I will sometimes get a free breakfast from a hotel instead of going out to a restaurant and spending money for one. Almost all mid class hotels offer a free breakfast in the mornings.
One time when I was staying and eating at a hotel I was staying at, I got up late and just barely made it before the staff cleared away the food for the day. I asked what they did with the food that was left over, and much of it is thrown away. While food that is in packages and fruit can be used the next day, food that is prepared or displayed in certain ways (hard boiled eggs that have been peeled) end up in the trash.
This seemed like a complete waste to me. So even though I don't stay at the hotels, I will sometimes stop into one near the time they end the service and have a meal of the food that they would otherwise throw away (some serve up some good quality egg breakfasts). I get a free breakfast and food doesn't get needlessly thrown away.
Free Hotel Breakfasts
September 24th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
September 24th, 2012 at 11:11 pm 1348528307
September 25th, 2012 at 01:23 am 1348536230
September 25th, 2012 at 02:30 am 1348540223
September 25th, 2012 at 04:14 am 1348546470
September 25th, 2012 at 05:28 am 1348550905
But does waste justify theft? If you have some perishable food in your house and it is not being used fast enough, does that make it OK for me to come into your house uninvited and eat your perishable food?
Does this rationale extend to other belongings as well, or is it limited to food? Can I just help myself to anything I might want if, in my view, the rightful owner is being wasteful?
September 25th, 2012 at 06:33 am 1348554830
Your home analogy is off. A better analogy would be someone having a BBQ in their front yard and it is winding down. As I walk by, I see the person at the BBQ has a bunch of food on the side and I ask them "can have the stuff that is going to be thrown away?" even though I don't specifically know the owner of the house.
I assume your last comment is an over exaggeration because your initial analogy was off. But to answer it, no. This situation is different than what you describe.
September 25th, 2012 at 12:54 pm 1348577681
September 25th, 2012 at 03:33 pm 1348587196
It doesn't matter if you ask the servers what they are going to throw out. You didn't ask "may I have it?". I don't agree that what you are doing is irrelevant. You are actively trying to recruit others to do the same. Your intention is not to reduce food waste, your intention is to have someone else pay for your breakfast.
Your home analogy is off. A better analogy would be someone having a BBQ in their front yard and it is winding down. As I walk by, I see the person at the BBQ has a bunch of food on the side and I ask them "can have the stuff that is going to be thrown away?" even though I don't specifically know the owner of the house.
Oh, now you're saying you do ask if you may have what will be thrown away? You've just stated several times that you don't ask. Which is it?
I disagree that my home analogy is off. You enter the hotel's premises, even though you are not a paying guest and have no intention of becoming a paying guest. You have no intention of paying for your meal, which is provided to hotel guests because the cost is included in the price of renting a room. If the management were aware of your presence and your intentions, you would be asked to leave. If you resisted, they would toss you out.
Your BBQ analogy is off. In your BBQ analogy, you are strolling along minding your own business when you happen to see a BBQ winding down in someone's front yard. However, when you have your free hotel breakfasts, you go to the hotel's place of business deliberately. The breakfast is not being served in the front yard along the street as you casually stroll by.
September 25th, 2012 at 04:41 pm 1348591301
Too Cheap, please tell us what you think IS too cheap?
Truth is, though, I enjoy the attempt to cause a stir. It takes all kinds.
September 25th, 2012 at 09:09 pm 1348607358
September 25th, 2012 at 09:19 pm 1348607986
All of these things are related, I believe. Your habits -- taken as a whole -- color every suggestion that you make.
But why bother posting since you're just going to delete this, too...
September 26th, 2012 at 03:45 am 1348631123
As for the barbeque, the difference is you asked if it was ok to eat it and the person bbqing obviously didnt assume that you were an honest paying customer.
September 26th, 2012 at 03:01 pm 1348671717
That breakfast is not "free" -- it is just included in the price of the room for all guests of the hotel, as a matter of policy. If you were honest, you would ask with relevant information included, such as "I am not a guest of this hotel, but a random person of the street, can you still feed me?". That would be asking.
Hotel is assuming that people are basically honest and not check IDs at the door, because it would not make guest feel very welcome.
The rule of thumb, in your "cheap" endeavors is "If EVERYBODY was doing that, would it be OK?" If not, than it is unethical. This is plain stealing, just stealing with no real consequences if you are caught - low risk stealing.
September 27th, 2012 at 12:57 am 1348707448
I have worked as at both a hotel front desk and as a hotel manager. From what I gather, he/she is only taking food that is going to be tossed and that we wouldn't be allowed to donate. Any reasonable manager would say yes rather than have the food go to waste. I always encouraged the staff to take that food home, but it usually ended up in the garbage.
I would not want him/her to ask permission even though I would give it. 10:00 am when our breakfast ended is one of the busiest times of the day for us. People are checking out, others are trying to check in early and we are scrambling to get rooms made. The last thing I would want is to spend 10 minutes listening to an explanation during this time when I need to be doing other urgent things. My guess is that anyone who has ever worked at a hotel would agree.
In this case I think it is okay to do without asking.
September 28th, 2012 at 05:34 am 1348810464
September 28th, 2012 at 05:37 am 1348810642
September 28th, 2012 at 05:39 am 1348810759
Those are packaged so that once thrown away, I can still use them when I go dumpster diving. As I said, I don't eat food that can be used the next day.
September 28th, 2012 at 03:25 pm 1348845908
September 28th, 2012 at 05:23 pm 1348853006
September 29th, 2012 at 02:37 am 1348886220
September 29th, 2012 at 06:22 am 1348899749
September 29th, 2012 at 06:23 am 1348899788
September 30th, 2012 at 03:49 am 1348976950
September 30th, 2012 at 10:40 pm 1349044836
October 1st, 2012 at 01:15 am 1349054133
October 1st, 2012 at 01:17 am 1349054259
October 8th, 2012 at 12:12 pm 1349698359
Jerry