Doggie Bags Meant For Use

Dear Ann Landers: This is in response to the letter from “Al in Bellevue, Wash.,” who was critical of the hotel guest who stuffed a plastic bag with rolls from the buffet table and walked out. You said it was “tacky.” I disagree.

My husband and I often stay at hotels where a continental breakfast is offered. We have three children under 5. It would not be easy to get the kids up, dress them and take them down to the lobby for that complimentary breakfast. So, either my husband or I go downstairs and get six or seven rolls and put them in the plastic bag we carry whenever we travel. We are not taking anything that does not belong to us and resent being called “tacky.” Your apologies are accepted. - Reston, Va.

Dear Va.: Readers from everywhere climbed all over me for my response to that one. Here’s a clobber from management:

From Blue Bell, Pa.: My family has been in the restaurant business for two generations, so I have seen both sides of the dining room. When food, such as butter and rolls, are left on the table, the diner assumes it goes back to the kitchen and into the trash can, which it should. While you might think that’s a waste, would you care to be served a roll, or anything else, that was on its third trip from the kitchen? The well-dressed lady who took the rolls in a plastic bag was not tacky. She was sensible. You owe her an apology.

Los Angeles: The letter about the woman who took several rolls from the hotel buffet and put them in a plastic bag to take home had special meaning to me. My great-aunt was a refugee from Hitler’s Germany who came to the United States many years ago. Whenever we went out to dinner, she would ask the waiter to put all the leftovers in a bag. She would then give the bag to a homeless person on the street. “I will never forget what it was like to always be hungry,” she said. “To waste food is a sin. I could never do it.”

Newark, N.J.: My cousin who came from Yugoslavia many years ago has a good job in an upscale restaurant in New York. He said it took him a long time to get accustomed to seeing large quantities of food which had been left on plates and serving platters, tossed in the garbage. When he asked his boss if he could take uneaten portions from the plates home, he was told, “No. It’s against the law.” He didn’t believe it. Later, he learned from a government inspector that it was indeed against the law to take uneaten food from the plates. “For what reason?” he asked. “Because,” he was told, “the Board of Health has a responsibility to protect people against contagious diseases that can be picked up from eating food that has been contaminated by a person who has a virus, maybe even AIDS.” Please tell your readers to beware.

Dear Newark: Thanks for the warning, but no one has ever gotten AIDS from food. Hepatitis, however, is another story. (This is why food handlers are required to wear gloves.)

And now, dear readers, here is the final clobber that comes from the maitre d’ of an extremely upscale dining establishment in Santa Monica, Calif.:

Dear Miss Landers: Taking leftovers home is not tacky, as you have indicated. It is sensible. All good restaurants have plastic-lined bags for this express purpose, and we are delighted when patrons take the leftovers home. Please tell your readers. - XXX

Dear XXX: You did, and I thank you.