Hey, that's not nice

Working in the CBD (Central Business District) area does has its woes and I mean lunch woes (at least for me). When it comes to lunchtime here and you try to find a seat in the eateries, very often the chances of securing one is 'mission impossible'. That is not my main point though.

As I spyed an empty table ahead of me, alas as I made my way towards the crowd, heading for the table, to my dismay, packets of tissue were being placed on the seats indicating that 'the table has been reserved'. Sounds familiar?? Yes, if you have noticed, nowadays in foodcourts/hawker centre, packets of tissue have now become the common 'choping' (reserving) techniques used by many office workers. It's too common a sight nowadays to see that people 'chope' seats by placing packets of tissues on the table in a food court or hawker centre.

Honestly, this bad habit (it's a real bad habit) pisses me off. Commonsense will tell you that for safety’s sake, don't leave your belongings unattended at anytime, anywhere. Won't it be just easier if someone just stays behind to reserve – or as we say, 'chope' – the table." Despite these reactions, I find it revolting how so many people just accept this bad habit and let it be.

Last week, my friend and I were at one of the eateries during lunch hours. When we sighted the common tissue packs being left behind on the table, we removed it and sat down on the table with our ordered food. When the 2 ladies approach us and says the table has been reserved with the tissue packs earlier (which we have already removed and was no longer in sight), we faked ignorance, just smiled back and reply 'Sorry, we did not see any tissue packs here when we sat down.' We ignored the both of them and continue to eat our food. Although the 2 ladies were not pleased or totally convinced with what we have said, I must say this is currently the temporary measure to prohibit inconsiderate people from 'choping' seats.

The best and simplest solution would be just to get someone to stay behind to reserve the table instead of using tissue packets. If not, I would gladly suggest that food courts should empower their cleaners to get rid of the packets of tissues. Social tolerance is a virtue in today's society, but not at the expense of other. Let's all be more considerate and this world will be a better place to live in.