Dear JimmyDo,My teenager was at a restaurant the other day and not only did he eat his meal, but apparently he ate the meal of someone who paid for and left a considerable amount of food on the table next to him. When my son got up to leave, he paid for his meal and was informed that he was being charged for the meal he ate on the other table. Can the manager do that, and what can my teen do about it?
Sincerely,
Eating off my own plate!
Dear Eating off my own plate!
It sounds like your teenager was doing what many teenagers do, graze. This behavior involves roaming from refrigerator to cupboards and back again to the refrigerator in search of eatables.
It sounds like your son's error was thinking that public places are grazing centers as well, and started grazing at the local restaurant. JIMMYDO thinks that the problem comes in when the store manager charged him for the food he ate. If the person sitting at the next table had paid for the meal that wasn't eaten, then JIMMYDO thinks it stands to reason that the charge was for something else.
I think your son may have been charged for grazing. If grazing wasn't a item on the menu, JIMMYDO wonders how the amount was arrived at.
Here is JIMMYDO's advice. I think your son should go back to the restaurant and when the wait staff comes to take his order, he should order the Grazer. When the waiter/waitress looks puzzled, he should recommend that they should check with management, because even though it is not on the menu, it apparently is something that they charge for. While the waiter/waitress goes to check, I think your son should wander the other tables and eat the things that look good to him. If your son is nervous about interrupting paying customers, he could wait and watch the patrons and when one party is getting ready to go, your son could hover to catch all the left overs.
Who knows? Maybe the management will decide that this is a new profitable item to add to the menu, and offer it to all. And JIMMYDO would caution your son to only pay the price of the grazing charge he was charged last time. After all, if he is waiting until parties are done with their food, the restaurant pays someone to scrape plates, and JIMMYDO could argue that your son is easing their burden in that area.
