"Doesn't a buffet mean you share with the other people there and don't hog everything for yourself??"
How about if there is one item left? Do you leave it or do you hog it for yourself?
How about if it is an item like octopus salad and there is around two tablespoons left on the dish. Plainly it is popular, there is hardly any left. Do you split the remainder in two in case someone else wants some - even though you will not be satisfied with merely one tablespoon?
One more time: ""Doesn't a buffet mean you share with the other people there and don't hog everything for yourself??"
Well, no, I never have seen it defined this way. Anyway, if I am taking 4 lobster tails, I am leaving lots of other food for everyone else. Look at all those bologna & cream cheese pinwheels - I'm not going to take any of them.
I actually returned from a lunch buffet today, where indeed, I made it an "All-the-lobster-I-could-eat" meal. Somedays, that's how it turns out - the lobster and mussel paella just isn't selling to the crowd that is dining. That's fine by me - to my advantage because I happen to like lobster.
Everyone else in the room was eating already when I went to the buffet. they had their chance before I ever arrived to get some lobster. Still, I had a plate of salads first, giving folks yet another chance to get some lobster. the chafing dish was still untouched when I returned.
Should I have left some lobster for diners who had not yet arrived? If so, how much? (I actually didn't take it all, tho' I did take more than half of it. As I was leaving they were refilling the paella.)
by the same token, there have been days when the lobster eaters are out in force, and I can't get a single claw. In that situation, I eat something else, which seems to work out well.
This isn't a case of refugees with a limited amount of sustenance offered to them. We are talking about all-you-can-eat buffets where each diner pays the same freight, takes the same chances and always has options.
