# What do you do with paper placemats in restaurants? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510 "2012-04-01T21:27:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/21 "2012-04-02T16:44:11Z")
Tic tac toe. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/22 "2012-04-02T19:12:06Z")
[Jotto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jotto). Still a word game but more fun than hangman in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/23 "2012-04-02T19:19:07Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Tic tac toe. This, with my ten year old. It’s better now that she’s older - when she was smaller, she’d draw something, then insist we take the stained mat home with us, which didn’t happen very often. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/24 "2012-04-02T21:10:02Z")
At least once my husband (fellow Doper AndyL) used a placemat to teach me some calculus. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/25 "2012-04-02T21:25:47Z")
Spill stuff on them, if anything. I’m a messy eater. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/26 "2012-04-02T22:13:27Z")
Depending on the restaurant, I sometimes ask for the kids’ menu, which comes on a placemat. If I think I can get away with it, I’ll ask for crayons and color. Otherwise, I don’t do anything. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/27 "2012-04-02T22:45:15Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I use mine to jot down calculations of obscure problems in quantum mechanics. > I also autograph them to give (in lieu of tips) to the waitstaff. Sheldon Cooper posts on the Dope! 😃 We like to play hangman on the paper mats. Any other time I’d scoff at the idea of playing hangman but in a restaurant with a paper placemat I’m all about playing hangman. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/28 "2012-04-03T02:53:07Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > I hope he wasn’t the one paying the bill at the end! 🙂 I don’t have spellcheck on this computer. At least, nothing I can figure out (I’m not much better at tech stuff than I am at spelling). ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510/29 "2012-04-03T05:11:12Z")
Hangman or dot and boxes, rarely tic tac toe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-with-paper-placemats-in-restaurants/617510.md?page=1)