Etiquette Advice - Take Home Condiments?

Is It OK To Bring Condiments Home From Restaurants?

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

I go out for coffee a lot and always take extra Splenda in my coffee. I also make coffee and home and Splenda is really expensive to buy at the store. Is it unethical of me if I occasionally take a few packets of Splenda from the coffee shop so I don't have to buy it as much? I mean, I give the shop enough business!

Sincerely,

Splenda Stealer?

Dear Splenda Stealer,

The condiments left out at restaurants and coffee shops are meant to be used with the food served. If someone needs 20 packets of Splenda for their coffee that they just purchased then it's entirely right for them to take and use what they need. However, if they need 20 packets of Splenda because they're running out at home, and they decide to pinch the Splenda rather than buying it from the store, that's bad etiquette and morally wrong. Is there a way to right it? You bet. If you ask the manager - is it okay if I take some Splenda from your stash -- I'm running out at home? Then whatever the manager says is the morally correct answer. Having asked first, makes the action morally correct, although it's still not good etiquette.

There are two measures of what's right and wrong when taking the bread, the Splenda, or the mustard and relish packets from a restaurant. The first measure is intention. If the intention of taking the food is to eat it with the immediate purchase, then it's morally correct. It's also good etiquette. If the intention is to use the food taken for a later date at home, then it's not morally correct and it's not good etiquette. The second measure is action. If you ask if you can take something before you take it, and then abide by the answer, you're morally clear. If you don't ask and just take, you're not morally right. In both cases, your etiquette is wrong, however.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

© 2004-2009 AskApril.com, LLC. All rights reserved. AskApril®, AskApril.com®, and Ask April® are registered trademarks owned by Masini Enterprises, Inc. This material can only be republished and redistributed if it is kept in it's original form, including, but not limited to, all AskApril branding, banners, links, books, and credits.