History Main / TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich

** Averted in "I Get Psy-chic Out of You". When Linda is on a case with Sergeant Bosco while posing as a psychic, at one point [[BigEater Linda]] is still eating a hot dog when Bosco tells her to stop eating and get in the car so they can hurry to what he thinks is the criminal's next target. Despite telling her they can get more food when they're there, she still shoves what is left of her hot dog in her mouth.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' at the pizzaria when [[VideoGame/WreckingCrew Foreman Spike]] mocks the brothers for entering the plumbing business and for their new commercial. He leaves the table leaving behind his pizza with only a quarter of it eaten.

* ''WesternAnimation/AThousandAndOneAmericas'': Subverted in the thirteenth episode, when Chris witnesses some Chimu people throw the corns they had harvested to the sea, making him think it's a waste. But the little girl he meets in the beach (China), tells him that the throwing is intended to be an offering to the sea gods in exchange for more fruitful harvesting and food gathering. Chris quickly notes that the corn is being eaten by the nearby fish, which can the be captured by the fishermen for eating.

* Incidentally, can easily be TruthInTelevision for business meetings and interviews held during a meal. You never want to get caught with your mouth full of food when asked a question, you can't eat hurriedly (not proper), and you can't hold up everyone else while you finish the current course. Very painful if you were brought up believing that throwing away food was one of the SevenDeadlySins.
** Fortunately, today's increasingly casual business world means it's no longer uncommon for bosses or clients to say "Alright, now let's ''eat''" once the important stuff is finished.
** Office lunch presentations often include meals provided by the person presenting (who usually works for a different company and is trying to sell something). The presenter invariably brings too much food and some of it usually gets thrown out (or sometimes gets left in the break room, where people who didn't attend the presentation eat it). There's also a second problem for the presenter: often TheSnackIsMoreInteresting and most people present aren't paying all that much attention to the presentation.

** ''Firehouse Dog'' is a children's photo book about the workings of a fire station. It showed the firefighters preparing a delicious-looking meal of spaghetti and meatballs, and sitting down to it, only to be interrupted by a callout. Their dog guards it while they're out.
** A famous MurphysLaw corollary for emergency workers:

* A common trick among Basic Training instructors in the US military is to declare "You're done eating when I'm done eating" while their recruit trainees file into the mess hall. The instructor will then pick up something small, like an apple, and start to eat it. This causes the recruits to rush through their meal and very often leave half of it on their trays.
** Similarly, requiring trainees to finish eating at the same time. If one guy finishes eating first, everybody else has to grab their trays and leave. If the table that sat down before yours finishes, ''you'' are finished as well. This forces trainees to be aware of each other's actions and work as a team. Or it causes the one out-of-touch member of the team to be hated and singled out by the others.

* Remy of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' cooked at least three different dishes in the first half hour of the movie yet always got interrupted trying to eat them. Indeed, it's only well after then that he gets to eat anything at all, when Linguini notices he looks dazed and gives him a piece of cheese.