As a former waiter, I have a counterpoint:
Thus, you've created work for me.
Thankfully I haven't been a waiter in - oh look! - 30 years.
My wife and I do this, but I've always wondered whether I'm actually helping or just creating a different kind of inconvenience by not organizing them in a beneficial way.
This comment section is a nice mix of "I'm a waiter, please don't do this, you're making my job harder" and "I always do this to make the waiters' lives easier"
As long as you don't overstack it. Make a tidy stack that can be carried easily with one hand securely. If you eg put utensils between plates you can cause an accident.
I usually have a pack of gum and I deliberately start a pattern on how I take pieces out. Usually it's from left to right, emptying a full row before I move on to the next.
My test is to offer them gum and see where they pick from. Will they recognize a pattern and continue it? Or will they be oblivious?
Either way, it's not a measure of good or bad. It's just a fun lil test.
If you leave your cart in a parking space, you're sub-human
You're passible if you take it to the corral
But a truly good human will stack the carts into proper rows if the carts are loose in the corral
My boomer mother did this. My boomer father was indifferent.
I do this.
For the record, the only things that get stacked are things that are perfectly stackable, I don't put a plate on top of a half-eaten cheese steak or leave utensils in the middle.
My dad gets legitimately angry when I do this. Boomers are a different breed
For the first time, I feel seen.
When I was a server I hated when people stacked their own plates. First off, I found it performative. Secondly it messed with my system. Thirdly it usually produced a 20lb pile of dishes covered in queso, half eaten burritos, and guacamole that was impossible to carry.
My family would get upset if you did that or if the server came by and offered to take the empty plate away. Why yes one of them is named karen. How did you guess?
I mean, you could stack your dishes but still be a rapist or murderer.
I may tidy up. But I don't stack. I won't even stack at my house, I hate touching the dirty bottom of a plate.
My test is mostly how do they treat my visibly disabled husband. Who also is older than me and looks it. I don't like being treated like I'm his nurse. I understand why they might think daughter so I'm ambivalent towards that. A lot of people are short and snippy with him because he's harder to understand and that gets me upset.
I stack the plates to make room when boxing up food. It gets stacked in the way I would want to carry with the largest and cleanest ln bottom for stability and forks/utentils on top. Don't generally do more than 3 plates in a stack because they might want to rearrange.
My mom does this. She has major ocd.
What do you do with your shopping cart when you are done? Do you just leave it to fend for itself in the sea of the parking lot? Or do you do the right thing and bring it back inside or to the cart corral.
The REAL REAL sign though? When someone brings a cart from the parking lot into the store to shop with, ultra move.
When I lived in San Francisco, self-bussing was the norm. Here in Sacramento even the cafe wait staff look at me like I am crazy, unless I'm in a coffee franchise like Starbucks or Peets.
You're all my people. Well, most of you.
You'd fail my test if I learn you have tests for people.
Maybe it's just a matter of phrasing, but the idea that I could be kind to our server all night, tip well, generally hit it out of the park, but be disproportionately judged for failing to do this one small thing because it's your personal test? Sets my social anxiety off enough that if I knew that were on your mind I'd probably just say we're not compatible.
Obviously, keep an eye out for shitty people, and don't put up with bad behaviour, but also judge people as people, wholistically.
Just wanted to put in a counter for what a lot of people are saying in here, if you're looking for a "perfect-clone friend" right out the gate then prepare to be lonely as your tests fail... not because they're horrible people, but because they're a different person with different experiences.
The person litters (like @tiramichu@sh.itjust.works suggested)? Probably see's their entire family litter constantly and never gets comments or maybe even once got reprimanded for saying not to litter to an elder. Just ask them not to when they're in your vehicle, take into account their reaction and maybe have a conversation about it? (personal experience, just let me friend know it was lame and he stopped doing it. But now his vehicle is a roaming trashcan so I guess take what you can get)
You can be friends with people who are different or were raised differently than you, it's actually super beneficial! Now if it's a constant argument or it's turned into a negative experience every time and communication isn't working... it might be useful to move on for everyone's sake at that point.
you want me to work for you, pay for everything, and tip you?
If it's a self service place, I tend to look around if there is a place to keep the dishes (kinda like SubWay has).
Otherwise, I don't stack. Waiters can have different ways of taking the dishes and those ways are usually based on all the dishes being random-access.
I'd rather do nothing, than stack it the wrong way.
It's fun to have a friend who's been a waiter for 30 years, he just openly narrates the service and how good/bad they're doing (usually "look at how hard they have to scramble because you assholes came in late")
My mom was a cleaning lady and I worked in hospital housekeeping for a while. I always wipe down my table and tidy the plates etc. my kids have picked it up just from watching and they always clean their mess when we go out, can’t get them to clean up at home though
My test is the classic shopping cart test, for those who don't know its a test based on if someone returns a shopping cart. Its a societal benefit that is not aknowlaged and requires minimal effort. You wont be punished if you dont return it yet you're being an asshole.
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