sethb

Of course, in order to have enough food for those who aren't stealing, the hotel has to provide more. If it allowed poachers only after the published time, that would be different. (E.g. publish that breakfast ends at 10:00AM, but don't clean up and remove everything until 10:15. A guest who shows up at 10:05 gets whatever is still there and doesn't get to complain if there's nothing left.)

I wouldn't consider that stealing.

bocastephen

Perhaps not, but I would consider it disgusting.

iahphx

It's funny to see this old thread again. One of my pet peeves about travelling in the USA is that when you stay in the mid-priced motel chains,you get a "free" breakfast buffet that you really would prefer not to eat. I submit these buffets have food that no restaurant in America could stay in business by serving; it's pretty darn terrible (unless, perhaps, you compare it to getting a box of cereal out of your cupboard at home). But since you've already "paid" for it, you grumble and eat it anyway.

So the idea that anybody would go through the trouble to "steal" this food strikes me as a bit odd. Frankly, you'd be better off collecting food stamps and buying your own food. Indeed, I suspect the low quality of the offerings DOES keep thieves away. There are just better things to steal, and few people would want to eat these breakfasts regularly (even criminals have standards). So I'd guess the "repeat poachers" are more likely to be mentally ill than hungry.

howtofreetravel

None of your business if anyone poaches it's the hotel business

sethb

So two people sharing food is fine, but a third is disgusting?

E.g. I get a pizza and bring it to a table with my friend. How many people can share it before you decide it's "disgusting"?

bocastephen

Obviously you know what I meant - people who know each other sharing food is not disgusting, but when people leave un-eaten food and strangers come over to finish it, yes, that's disgusting.

sethb

So if I'm at some event and decide to share a pizza with people I don't know: disgusting or not?

MSPeconomist

This is similar to eating from some garbage can that isn't even your own. It's very different from sharing food that's meant to be shared, such as pizza or Chinese, where presumably people use serving utensils to help themselves and don't touch the communal food with silverware that has been in their own mouths.

However, I've certainly seem enough bad behavior at buffets and lounges where people touch food, dishes, and silverware that will be used by others with their bare hands, sometimes fondling items before putting them back for others to take.

CitizenWorld

I work in a hospital and can tell you this is a rubbish idea. I'd stay well clear of hospitals unless you need to be there, plenty of nasties for you to catch on contact.

Ocn Vw 1K

After this thread was recently bumped-up, three years after the last post, it's become more-and-more off-topic. Time to give it the long rest that it's richly earned. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator.