A photo showing employee ID cards left on tables at a busy Kuala Lumpur mall’s food court has gone viral, stirring heated discussions online about the etiquette of reserving seats.
The image was shared on Threads by a user who criticised diners for leaving their work IDs behind to save seats while queuing for food, especially during peak lunch hours.
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The user called the practice selfish, saying that, “Really? I find this practice selfish.”
“Reserving your spot with your office tag / umbrella / water tumbler and queuing to get food while others that have gotten their food have to seek far and wide for available seats.
“If say a colleague / friend of yours is sitting by the table reserving the seats for you is understandable but reserving seats like this while queuing up in long lines...is not the most efficient way to sort out the afternoon lunch rush.
“Just my 2 cents. What do you think?” he wrote.
While many echoed the frustration, others defended the behaviour, especially for solo diners.
One user called adandelion4u commented: “Reserving tables is NOT selfish. It is smart, SYSTEMATIC and FAIR for everyone.”
“It’s not selfishness, it’s being smart. Securing a seat first before ordering is smart especially if you are alone (without anyone to reserve a seat for you),” hernameiseunice highlighted.
Another user described it as “a clever strategy” that follows a “first come, first served” logic.
“Buying your food and then not having somewhere to sit, then having to wait until a seat opens up — is embarrassingly stupid,” hollyqq86 suggested.
Despite some support, the majority agreed that using personal items to claim seats is unfair. Several users shared that they would not hesitate to move unattended ID cards if they needed to sit.
“If no one is there to guard the seat, normally I will seat and remove their tags away...come on, this is public seat. Not theirs,” michellelktang responded.
“It is selfish. Especially when a big group just shamelessly “chope” using their tag when there are many people in rush hour and just would like to eat and go. Its honestly very annoying,” adrynizzle commented.
