I was in Atlanta this weekend. I went to get a little shooting done and visit some friends. I’ve been to Atlanta several times and have always had a great time. There is a lot of stuff to do in Atlanta, it’s a pretty nice city. Since I consider myself a “foodie” and love to eat out my friends always take me some place nice to eat. This trip they took me to Mary Macs, a resturant that offers southern cuisine. We walked in and it was very busy. It was the kind of cozy place I imagined that generations of families went to. We were seated and handed the menu and a piece of paper in which we wrote down what we wanted – sushi style. There were 3 of us and we decided to get the Southern Special. I wanted to try some new food and it said it would be served family style so we could all share. That sounded perfect! It comes with 3 entrees, 3 sides, and dessert. Yum!
When the food came out we were shocked (and even a little disturbed) by the size of the portions. On the menu it suggests for 3 or more. There was a WHOLE fried chicken, plus a large platter of sweet potato pie, 1 of green beans, 1 of tomato pie, 1 of mashed potatoes, 1 of country fried steak, 1 of chicken and dumplins, We had no idea that it would be THIS much food. It could have easily fed a family of 5 with plenty left over. We each had about a spoonful of each item. The waiter ( who was very nice) came by to check on us and we asked for boxes. He said that it was against resturant policy to give to go boxes with the Southern Special. We were shocked! Then we asked where all this food was going and he said it was going in the trash! He brought the manager over and she basically said it was resturant policy and that it was stated on the menu, no doggie bags. Crap! Ok so we didn’t read the menu fully, I’ll admit it. BUT, the trash??? For real???!! The manager refused to bend on this matter and suggested that I write her manager.
This really made me upset. I actually almost cried. The amount of food that sat in front of us was unreal, and now they are gonna pitch it??! First of all, to give out portions that large to a group of 3 is ridiculous and wasteful. I don’t know ANY 3 people who can eat all the food that was served to us (not to mention the health risks). And I know some people with big appetites!! Second, it’s our food- we paid for it we should be able to do what we want with it. We didn’t ask for refires or reorders. That was the initial food we were served. It was ours. The 3 of us could have ordered individual meals and taken home the leftovers. What’s the difference? And lastly, what makes me personally sick, is that the enormous portioned food that we paid for and were not permitted to take home with us is now being wasted in the garbage. This IS a recession. There are people struggling to make ends meet everywhere. There are plenty of homeless and shelters that NEED that food. Not to mention, the extra costs for the resturant. I figure that even if the guy in charge doesn’t see my side as far as donating the food or letting us take it home, then perhaps maybe he is concerned with his own pocket. If you use extra food that is not eaten then that is more of the restaurants money and supplies being wasted. If they only brought out half of what they did we would have been more than satisfied and full. and they could be saving the other half for the next order. Considering the outcome of that lunch I assume the owner of the resturant is extremely successful and is carelessly using Ben Franklins as toilet paper. Regardless, there is no excuse for such waste!!
On a side note, I can’t stand excess packaging!!!Everything from Ibuprofen bottles 1/3 pills and 2/3 cotton to Bag of chips 1/3 chips and 2/3 air. Some companies/products are understanding with their concentrates, refills and such, but some still have a long way to go.
more waste...
Even though this software “TuneUp” is freakin amazing I was disappointed when I opened the box and got a disc. I don’t know what I expected, I guess it has been a minute since I bought some software in a store. It was an impulse buy when I was perusing the Apple store. I should have bought the download and saved a tree. Why cant they sell you something similar to a gift card that has a code to download it? I mean, everyone that is buying software has a computer, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Sure, it can be recycled, but that is even more energy and resources used….and that is what we are trying to avoid. Next time I’m gonna download any software or items that come on a disc. I’m still learning too…..