Rude boy's a-comin'

There's almost nothing that can get me angry quite as quickly as when a customer doesn't let me finish speaking before pulling away from the menu board. Even though it probably shouldn't, it absolutely frustrates me to no end that people can be that inconsiderate about something so simple. And you know what? There's a unnecessarily large amount of rude people that come through my drive thru.

Maybe it's because I say the same things 300 times a day, but I feel the necessity to finish my spiel, and someone driving away keeps me from doing that. Like, it makes me feel incomplete, almost. So I'll often end up finishing lamely to myself, or finishing it angrily and putting a little extra ice in their drink.

Sometimes it's unintentional (like maybe their foot slid off the brake and they rolled just far enough forward to be off of our menu pad), but most of the time people just don't care enough to let me finish. I know it feels like a lot of unnecessary questions, but in reality it's only a couple extra seconds, and if you actually listened you'd hear that I'm trying to be polite and make sure your order is correct. Also most off the questions I ask are because I have to, and I get in trouble when I don't.

Example: My boss's boss stopped by a couple of weeks ago to help because we were shorthanded. Before he left he kind of observed each person to see if they were doing their job correctly. I was feeling pretty confident because I'm pretty darn good at my job (if I do say so myself).
But I digress. As he was watching me take an order I could tell the driver was about to take off if I didn't hurry it up. So I  skipped a couple of questions so I was able to finish my sentence. He coached me on how I should always ask this question and always offer a drink and told me that I should know this. I tried to explain my frustration with people who drove off and how I tried to prevent that. I don't think he believed me,  so I accepted his criticism and he walked away to observe some one else.
Next car comes and I ask all the right questions except guess what? The car drives off before I'm done. Lolirony.

And if that's not enough, there's the people who come through on their phones. I tell ya, don't even get me started. Like clearly my time and the things I have to say are not nearly important enough to warrant any more of your attention than the few words you throw my way like table scraps to a begging puppy. UGH.

/endrant.

A.S.C.A.P. #1 (A Short Customer Appreciation Post)

A couple of nights ago, I had a customer whom I found pretty awesome.

*insert wishy-washy-flashback sequence*

A car pulled up to order, and I did my customary cheery "Hi, how are you today," as soon as I heard the -bing- in my ear. A young man responded in the positive, and somehow we actually sat there for about two minutes kind of just talking and joking via the speaker before he ordered. It was really cool and the guy was super sweet. At some point during our banter, he said a curse word into the speaker. It was absolutely too cute - he sounded as if he was surprised it had slipped out and asked if he was allowed to say it. Assumingly he realized it was a silly question and before I could respond he said, "I guess this isn't television, right?" I told him I would say one too, so he wouldn't feel awkward. He seemed to appreciate this and proceeded to tell me so.

*end flashback*

It was really refreshing to have someone so naturally upbeat. Dude totally made my night, and I wish that I had more customers like him. A lot of people come through and start getting rude or huffy with me and it's completely unnecessary. You're only going to be here for a couple of minutes tops - there's no need for all that.

So to you sir (though it is likely you will never see this), I say thank you for being you!

The Gift that Kept on Giving

A couple of months ago at work, something amazing happened. And maybe I've made more of it than it was, but I was almost awe-struck by what happened. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

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It was kind of a bad night at work. We were down a person, and having trouble making times. Everyone was frustrated, including myself. I was working drive-thru by myself (taking the orders, taking cash, and handing the order out) and had just handed out a lone woman's order. She sat there for a moment, looking down at the cash in her hand. After I asked if everything was okay, she turned to me and asked how much the car-behind-her's order was. I can't remember the exact amount, but she then proceeded to pay for his order. I figured she knew the person in the next car, because that happens quite often. So when I asked her, she said she didn't, she just wanted to do something nice for someone. (I'm a sucker for doing nice things for other people randomly.) She then simply asked that I tell the next car to, in turn, do something nice for someone else. I couldn't help the smile on my face, what a nice thing to do! So I wished her a good night, and when the next car pulled up, I informed them that their order was paid for by the previous car. The gentleman almost didn't seem to know what to do with this. He stared at me dumbstruck for a moment. He asked if she had said anything, so I passed on her message about doing something nice for someone else. He looked in his rear view mirror and then back at me, and asked me how much the next order was. Man, I must've looked like an idiot with the size of the grin on my face. So I gave him their total, and he paid for it. The next car pulled up, and it was a group of young girls. I think their original total had been around seven dollars, and when I told them that their order was paid for, they all did the 'no way,' 'ohmygod,' 'this is so cool,' thing. I couldn't agree with them more, this was fantastic! I again passed on the message about doing something nice for someone else. They asked me the total of the next car, and it was more than twice their original total. They all looked at each other, clearly debating on whether or not to spend so much more than their original total. The girl in the passenger seat was the one paying, and just as she was about to, the driver told her not to do it. The passenger suddenly said "It's my money," and immediately handed me the card. So they paid for the next order, received theirs, and pulled away.

This went on for about ten cars in total. I was absolutely giddy about the whole situation. I could feel that my face was flushed, and I was actually shaking with excitement by the end. It was exhilarating and awesome (in the actual sense of the word). My manager didn't seem to understand why I was so bubbly, especially since this kind of brought our times down even further. I tried explaining what was going on, but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other as she kind of waived her hand in dismissal and told me to try and get the times down. I was too high on this excited feeling to even let her frustrate me.

So like I said, maybe I making a mountain out of a mole-hill, so to speak, but  I felt incredibly lucky, privileged actually, to be a part of that. Sure, they only paid for someone else's fast food, but for some reason it felt bigger than that to me. I think it was the general idea of doing an unprovoked good deed, a random act of kindness, for a stranger. I had a 'faith in humanity is restored' moment. Maybe this is silly, but I actually look up to that lady; the conductor of that short good-will train.

Aesop said, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." I try to apply this philosophy to my life as much as possible. Admittedly I didn't know this quote until writing this, but the idea behind it I've known for a long time.

I still think about it, sometimes. And it still makes my heart swell, and puts a smile on my face. I've thought about trying to re-create it, but I doubt it would happen the same. The spontaneity of it probably in part added to the excitement and the length of the event. But I think it will remain one of my most fond memories. 

Service with a Smile

One of the unfortunate things about working in fast food is having high expectations at other fast food restaurants. One of the things that gets on my  nerves the most is friendly (or not-so friendly) service. Now I understand that I am a generally happy person, and that not everyone can be, but I try my hardest to make my short interaction with a customer as painless and pleasant as possible. I don't understand why there are so few that do this. It truly is rare that I find someplace that's up to my standards for friendliness, and it's a damn shame.

Most shifts (pretty much every night) I work in the drive thru, taking orders. It's not a difficult task, but they put me there because of how friendly I am with customers. I always greet them with a "Hi, how are you today," and always respond when they answer with a returning "fine, how are you," (to let them know that I am, indeed, listening) and even slip a joke in if it sounds like the customer will appreciate it. I laugh when the customer makes a quip, and most of the time I let them know that they're good nature is appreciated. I always thank them for their patience if I've made them wait, and correct any mistakes I've made. Lord knows I'm not perfect (you can disagree if you want to, I won't mind), but it shows that I'm pretty darn good at what I do.

I also understand that everyone has their bad days, believe me I have mine too. But leave that stuff at the door. Why should I be punished because you're mad at someone else? It's not my fault. I'm only a blip on your screen and I'll be gone momentarily, so just grin and bear it! Smiling is actually a really easy thing to do, and it can actually be heard in your voice. As silly as that sounds (no pun intended?) it's completely true, which is why I do my best to at least appear happy, even if I'm not.

It may not seem like something to be proud of, but I think you'd be surprised by how much of a difference friendly service can make.

It's happened more than once (am I bragging? Maybe a little...) that a customer has thanked me for how friendly I was, told me how pleasant I was, or told my manager something to that effect. I've also had them tell me that I've actually cheered them up. And let me tell you, it's surprisingly gratifying when you can hear the grumpy voice that started ordering change into a not-so grumpy voice by the end of their order.
But it also works the other way around. Going through a drive-thru with an angry, inattentive, or lack-luster cashier/order-taker can completely ruin an evening, and give the customer plenty of reasons not to go back to that particular store. This happens to me a surprising amount. But maybe I just have my standards set too high?

I honestly don't think it's such a horrible thing to want service with a smile, and it's definitely not the worst thing in the world to smile whilst serving someone.