"Sorry, Hamlet, your ass just got retired."
"Pot roast that was past its date became the 'family' meal served to the staff," he said. "Once, while working at a gastropub in London, the owner told me to take the moldy hamburger patties that had been sitting for weeks and serve them to the employees. How does that fit into the bottom line? Well in the U.K., at-will employment isn't the way it works -- [employment] is all done via contract. At this particular restaurant, the contract stated that 2.50 (GBP) would be deducted from your pay every day for your shift meal. So, instead of breaching contract, he would rather risk sending his employees to the hospital, which doesn't cost him anything because the U.K. has the National Health Service."
Jack Hollingsworth/Photodisc/Getty Images
"The Queen says, 'Dig in.'"
Ah, but screw the staff: If they didn't want to be poisoned, they would get jobs at the poison control center. You're a customer, and you're only wondering how this stinginess affects you -- the diner who specifically requested a table so far away from the kitchen that your waiter technically qualifies as a delivery guy. Well ...