On the occasions that I have eaten at self-service eateries, I have noticed that people tend to draw a whole stack of napkins from the common dispenser on their way to the dining table. Oddly, anticipating our future needs (for napkins, among other things) seems to be a hazy affair. We think we’ll end up sloppy, messy eaters, and therefore pull an inordinate amount of napkins just in case we make a sorry mess of ourselves. We tend to lapse on the side of overestimation.
The common case is, …