"Chronicles of Fast Food Workers" is our attempt at making the general public aware of the way they treat people who are just trying to make ends meet working at a fast food establishment. We both have a million stories about customers that are either irritating, rude, or just plain mean. We're going to try to portray these customers in a way that is humorous, but know that we aren't making anything up about these exchanges. They really happened.
The drive-through head set went off, alerting me that a customer had just pulled up and was waiting. I gave the standard greeting, and was met by silence… except for the sound of the car running.
“Well… the last time I came I was inside and I got a chicken sandwich with a special sauce.” I waited for more, expecting her to tell me which one of the five magical sauces she had had on her sandwich. More never came.
“Well, we have the Chicken Cordon Bleu.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Silence.
I attempt to try again “Uh…” and I’m cut short.
“What other chicken sandwiches do you have? Hot ones. What other hot chicken sandwiches do you have? Or maybe it was turkey… what hot chicken and turkey sandwiches do you have?”
Well… since you’re not sitting in front of the entire menu board…
“We have the Zesty Garlic Turkey.”
“And what comes on that?”
“It comes with our zesty garlic ranch sauce, turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.”
Pause.
“And that’s toasted, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay… I guess I’ll get one of those.”
“Alright, what size?”
“The ZESTY GARLIC TURKEY.”
“Okay, what size?”
“Oh. Um… what sizes do you have?”
MENU BOARD!
I sweetly reply, “We have 4, 6, and 12 inch sandwiches.”
“Um… … … I guess… … … a six inch.”
“Alright, and what kind of bread would you like it on?”
Beat.
“Well… what kind do you have?”
Does this woman NOT know how to read!?
“We have white, wheat, sourdough, and dark rye.”
“Okay… I guess wheat?”
“Alright, anything else?”
“Um… I want fries and a drink.”
“Alright, would you like our garlic or beer battered fries?”
Quiet.
“Beer battered, I guess.”
“Okay and what to drink?”
She gave me her drink order, but since I don’t remember what she actually got to drink and we’re being completely honest here, I’ll skip that detail. I told her what her total was and she pulled up to the window. Once there, I opened the window, and repeated her total, in case she had forgotten what it was in the ten seconds it had taken her to drive to the window. Saying nothing, and looking past me, she handed me her cash. I got her change, handed it to her saying, “Here’s your change.” Still no eye contact. I got her drink, grabbed a straw, and handed it to her. “And here’s your drink.”
Now she looked a little snooty. Not quite curling her lip, but almost. And still not a peep. I gladly shut the window. These kind of customers- the ones who treat you as though you were less than human- irritate me to no end. I got her order together, stapled the bag, and opened the window. “Here’s your food!” I said cheerily, trying to remember that I was the one serving, and the customer was the one being served. Her eyes looked doubtful as she barely moved her lips and mumbled, “Thank you."
“Have a nice day.” I forced a smile and shut the window. The window wasn’t even shut yet and the woman was ripping open the bag to see if everything was there. Lady… you only had a sandwich and fries. There’s nothing missing. I turned from the window, confident that there was nothing the woman could complain about.
HONK!!!
Startled and incredulous that this woman could be so rude, I whipped around. The woman was still sitting at the window. Irritating. I gave her all her food. I opened the window. “I’m sorry?”
“Could I get, like, a whole bunch of ketchup?” she asked, indicating a full hand of imaginary ketchup.
“Yeah.” Squatting down to get to the box of ketchup packets we have under the counter, I think, I’ll give you a bunch of ketchup… hehehe. I smile to myself and grab the biggest handful of ketchup I possibly could. Being sure not to drop any, I wadded them together so as to make them more compact, and innocently asked, “Is this enough ketchup?” and handed her the wad.
Looking a little wide-eyed, not sure if I was being snarky or actually being helpful, she forced a tight smile and said, “Yes.” I closed the window and she drove away.
