Not in the service industry, someone I know who does has once said they don’t like people returning their coffee mugs because it makes it look like they aren’t doing their jobs

Think that might just be a him thing though

I worked at one of the most high end restaurants in my city for a few years. It felt wonderful when someone stacked plates, because the majority of customers expected every little thing to be removed as soon as they finished. I always stack my dishes now, and put all the garbage on the top plate (never in a cup, cause the ice gets dumped in a different place)

People consider it to be trashy, despite the fact that it’s actually helpful, and it tidies up the table if the waiter is busy. I think it’s considered poor etiquette because rich snobs would never perform the tasks of the paid servants. Those tasks are beneath them. So if you want to be seen as fancy, you need to act as if they’re beneath you as well.

Nah, I love when people stack plates. Makes my life easier

It’s not rude at all!

It’s best if you stack similar plates together and put the silverware on top or leave it separately. Its also hekpful to have any leftover food on the top plate rather than smushed in the middle. If all the dishes are different shapes, biggest on the bottom like a pyramid.

At the restaurant I worked, we had a bun for compost, trash, and recycle. So it could be helpful to keep trash out of the food scraps still on the plates. Please don’t leave trash in the cups, because we have to fish it out. Water is heavy and we can’t just throw out all the ice with the straw wrappers and the wrappers can’t go down the sink.