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Jason English
The Long Arm of the Law
by Jason English - March 23, 2007 - 2:27 PM

Untitled.jpgFor our first Christmas as a couple, my future wife gave me this sign. She and her brother had it engraved. I found this incredibly funny. Let me explain.

On our third date, we dined at Ruby Tuesdays in a local mall (Sorry ladies, I’m taken.) I got a kick out of this sign, and spent a good portion of dinner harping on it. Surprisingly enough, there was a fourth date. More surprising – she remembered the wording exactly and got me one for Christmas.

Years later, the sign still adorns my office wall. But I never knew whether or not this law was actually on the books. So I did a little snooping. Let me draw your attention to Section .2600 of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources code of conduct for food-service establishments:

“When customers are allowed to return to a self-service area, clean and sanitized tableware other than flatware, beverage cups and glasses, shall be made available for each return trip. Written notice shall be provided informing customers that clean tableware must be used for return trips.”

So there you have it. Don’t let me catch you using a soiled plate.

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Comments (6)

  1. OK, I give. Why did you get a kick out of this sign? Every buffet has one.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 3-23-2007 at 6:56 pm

  2. Not where I grew up. Here salad bars are free from legislation.

    posted by Jason on 3-23-2007 at 7:03 pm

  3. I thought the legislation intended to make you eat all your vegetables. No clean plate - no more jello salad!

    posted by Pat on 3-24-2007 at 12:13 pm

  4. The same law exists in Kentucky, complete with signs. I had pretty much the same humorous reaction. Putting a hand-scrawled sign up at a picnic was very entertaining.

    posted by phil on 3-26-2007 at 7:05 am

  5. I’ve always wanted a sign for my office that says “Emplyoees must wash hands before returning to work” like you see in restrooms at restaurants. I think my staff of computer programmers would find it as funny as I do.

    posted by todd on 3-26-2007 at 10:28 am

  6. As I heard it (I realize that I’m in Urban Myth land now) there were some hidden camera studies that found people taking an item (such as soup!), deciding they didn’t like it and, not wanting to be wasteful, returning the item to the buffet table for others… All in all, I’m happy to be living in a state that requires a “clean plate” for each trip.

    posted by JB on 3-26-2007 at 12:10 pm

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