It is interesting that The Straits Times has taken up this challenge to nudge a change in the social habits of Singaporeans – in this case to get people to clear their food trays after eating in a hawker centre, food court or fast food joint.
There were two schools of thought. One – it’s the right thing to do and makes for a more pleasant and civilised dining experience. Two – we have cleaners who are paid to pick up after us so what’s the fuss all about? Take it a step further, you may be putting someone out of a job if you start putting away your trays! Yeah … but there’s probably lots they can still do “behind the scene”.
In a sense, I suppose both arguments have some degree of merit. It doesn’t really bother me if the previous diner left his now-empty bowl of laksa on the table. I can push it aside and be happy I have a seat. I guess when it comes to clearing up after yourself, it’s the typical Singapore mentality of “Why bother!”. Maybe it’s because too many people have maids to pick up after them or their over-protective parents didn’t get them to lift a finger around the house – so thinking about the social rightness is simply beyond them.
Still there are bigger irritants here we should be putting in the social crosshairs.
I have three pet peeves:
A) The Hoggers – people who leave packets of tissue to reserve their seats in crowded food centres. The least they can do is to elect some poor soul from the group to stay behind and jagah the seats. Then others would at least know the seats are taken and it’s not just a packet of tissue left behind by a careless idiot.
B) The Regurgitators – these are the guys who have to spit out their prawn heads, fish bones and what-have-you directly onto the table. They are usually married to their alter egos – The Prissy Things … women who simply have a pathological need to leave crumpled lots of tissue paper containing God-only-knows-what behind on the table. These inevitably threaten to fly into the food of the next diner but who cares – right?
C) The Squatters – these are the ones who persist in waiting for that last ice cube to melt so they can have can final sip totally oblivious that the place is packed and many people with food in hand (obviously not hoggers) are waiting for a seat. It’s a bloody hawker centre – eat and go.
Compared to these %^&*%$#&, those who leave their plates behind are pretty respectable chaps in my book!
