The Last Piece Of Food Syndrome
Scenario: You've gone out to dinner with a group of friends, good friends but also one or two you don't know too well. You order a lot of dishes of food to share. One or two of the dishes are the best ones and most expensive. All the dishes come out and you all start to eat, all going for the best most expensive dish first. You all take your fair share of food and continue to eat through all the food on the table
Outcome: At the end of the night, there a little bit of food left on the table. You continue to sit and talk with your friends over drinks. People start to pick at little pieces of food here and there still left on the table. All the food ends up being finished, EXCEPT for the one or two pieces of food left on the best and most expensive dish.
Psychology: So what is happening here? Clearly the food that is left is the best dish and everyone dived for it at the beginning. However, the modesty in all of us means that no one wants to grab that last piece as you will be seen as a greedy guts. Since there are people present that you don't know too well, you don't want to give a bad impression. If you are amongst close friends, you'll probably end up fighting for the food. Instead, you pass the piece around and everyone will say "I've already had my share, you should eat it." At the end of the night, everyone could really be full and can't eat it. If you can still eat it, you don't take it now because it looks even worse on you, since it means that you were eyeing it the whole time and were just trying to be polite. I don't know if this is an Asian thing or if it applies to all cultures?
Consequences: The consequences of the last piece of food syndrome is that some perfectly good, generally expensive, food items gets cleared away from the table, when in reality everyone knows that they wanted to eat it. This has happened so many times when I go out. A few examples from recently of good food that got cleared away is: Mud crab (such a waste of two good pieces), Lamb Curry and Beef Vindaloo. Don't get infected by the Last Piece of Food Syndrome, just grab that food if you want to eat it and forget about trying to be polite.
posted by thanh7580 @ 9:46 AM
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7 Comments:
With my family upbringing, I am always the last one to finish my food - also because being taught not to waste, I would clear up what is left on the table. Being a slow eater, I never over eat at table even if I pick up the remnants. Waste not, want not!
I eat quite slow too and am usually last to finish my food. This meant I felt it would look even worse if I grabbed the last piece of food since everyone else had finished and would be watching me.
Yeah bugger it. Just grab the food and enjoy it. After all you paid for it. Never mind about being polite. Survival of the fittest. Sorry my ethics change completely when it comes to food.
I say be polite, by asking who wants it. Most will say no anyway, or you can always go halves with people (ok maybe not with crab). I'd rather somebody else have it than have it taken away tho
James and Trev, you're both right, someone should have grabbed it rather than it going to waste. I think that since there was one friend who we didn't know too well, we all wanted to give a good impression and didn't want to look greedy. Its such a shame good food going to waste though. :-)
FAT DO!! What the hell are you talking about??
What syndrome. You eat what you sea, you're on a SEE-FOOD diet.
The first and last piece of food always ends up in your fat gob.
Anonymous, I can't be on a see-food diet. Because you grab everything on the table before I can even reach to take a bite.
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