AITA for speaking up at a buffet?

So my girlfriend and I decided to go to a Chinese buffet to celebrate the new year.

As we were getting food we saw that they were out of the BBQ short ribs but noticed that a staff member was coming with another tray so we stood off to the side as they made their way through the crowd with the tray.

Before we were able to pick up the tongs to grab the food another lady took them and started loading her plate. Whatever. It’s a fresh tray there should be enough. But she. Did. Not. Stop. She even grabbed a second plate and called her son(?) Over to put some on his plate. It got to the point where nearly half of the tray was taken.

I then said, more to my girlfriend but loud enough for the lady to hear, "Gee I wonder if there will be enough left for everyone else when they’re done."

Well the lady obviously heard me because she got all huffy and threw the tongs back into the tray and left.

My girlfriend got mad at me because it was embarrassing for her and she said we could’ve left to get other food and come back later.

So AITA?

Edit: typos

14 thoughts on “AITA for speaking up at a buffet?”
  1. Damn what’s wrong with GF that she hates you speaking up for yourself and the rest of the people at the restaurant. So what if that selfish person got upset?

    NTA

  2. NAH.

    Seems like most people think NTA, but I don’t see what the lady did wrong. 

    It’s a buffet. A fresh tray came out, they took some, then you took some. Everybody got some. And if they didn’t, more would come out soon. 

    Everything else seems like editorialized filler to me.

    “Before we were able to pick up the tongs” — you were standing to the side in a crowd, why were you entitled to them first?

    “Nearly half the tray” — so there were plenty left?

    Maybe they could’ve been considerate in how they went about it, but as your gf pointed out, so could you.

    As an aside, your gf is generally biased to be on your side. If she is saying you were ruder than you needed to be, you probably were

  3. NTA. If people don’t want to be embarrassed for acting like dicks, they shouldn’t act like dicks. Your gf should be glad she’s not dating a total doormat.

  4. NTA. AT ALL.
    Buffet style is served so EVERYONE gets the opportunity to sample everything. Since there are no hard n fast rules about return trips through the line , that cow can strap on her feed bag repeatedly after taking a reasonable amount , and give all a chance to enjoy the experience.

  5. ESH, she was greedy, but you didn’t “speak up,” you were passive aggressive. I don’t exactly blame you for not going “Excuse me, ma’am, I’d like to try those too,” but you don’t get courage points either.

  6. NTA.

    Antisocial behavior should be called out, and the rib hoarder should have been embarrassed. You were nicer than I would have been: “Do you think this fat B is going to leave any for the rest of us?”

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