Lancashire in the UK is known for its hotpot and at one time it was so much adored that people would fight over it to some extent. If there was any left on the surface of the pot some people would 'scrape the pot' to get some of it.
The term 'scraping the pot' was coined and was used when someone was attracted to someone else of the opposite sex and felt madly in love. People would say, "He's scraping the pot".
One day a group of tourists from Southern England were visiting the region and stopped off at a country pub in the Ribble Valley where they served a variety of meals. Most of the tourists had something to eat but one lady was not particularly bothered so looked the odd one out. The landlord noticed this and asked her if she would like to sample some of their delicious Lancashire Hot Pot so the lady took up the offer.
She was very impressed with it and afterwards said it was delicious. She also said that she noticed how the waiter was 'scraping the pot' while serving her.
The landlord overheard this and investigated what had been going on.
Although the waiter was just being polite and friendly with a smile, the pictures taken by the CCTV camera showed the smile looked a bit too serious and inviting, so the claim that the waiter was scraping the pot was justified.
The landlord decided to sack the waiter for taking a fancy to one of the customers while on duty.
