Germany is a highly industrialized country. In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life.
When we arrived in Hamburg, my colleagues and I walked into the restaurant. We noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of drinks on the table. I wondered if such a simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy. There were a few old ladies on another table. The waiter served each of them and they finished every bit of food on their plates.
Since we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us.When we left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table. As we were leaving the restaurant, the old ladies spoke to us in English. We understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. “We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind,” my colleague told the old ladies. The old ladies were furious.
One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform from a Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was about, he issued us a 50 Euro fine. We all kept quiet.
The officer told us in a stern voice, “ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING A SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES.”
The mindset of people from this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from a country which is not very rich in resources. To save face, we order large quantity and then waste food when we give others a treat. To read more posts by Danstan, click HERE
Photo Credit: independent.co.uk
