#Microblog Monday 403: Returning Tupperware
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I read something that I found lovely and horrifying at the same time. When returning Tupperware or a bowl or a dish, fill the receptacle with food instead of returning it empty. So definitely lovely on the thought-that-counts side. It is very kind and shows appreciation.
But I do not like to receive food, and because we keep kosher, I wouldn’t even want to receive my storage container back at all. I try to package things so I don’t need anything returned. Or if we’re making a meal for someone, we purchase new storage containers and ask them to donate them afterward.
What do you think of refilling their Tupperware?
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6 comments
For the most part, and as someone who has recently been the recipient of containers, I think that’s a terrible idea. Either you’re taking leftovers from a feast so that the host doesn’t have to eat the same thing for days on end, or you’re receiving food in response to a life event that hampers you from cooking. There is the odd potluck too, where the host then has to clean and return anything left behind. In the first situation, there’s no need. It’s expected. In the second situation, that would be the repudiation of a gift someone has given. In the third situation, you’ve just given additional work to someone who already had a ton to do. And that doesn’t even get into food issues.
So, nope.
I have heard this before but only had it happen once. New to our neighborhood we were invited for drinks and snacks at a neighbor’s. My toddler and I baked cookies and the host returned the container the next day with fresh veggies from her garden. I appreciated them, and she likely would have given them to us anyway, but definitely didn’t expect it and don’t do this myself. I agree with the commenter above – you are either helping by taking leftovers or receiving help yourself in the form of food. I try very hard to let people know they can keep or recycle anything I use to deliver them food.
As a vegan, uh no. And even if a fellow vegan-still no. I could see doing this under very limited circumstances-close family or close friends where both sides know the other side really likes a particular dish or item from their garden. But yeah (pre-Covid) if I brought/gave something there was no expectation to get a container back (outside very close family).
Yes to returning the container (especially if it’s actually Tupperware — that stuff is expensive…!). As for filling it with food, it’s a nice gesture, but not really necessary. When we got together to celebrate our nephew’s birthday recently, SIL sent me home with some pasta salad and I said I would bring her the container next time we saw her. She told me it was a takeout food container and not to bother, she didn’t need it back. I thought that was a good idea, to keep a couple of those kinds of containers around for these purposes.
I don’t have dietary restrictions and would have no issue with eating food prepared for me by others, but in general, if I’ve given someone a gift of food, it’s because they are in a season of life when they need support. Birth of a new baby, death of a loved one, recovery from illness, or similar situation. So I wouldn’t want the recipient of the food I gifted to feel that they needed to reciprocate in kind.
I am a vegetarian and very concerned about the pots my food is cooked in, so unless a know the individual well and they respect my dietary choices, that’s a firm “no” for returning the container with food. Like Loribeth’s SIL, I have STACKS of takeout containers. I place food in those because I don’t expect anyone to return them.