A small deed that starts with a small tray

I have been wondering about this for a very long time, but keep on forgetting to think seriously about it.


How come Malaysians (myself included) do not clean our own trays at McDonald's?

Clearing trays after eating is a normal practice overseas and I am pretty sure that those who studied overseas know this. Here in Malaysia, we just leave our trash on the tray and the poor boy/ girl/ even makcik (I have seen a makcik as old as a grandma) has to pick it up and clean them for us.

I used to clean my own tray a few times, long long time ago, and it felt weird when you are the only one doing it and having other patrons staring at you like... 'what the hell are you doing? this is Malaysia" Sad but true, I stopped doing it after a few attempts. 

But why is it that we are not practicing it? What is so bad about picking up our own trays and clearing them? If you're the CEO of Maxis, you would still be one after doing it. If you're the MP of Rembau, you would still have your constituency after you do it. So, there is actually  nothing degrading about cleaning your own trays. It is simple, and the bins are everywhere. So basically it should not be a problem. 

With the inflation spiking and money is no longer easy to come by, we start seeing old ladies working at McDonald's doing cleaning tasks for maybe 5 bucks an hour? Well, that's the price we pay for living in the city. Yeah I know some of us might say, 'but she is not my mother'. Yes. True. But that is still someone's mother, isn't it? 

Think about it. Isn't it sad to see an old woman cleaning your own mess while you sit there and look pretty? Yes,  I know she gets paid for it and it's her job and she has to earn her bucks, but I reckon this is not about that. This is more of our willingness to do a small deed just to lessen a small burden of someone else. 

I started handling my own tray again maybe 3 months ago after seeing a young girl dropping a tray that she was carrying while doing her cleaning duty at McDonald's. She was probably doing it for the past 3 hours and I know she was tired. It was not a very nice sight to see, so I started doing my part. I know if I deal with my own tray, she would have 1 less tray to deal with for the day. Trust me, it's easy.

Signing off - nmn