Often my friends eat at the cafeteria and say they see these big guys walking around with plates heaping with food, then they go get food themselves and barely get anything on their plates. Thinking about this more, it would make sense that the people serving would serve food in comparison to how large the person is, but that’s not always the case. I know multiple women that eat more than all my guy friends and the amount that they cut back the servings when they see the girls is too much. Although this isn’t the biggest issue because our cafeterias are buffet style, often they remember you and judge you for coming back for seconds after they cut down your servings to the extreme. I’m all for preventing food waste, but girls like me that are too afraid of the judgement for returning for more don’t eat enough or fear they’re eating too much and two servings is too much food to be consuming.
Although I usually don’t eat much because I’m a snacker rather than a person who sits down to eat a whole meal, I began to take more notice of this issue. I had never paid attention to it before because the amount they give me is usually enough and at most I’ll just grab a fruit or dessert if it’s not enough. As I was waiting in line to be served, there were a few guys in front of me. The menu was French toast sticks and I was particular excited about the meal because I love French toast sticks. The guys in front of me got five French toast sticks plus the other things they wanted such as eggs and sausage. I only asked for French toast sticks and they only gave me three. Although I was significantly shorter than those guys, they got many different kinds of food that amounted to an entire plateful when I only got one food option that still amounted to less than they got of that specific food item. Did those three French toast sticks fill me up? Absolutely not, but for fear of returning for more I was forced to choose a different item.
Although this isn’t the largest issue, it is something to think about. As a woman who is usually underestimated because of her size and appearance, it’s sad to see that affect even the smallest aspects of life such as this.