A couple months back, I got a job at the local Chick-Fil-A. Yippee.
I just needed some extra cash, and working at chick-fil-a is apparently my way of earning it. But, here are the 8 things that working there has taught me:
1. Have patience, please.
You may not know it, but when you're sitting in the drive-thru, rattling off your order at 100 mph, this poor kid on the headset is listening to you talk, typing in your order, reading back your order, making the drinks from the order before yours, communicating with other employees, and making change, all at the same time! There is A LOT of multitasking involved, so try and be patient if they ask you to repeat part of your order, or if they take a second to answer when you speak.
2. The cashiers are people too.
One thing I really started noticing was that some guests treat me as though my only purpose in life is to deliver to them their chicken sandwich and waffle fries. I started wondering, do I do that? Do I completely ignore the worker as a person, and if my main focus is "where is my food??" I hope not. I'm very conscious of it now. When a worker asks how are you doing, at least answer them. Don't just rattle off your order, pay them, and walk away. Tell them you're doing well. Ask them how they're doing. Cashiers have to deal with hundreds of rude and grumpy people everyday. Be one of the nice ones, for a change.
3. We're nicer if you're nicer.
This goes back to number 2.
No, we're not going to do something nasty like spit in your food if you're rude to us, but we will try and get you to leave as soon as possible. If you're kind to me, I'm going to be kind to you. I'll make sure you got the sauces you wanted, and I'll throw a couple extras in there. If we happen to have an extra milkshake sitting there(it happens, I promise!,) I'm gonna give it to you- on the house. I'll triple check everything, to make sure your order is perfect! You be nice to me, I'll be nice to you.
4. We have no control over how fresh your food is.
I once had this rather verbal woman come through the drive-thru, and while ordering, she stopped herself mid-sentence and said, "Oh, and we want our fries FRESHHH." I just ignored her comment. Truth is, people, we have no control over how fresh your fries are! In the front, we don't handle the food. We take orders, make drinks, and hand you your bags. We don't make each sandwich or scoop each box of fries. That's what the kitchen does. And even then, the kitchen is going to give you the fries we already have. They're not going to cook a whole new batch of fries just become some picky lady won't eat the perfectly-fine-fries that have been sitting under a heat lamp for a whole 4 minutes. Nor are we going to deny the 3 already-made sandwiches sitting in the chute just to slow down the kitchen in making an entirely new sandwich because some guys wants "A big, juicy piece of chicken," as opposed to any other chicken we put on the sandwich. It's fast food. Just take your 3 dollar sandwich and move on.
5. I can NOT take your garbage through our drive-thru window. Stop trying to hand it to me.
It's a health code violation. And honestly, I wouldn't take it if I could! That's gross. I don't want to handle your used coffee cups and week-old McDonald's bags. We have a trash can 3 FEET BEFORE YOU REACH THE WINDOW. Just use that. I am not your garbage disposal.
6. We make mistakes too.
We all make mistakes. Especially if you order some big, complicated sandwich where you want extra pickle, no tomato, no bun, lettuce wrapped around it, well done, with fries actually on the sandwich., with a small and a large fruit cup on the side. We are bound to mess that up, and we take full responsibility if we do. We try our best. If you come through and tell us that your sandwich is wrong, we will be delighted to fix it! No charge. But don't shove the bag in our faces and say "YOU MESSED UP." Just calmly tell us what's wrong, and we'll have it fixed in no time. No hassle, no confrontation.
7. I'm not slow. It's just hard to hear you.
Have you ever tried to listen to someone over a drive-thru head set while an ambulance and it's sirens are whizzing by, along with a train blowing it's horn and employees shouting things across a room the size of a closet? It isn't easy. I once asked someone to repeat what they had just said, and in response, she druuuuug oooout heeeer speeeeeeech, aaaaas ifffff, I waaaas sloooooow. And it was an obvious dig at me, not just her trying to speak clearly. That's just rude. I'm not slow. Just repeat yourself; that's all. You don't have to be a jerk about it.
8. GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE.
Please, for the love of all things delicious, just stop coming through the drive-thru while yapping on your phone. If you want to finish your conversation before you eat, please wait until you're not trying to order. When you're not paying attention to what you're ordering, you ignore questions that lead to us getting your order wrong. People drive off without their change/food. They take the wrong food, because when we asked them if they had what's in that bag, they just nodded yes, because they weren't even listening. They're too consumed by their cell phones to actually listen when we speak to them. It's even worse when they order half of what they're ordering, and then they say "Hold on just a minute," and return to their phone call. Just order, then talk. It is NOT that hard.
Overall, just remember that the people giving you your food are people too. They don't want to be there, taking your orders and making your drinks. But they are there, and they're only getting paid minimum wage. So, be nice to them. Remind them that not every person that comes through line is a rude jerk... Only about half of them.
:)
