THE BUFFET OF LIFE

Sometimes I learn more about people -- complete strangers especially -- when I'm parked in a buffet line, awaiting my turn. I'm not always a fan of the buffet: sometimes it's just too tempting to overeat (which is never a good thing) but more often than not, the problem is that the food isn't really all that great. Buffets epitomize the victory of quantity over quality, with very few exceptions.

Yet a buffet meal has its merits. It erases any potential for awkwardness when you're in a group. There's no need to wonder if it's OK to order the dish with liver, for instance -- everyone can eat whatever they want. When it's time to split the tab, you simply figure out the per person price, add the cost of your drinks, and (usually) no one gets stuck paying more than his or her fair share.

If you want lots of options, a buffet is a good way to try a bit of everything without having to order a ton of dishes, which obviously can be pretty expensive. See, I do really well with options; I'm not the kind of consumer who becomes disoriented while in the middle of the cereal aisle in a supermarket. I guess I figure if I get my choice wrong this time, there's always another chance to get it right.

Which is why it baffles me to see how badly so many people behave in a buffet line. There are those who simply can't wait their turn: they cut in front of you and even the person ahead of you, as if they're afraid that if they stay put they'll end up with one or two fewer pieces of shrimp (and you can bet I will talk more about shrimp shortly). Why are they such in a rush, I wonder? As it is they've already shaved off minutes by not having to wait for a server to take their order and then wait some more to get their food from the kitchen. Is it really so urgent to heap food on their plate and get back to their table before everyone else? And really, why do they think they far more important than the people ahead of and behind them?

And then there are those who are so fazed by the sheer number of choices facing them that they take five minutes  staring at each entree, even as the queue behind them becomes so long that someone passes out from hunger.They can't seem to fathom the concept that they can always go back -- again and again if they want to. There's no one standing at the head of the line with a counter, ready to pull the plate off their hands if they've returned one too many times. Which brings me next to the people who pile everything on their plates so that they can't make out one entree from the next -- the food's just all mixed in one amorphous, multicolored mound. These folks don't annoy me so much as puzzle me; it's really none of my business if people actually prefer to taste their food or not. But why would anyone not want to?

One day someone will explain to me why people are most rude when there's shrimp on the table. Inevitably -- and I don't say this lightly -- you will see a person ahead of you pick off all the shrimp inside a dish and leave nothing but the vegetables and sauce for the rest. The worst offenders are those who do this not only for themselves, but for everyone else in their party, too (or so they say). Can't their companions queue up for their own shrimp? People get this way with lobster tail and crab claws, too, but somehow the shrimp lovers are the most vicious.

I don't pay attention to what people choose to put on their plate -- only how they do it. The way I look at it, people can get most greedy when they have ready access to plentiful, abundant, and especially unlimited resources. All of a sudden they lose their impulse to share -- it's everyone out for themselves. If you want to see human nature in action, get to the nearest buffet restaurant. Hopefully when you're there you realize that if you get only what you really want, but only as much as you can actually consume, you'll come out feeling pretty satisfied. Even if you really are a fan of the shrimp.

Comments

[aleli]

I get annoyed with people who pile (as in, it's a mini mountain)all the shrimp or all the crab legs on their plate like there is no tomorrow - leaving nothing in the buffet knowing there are people lined up behind him waiting. Worse, they don't eat it all and leave half of it untouched!

[tina]

I agree with you on the people who just pile up food for greed's sake. That bothers me to no end.

But I'm one who will cut in line in a buffet at times. Why? Because I'm not going to stand and wait 2-5 minutes while people are in line busy getting something I don't want to eat just so I can "follow the line" to the food further down the buffet that I actually do want to eat. Instead, I'll cut to where the food I actually want to eat is, put it on my plate and then go sit down and eat. It's not that I'm in a hurry or feel that I'm more important than anyone else is, it's simply that I'm not going to waste my time waiting when I don't have to. *amusement*

[Gigi]

Aleli - What is up with crustaceans that make people go nuts???

Tina - NO ONE wants or cares to wait or thinks he/she should for any reason. But if you're really antsy to get to your food for whatever compelling reason you may have at the time, the best thing is to politely ask the person in front of you if you can cut in line to get the one item you really want. And make sure that item is either at the end of the line or at some point in the line where you won't end up making someone else wait for you!

The way I see it: if everyone cut in line just because what they want is still up ahead, then chaos ensues (buffet traffic!). After all, what's good for you is good for everyone else, right?

[sha]

i thought of writing an essay obesity and consumerism when i think of buffets....

[bugsybee]

What an astute observation! This is precisely the reason why I hate buffets. :(

[Jayred]

Hi, Gigi.

Like you, I'm not a buffet fan. It's always at the buffet table where I get to meet greedy diners guilty of gluttony.

During a Filipino-Swiss Christmas party, I never got the chance to sample the shrimps just because the people, who had the distinct advantage of being the first ones to arrive at the buffet table, took them all. How selfish, I thought. (Funny, my husband and I were the ones who paid for the shrimps.)

[Gigi]

Haha, what's all the fuss over the shrimp? I still don't get it -- and I love shellfish! :)

[K]

I love buffet, shrimps and all that. I am ashamed to admit that I also pile up my plate with lotsa crawls, tails, etc - because I hate to go back, use another plate or walk from the far end table to the buffet area.

I wonder, are you referring to the Americans? Dahil dito sa HK, I'm sorry to say pero Chinese lang mahilig makipag agawan.

[Gigi]

Hahaha, over here you just never know who's going to cut in front of you. :)