I bought a collection of short stories in about 1978, probably used, and have been looking for it again for years.
One of the stories was of an alien who comes to earth and eats everything in the restaurant at an all you can eat buffet to take the food back his planet.
Another was about a society where the government makes everybody equal by having smart people wear gongs that interrupt their thoughts and ballet dancers wearing sand bags. Does anybody know this collection? Thank you!
The first story is All You Can Eat by Harvey L. Bilker and Audrey L. Bilker.
As the story progresses the alien continues to eat prodigious amounts of food, to the dismay of the establishment's other customers and eventually the restaurant owner himself. Eventually the alien reveals that he hails from a distant planet that has been wrecked by pollution, and now its inhabitants have to send agents across the galaxy to consume and "kinergize" food back to their starving population.
Review: Children of Infinity
The second story is Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
It is the year 2081, and all people have been made 'equal' through the use of physical and mental handicaps. The United States Constitution mandates this equality in the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments, and the law is enforced by Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General.
While 'Harrison Bergeron' has been collected endlessly, 'All You Can Eat' appears to have been collected in only one anthology; Children of Infinity.
