Many years ago, Mia Hirschel was on a date and her boyfriend offered his doggie bag to a homeless man. “The man said, and I will never forget this: ‘I am always thankful for food, sir,’ ” recalls Ms. Hirschel, who is now co-owner of a Chicago-area executive search firm.
Now, whenever Hirschel eats out in a large city and gets a doggie bag, she is determined to find a homeless person with whom she can share the meal. “Sometimes I'll ask the server if she has plastic utensils, a ketchup packet, whatever may be needed, and frequently I'll grab an extra roll from our table,” she says. “My feeling is, if it's going to be thrown out, that's not ‘taking stuff.’ Doggie bags are an easy way for an average person to make a difference in someone else's life, if only for one meal.”
So what's acceptable and what's not?
“Taking 'little stuff' home can be seen as a frugal habit, but when taken to the extreme, [it] can easily cross the line into downright dishonesty,” says Nancy Twigg, editor of www.countingthecost.com, an online newsletter about simple and frugal living.
Ms. Twigg offers these guidelines for doggie bags:
OK: Taking things that are made available for your use during your meal (crackers and sugar packets at restaurants). These facilities expect that you will use these things and budget accordingly to provide these little amenities.
Not OK: Taking more than you could reasonably use. It's acceptable to take a few packets of sugar "for the road." Taking enough for every cup of coffee you would drink over the next week is not. This is being cheap and it creates a financial burden for the facility.
OK: Taking home items that cannot be used for another customer once they have been on your table. Chips at Mexican restaurants or dinner rolls are acceptable because otherwise the items will just be discarded.
Not OK: Purposely asking for more than you know you can eat just so you can take them home in your doggie bag. That's like ordering an extra side dish and then not paying for it.
