Buffet Lines

Meat McBeef said:

Here’s a related question for you, Muttrox. I’m in a buffet line, which starts out with the salad section, followed by the hot dishes. I’m not eating any salad, so do I need to wait for the person ahead of me to pile up his plate with salad, or can I leap ahead to the hot dishes — judging that I will be well out of his way when he is ready for hot grub?

Well, Biff McMeat, it is all about the context. In general, I think you have to wait your turn here more than at the drink line. Why? Because most buffets are places where you can’t afford to look like a jackhole. Work gatherings, professional meetings, family reunions, these are your typical buffet settings. In addition, unlike the drink line, your action could conceivably lose time for the cuttee. Suppose they go to the hot dishes two seconds after you cut them, then they have to wait for you. That isn’t fair to them. The key factors are, (1) Do you know the people there? (2) Is there room for multiple people at the station, (3) is it crowded?

I am not exactly an authority on good etiquette. And I know my commenters, you’re a bunch of uncouth dolts also. So I went to someone who knows something. Mrs. Muttrox (who has more manners in her extended pinkie finger than any of us) says, “I think it’s okay to do, but you’d better be prepared for some dirty looks.”