Are you going to eat that?

According to this piece in the New York Times, more Americans are forgoing the doggy bag  –  apparently unconcerned that there are starving children in Africa who would be delighted to dine on their unfinished mac ’n cheese.  

The story says the average American leaves about 53 pounds, or $329 worth, of food on their restaurant plates each year. That’s hard to credit: how many restaurants do these average Americans hit in a year? For me it’s maybe five or 10. No wonder they’re getting fatter. And that’s without cleaning their plates!

But back to the takeout box. There appear to be a variety of reasons people don’t ask for them: 

• young dating couples don’t want to seem cheap,
• post-covid social stigma about sharing entrees, 
• the unwillingness to go clubbing with half a Cobb salad at your side.  

All of which is another reminder that I have little in common with these crazy “average” Americans. 

I rarely leave restaurant food on my plate. I’ll always get a box. Then I normally leave the box on the roof of the car and drive away. Or, I'll or place the box carefully on the backseat and forget about it until a few days later. Occasionally the box will make it to the fridge, but then somehow get pushed to the back, where it will reside through the passage of seasons.  At some point I’ll wonder about that box and discover an unpleasant surprise. But at least it didn’t go to waste!

The only restaurant food I never abandon is pizza. I love leftover pizza. Sometimes I’ll eat it on the way back to the car. I’ll gladly consume any cold pizza the next morning for breakfast. Works even better for lunch. My wife always wants to heat it up first, but I consider that a waste of valuable time and electricity. Pizza’s always fine just the way it is.