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Sunday, October 16, 2005
Not For The Weak
Recently a new arrival to our neighborhood complained on the local e-network that her young son was treated badly at the nearest McDonalds, the Riverview/Granby McDonalds of Norfolk, Virginia. I thought about that yesterday, October 15, 1:00 P.M., when my little grandson and I stopped there as usual for his favorite fries and ice cream cone and my favorite fast food.
The ear-phoned and therefore extremely-loud order-taker asked what I wanted. I answered, "A large order of fries, an ice cream cone and a number 3 meal."
She correctly repeated my order. After I paid, she handed out a diet Coke and nothing else, but seeing me still at the window, she thundered, "Ma'am, you have been served. You may leave!"
I demurred, "But I didn't get my order yet."
She conferred with her side-kick and handed out an ice cream cone that had been smashed upside down into a drinking glass.
I gave it back and asked for a plain ice cream cone, not one upside down in a glass. She argued and insisted that I'd already received a cone, even one with the added bonus of a GLASS, an extra item.
No, I just wanted a normal cone, one that the little boy in the back seat could hold and eat. She huffed and then said, as though explaining to a moron, "You see, ma'am, we're taking care of you. We're doing your order. You just need to show a little patience."
Ahhh. Here came the cone. I took it and still did not leave the drive-through window.
"Ma'am. PLEASE leave the window. You have been served."
"What about the fries? What about the lunch number three?."
"I gave you that."
"No, not yet."
Now the side-kick stuck her face out the window and tried to straighten me out, "WE ARE TAKING CARE OF THIS. PERFECTLY. Your order is coming up. Please!"
Girl number one, however, stuck to her story, "I did give you your order. I even gave you a different cone."
Me: "The fries. The number three lunch."
Girl number one, exasperated; "YOU GOT IT!!! I gave you a Coke."
Me: "What's that in your hand?"
Girl: "Oh." It was a sack containing fries and also the items in a number three lunch.
You know, like everyone else on Planet Earth, we love McDonalds food. Benny adores the ice cream and fries. I am willing to tough it out at the window of my local McDonalds in order to get the little guy his usual treat. However, the behavior I have here quoted verbatim...this kind of stuff...uh, it got very, very old a very, very long time ago. Maybe given the level of pay, maybe given that McDonalds workers are entry-level workers, the local manager feels he/she is getting a fair response from his/her team. I don't agree.
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