On a recent episode of Korean drama “King the Land” a tense moment was sparked when a flight attendant expressed her frustrations that guests attempted to stack their plates and help her clear.

On the surface, it’s an innocuous, well-meaning gesture, but anyone who has worked in hospitality knows that a pre-stacked tower of plates can do the opposite of what’s intended, and make the job a little harder.  

To find out more, we turned to the experts.

Michael Nicolian of Bar Louise and Continental Delicatessen weighs in, “It’s our own fault though if a guest feels like they need to stack the plates, which sucks, but we should be trying our best to do our job so that you can relax!

“It’s also annoying because everyone has their own system. If someone stacks the plates for me, there is a much greater chance of a piece of cutlery falling off and that’s a nightmare!”

Here’s a crash course in how to clear a table: the largest plate or platter goes in one hand, the next plate is balanced on that hand’s thumb, pinky and palm. Debris and cutlery are scraped onto the initial large plate. Stack. Repeat. 

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This universal method requires the free use of one hand at all times, and one very strong dominant hand. So what happens when you’ve started this process and are met with three or four (or more) plates stacked on a table? You can awkwardly try to pick up each plate, one-by-one from the stack, or you can come back to the table for a second attempt to clear. 

As far as restaurant faux pas go, it’s obviously far from the worst. So what should you do if you absolutely cannot resist the desire to help? Make space on the table by tucking your elbows, make space by sitting very still if a waiter is leaning over your shoulder, make space on your plate by setting your cutlery together and, where possible, slowly glide your plates to the end of the table.

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If your waiter politely says “Don’t you worry about a thing, that’s my job!” that would be their delicate way of telling you to just sit back and relax. Trust them, they’re professionals.

Nicolian adds, “The only thing a guest can do to help the floor staff is sit back, relax and enjoy their evening being pampered… that’s my way of looking at it.”

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