Scraps!

Let me introduce you to the game of Scraps.

Scraps was invented by my high school friends. Often we were broke but went out to the local burrito joint anyways. Someone always had 4 or 5 dollars, and there were always the free chips. If someone ordered food, another person could call "Scraps" on it, which meant, if there was anything left over, the Scrap-caller could eat it.

Guidelines for calling Scraps:

One may call Scraps on someone's meal (or part of a meal) at any point during the meal, such as:

• before the food has arrived ("dude, I'm going to call Scraps on your sandwich, I'm not very hungry")
• as the food is placed ("I call Scraps on that" or simply "SCRAPS!" loudly, while pointing)
• after the eater is finished ("Hey, can I have your Scraps?")

By calling Scraps, the caller is not guaranteed anything. If there is food left by the callee, that qualifies as Scraps. If the callee finishes their meal, then good for them, and tough luck for the caller.

At the point of the call, the callee may choose to simply share their meal. Like, if you call Scraps on someone's fries, then the callee may choose to give you a few fries. Or the caller may choose to take the more passive route and say "no, no, I will just take your Scraps if there are any."

One benefit that the callee should take into consideration is that, should there be Scraps, the caller is then responsible for the callee's dishes and clean up. Perhaps an added incentive for the lazy.

Other notes:

• More than one person can call scraps on a meal, but the 1st caller has priority ("I call Scraps on his/her Scraps!)
• Scraps have been called on an entire restaurant kitchen, though, this is not advised for the beginner scrap caller.
• It is considered bad form to throw away or place a dirty napkin on top of food on which Scraps have been called. Come on.
• At any point you can relinquish your call on Scraps (like if you were no longer hungry). Then the Scraps are up for grabs.
• One may call Scraps on any number of meals. Though be cautious of falling into "mooch" behavior (unless with close friends)
• If the callee chooses to take their scraps home or save them for later (yay!), then the caller is no longer guaranteed their scraps.

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Though the game of Scraps began, for me, as a way to eat the last bits of lettuce or grains of rice off of someone's Taco Dinner plate, it has evolved in to a fun and engaging way to prevent good food from going to waste. It's more appealing socially than saying "hey let me eat your leftovers" or grabbing plates at random and just saying "can I have this?"

It's too bad that in our society it's more acceptable to throw food away than it is to help a friend clean a plate. I blame it on germiphobes and the "lower class" idea of sharing. But whatever, screw that, I'm a successful human being. Maybe I just don't like seeing good nutrients go to waste.

At first when I introduced the game to my fellow corporate employees down in our cafeteria, I wondered if it'd catch on. But it caught on and spread through the whole department! New employees are briefed on the game during their very first lunch session. Co-workers have taken it into their personal lives and taught their friends how to play.

I couldn't be happier! Scraps for life!