My father is the opposite. he will take home anything left. He was brought up in the days where you got the most out of what you spent. If you are paying big bucks for a meal, then you want to get all you can out of it.

Perhaps that's the difference between the US and Europe, where that is pretty uncommon as well. In the US it is all about the value for the dollar, where as in Europe it is all about the overall experience, regardless of the price.