember being taught).

You are more tolerant on kilts than I.

[D_Anconia]

@DrDeth

Customs change, and a hat isnt rude on the face of it, like chewing with your mouth open.

Wait a minute. How is one rude, and not the other?