ZedBanty wrote:
>
>
> If you're looking at this in terms of "provide an extra plate or fork", you're
> not looking at the basic economics of restauranteering.

Um, that's what someone else had brought up. It does, however, reflect
the penny-pinching mentality of a greedy businessman who imagines that
shared food actually costs him business.

> Either pop didn't share
> the details, or that his kind of restaurant is naturally high-throughput (I went
> to Columbia in the '80s; I may have even dined there!)

It's what Chinese call a "white people (Chinese) restaurant" -- nothing
actually spicy, nothing truly exotic, no chopsticks except upon
request, you are asked how you are enjoying your day, your kids are
entertained with fortune cookies, and I'm trotted out to practice my
French so that you know your money is going to a good cause
(ahem)...that kind of joint.

> only exposed you to one
> operating point in the economic equation.

Despite the typical wish of a businessman to pass on the business, of
course no one was interested -- so no, I was not privvy to details, but
I can assure you that it would not have occurred to us to charge for
sharing food.

Maybe the Chinese just put up with more for some reason. I know for a
fact that folks who would never imagine complaining about prices at
McDonald's want to know how a plate of vegetables can cost over $5.00.

> ZedBanty
>
>
> --