14 Things to Keep in Mind at Fast Food Restaurants

I work in fast food. These 14 tips are based on my experience, but can more or less be applied to any fast food restaurant. This is part comedy, part rant, and part instruction manual.

1.Remember your bathroom etiquette. Weren’t you taught from a young age to flush the toilet? Men, for God’s sake, put the damn seat up before you take a leak. And hey everybody, look over in the corner…there is a garbage pail…use it…but also be aware that certain things, namely feces and used toilet paper, are meant to be FLUSHED, not put in the above mentioned pail!!!

2.Clean up after yourself in the dining room. You are not at a full service restaurant with waiters and bus boys. I don’t expect you to wipe down the table and pick up every last crumb and straw wrapper, but don’t leave garbage all over the table and the floor. There would not be three clearly marked garbage pails in the room if you were not supposed to throw out your own garbage!

3. Don’t throw liquids in the garbage. Our trash bags are cheap, and they are likely to have holes in them somewhere. When you throw drinks in the garbage, it creates a major hassle for me when it comes to changing out the bag. The drink machine has a container at the bottom that drains into the plumbing. Would it kill you to walk the 10 extra steps to dump your drink out there?

4. If you spill something, don’t just walk away. If its really small, be an adult and clean it up yourself. If it’s a big spill (i.e. your entire drink), come and get an employee. We are more than happy to come out with a mop or a rag and clean it up. We WONT be happy if; a. someone slips and falls, and we have to deal with their bitching about the wet floor, or worse, a law suit, or, b. we come out there an hour later when the spill has partially dried and there is thick, sticky half evaporated soda on the floor, which requires scrubbing to clean up.

5. When ordering a combo or value meal, don’t just tell me you want the item affiliated with it (i.e. Chicken quesadilla). Tell me what combo you want (i.e. #7) If you order an individual item, it goes in the computer as such. Conversely, don’t tell me you want a #7 when all you want is a quesadilla. Everything you see in a combo can be ordered individually.

6. Don’t talk on the phone when you are ordering. I am trained to take orders a certain way, and to read them back to you, and I am not going to deviate from protocol for the sake of your convenience.

7. Keep in mind that if I am taking your order, I am not making your food. All I can do is ensure that I am entering the order correctly in the computer. Do not tell me to “make sure they don’t put tomato on it”. All I can do is hit “minus tomato” in the computer. If it is correct on your receipt, then any deviation from how you ordered it is not my fault. Additionally, when I hand you your food, don’t ask me “is that everything?” Unless it is something obvious (such as getting twice as much or half as much food as you ordered), I have no idea if it is all there or if it is correct. Your best bet is to check it against your receipt, because I just don’t know.

8. When you pull in to the drive thru, make sure you pull right next to the menu board, and don’t say “hello???” 3 seconds after pulling in. By company policy, I must greet you within five seconds, and if my hands are full or I am dealing with someone at the window when you pull in, don’t expect me to answer you instantly. If I hear you say “hello” or anything along those lines before I have a chance to answer, chances are you will be waiting a few extra seconds. Patience is a virtue, my friends. Practice it.

9. When ordering in the drive thru, don’t just belt out the menu items at a rate of one every half second. Realize that I am probably dealing with another customer at the window at the same time, and trying to keep up. I typically say “ok” once I have entered the item, and am ready for you to continue. By the same token, if you are so undecided that you are going to spend 5 minutes ordering, do everyone a favor and come inside.

10. Don’t drive up from the menu board until I tell you your total. I am supposed to read back the order, and unless I am super busy at the window, I probably will. Chances are I will ask you if you want anything to drink (if you didn’t order one), and if you want any sauce packets. I don’t care how much of a hurry you are in, I have to ask you those things, and pulling up prematurely just postpones my doing so. Trust me, going with the flow of how I take your order is the best way to get going on your way quickly.

11. If you have several people in the car and more than one are ordering, either have them relay the info to the driver, or make sure that anyone who orders from anywhere in the car other than the driver’s seat shouts. The microphone is not very sensitive, for good reason, and therefore it will not pick up your voice if it is too low or too far away.

12. Don’t change your entire order or add or remove items at the window. I would rather you take longer while ordering to make sure everything is correct than to pull up and have me re do everything or add something that is going to cause me to miss my window time limit. Always remember, I am on a timer!!!

13. When I hand you your food, drive away immediately. If you want to check to make sure it’s all there, pull up or go into a parking spot. I am on a timer, and if you are at my window for more than a minute, it gets recorded, and if too many cars take too long, I get in trouble. Remember, you are at a drive THRU, not a drive IN.

14. If you have a problem with your order, and are coming back to have us fix it, come inside, regardless of whether you ordered inside or at the drive thru. I can not afford to miss a time limit on a car because you were too damn lazy to walk 50 feet from your car to the building.