The modern work ethic . . .

[up196]

This morning, I stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast and ordered a meal to "eat in". The lady started to hand me my order in a "to go" bag, so I said that the order was to "eat in", as was marked on the receipt. After looking at me like I was speaking some outer space language, she reached under the counter, took out a tray, put the bag containing my order on the tray and handed it to me. I was truely amazed.

 

[Andykev]

You are correct sir!

Last time I went to McDonalds, the entire work crew was either under 16 years old, or from Mexico and spoke no English.

Get used to it, I am afraid, when you go to a fast food place. Low pay and low skills keep it that way.

 

[LuckyLighter]

That's like when I was buying a pack of cigarettes at Duane Reade last week. I asked for a pack of Carltons, the guy looked at me like he didn't understand. I then pointed to the bottom row and said "They're right there." He still didn't get it, so I said "Bottom shelf," at which point he went to the top shelf. "No, bottom shelf," I said. He went to the middle shelf. It went on like this for five minutes, with him going all around the shelf with the cigarettes I wanted, without actually getting it right. Eventually he understood, but he tried to make it like it was my fault. "We have lots of different cigarettes, you should be more specific," he said to me, even though I asked for it by name, and pointed to the shelf, he still didn't get it right away.

Very frustrating. :rage:

 

[jamespowers]

Yeah sure. Try working with them.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Michaelson]

Mixed feelings about McDonalds. My wife and I recently travelled up in Northern Tennessee, and stopped by a McDonalds for the required 'pit stop', and my needed cup of coffee. I asked the young, fresh faced lady behind the counter for a small cup of coffee.
She announced in a LOUD, clear, official sounding voice. "Yes sir, that's one Senior coffee...65 cents!"

Now, I had mixed emotions there...I had NOT asked for a senior coffee...I had asked for a small cup. So, had she assumed I was a senior by the grey in my moustache, or did I look so rough with my fedora pulled low on my brow that she had assumed this fact? I was about say something about the un-intended insult to my perceived age, when she set a HUGE cup in front of me that could have easily been used as a bailing bucket for the Titannic!

What did I do?

I muttered a 'thank you' under my breath and went to the coffeepot and filled my cup..what did you THINK I was going to do?

Needless to say, I still hear about this from my wife, who had walked up at the end of the transaction, and laughed for the next 10 minutes in the truck. :coffee: Sadly, this has now happened twice to me this year. (sigh)

Like I said....mixed feelings about McDonalds.

(grins) Regards. Michaelson

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'll probally will never have that experience... I don't drink Coffee.

 

[Michaelson]

They sell a senior breakfast, Matt. Never say never. (grins) Regards. Michaelson

 

[Kentucky Blues]

Michaelson...why did you, the infamous coffee drinker....order a small coffee? LOL

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by Michaelson
Needless to say, I still hear about this from my wife, who had walked up at the end of the transaction, and laughed for the next 10 minutes in the truck. :coffee: Sadly, this has now happened twice to me this year. (sigh)

That reminds me of a story my grandmother always used to tell about a visit to Safeway years ago. The woman asked if my grandfather was her father! Man was he burnt. LOL LOL
The back story is that my father used to take her to the store every week. It was just that week that my grandfather went with her. So I guess the woman had gotten used to seeing my father. Needless to say my grandfather didn't go back again. LOL LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[up196]

Originally posted by Michaelson

So, had she assumed I was a senior by the grey in my moustache, or did I look so rough with my fedora pulled low on my brow that she had assumed this fact?

I feel for you, Michaelson. A few years back, I took my Model A to pick my son up from grammer school. The next day, all the kids wanted to know what kind of car his GRANDFATHER was driving! Sheesh, I even had hair back then.

 

[Marlowe]

Well, Michaelson, my dear old dad (72 years old now) likes to tell me that "it's hell getting old--but it beats the alternative!"

 

[Michaelson]

Agreed on that one, my friend!

Why a small coffee, you ask? Because I had a travel cup in the truck that would only hold the contents of a small McDonalds coffee. (I have to replace that one of these days!

Regards. Michaelson

 

[jamespowers]

I am reminded of my grandfather at his birthdays long ago. My uncle used to ask him how it felt to be 80 something and he would always reply the same.
"The only thing good about living to be old is that you didn't die young."
LOL LOL

Regards to all,

J

P.S. He would be 107 now if he were with us today. He had a saying for everything.

 

[up196]

My father used to always tell me he was going to live to be 100. I'd reply "I hope I live long enough to see you do it."

 

[Strider]

There's a reason that my friends and I call McDonald's McDumpster's . Unfortunately, McDonald's is looked at as a sub par job by even the people who are working there, and as such, it's very rare to come accross someone who cares enough about their job there to be polite.

Either that, or the cashier/person has had a hard day. Customers can be a real pain sometimes. I worked in a restaurant similar to McDonald's for a while. I'd get people coming up and complaining (very very rudely) about a mistake that was made on their food that they recieved from drive through, when I was not the person assigned to drive through. This time, it really wasn't my fault. Employees of such restaurants are expected by their bosses and corporate offices to weather these sorts of comments/incidents with a smile and a nod, but that gets more and more difficult to do the more it happens.

Normally, no one likes someone yelling at them over a mistake that wasn't their fault. It's no different for a fast food employee. So on those days when the customers have been heck, sometimes they have a hundred other places they'd rather be.

IMHO, I think everyone should be required to work in fast food service for at least a period of one year. After such a time, I think those people would be much more polite to fast food employees. It's concieved as a crappy job, but where would you be if that job didn't exist? You'd have to either brown bag it for lunch, or go to an expensive restaurant on your lunch hour, which you probably don't have time to do. Fast food joints get you something quick, and that's what you want.

Oh well, just 2 cents from someone who's done it.

Regards,
Strider

 

[Michaelson]

It's true in all forms of retail sales, be it McDonalds or a lumber store. I've worked them too, and your point is well taken, but not JUST limited to the fast food industry. Truth be known, some folks just get their 'jollies' making retail sales folks look bad, as they KNOW they aren't allowed to talk back to or bad mouth a customer, no matter HOW wrong the customer is...that's the job of a manager, and even THEY have their limits to what they can do. It's a power thing, and for small people, sometimes it's the only sense of 'power' they can ever experience, so the retail folks bear the brunt of it.

I tip my hat to all individuals involved in retail sales. I enjoyed working stock a lot better than dealing with some folks who walked through the door to raise the devil with me for no reason, then walk out the door with a 25 cent purchase to justify even coming in.

I guess the flip side of that is the unruly retail sales person that I get stuck with that had a terrible customer in front of me, then I catch the wrath of the sales person in the performance of their transaction with me. I've actually had silverware and plates of food tossed down on the table in front of me by a waiter who had had words with another table, and was venting her frustration in her service to MY table. It cuts both ways.

High regards. Michaelson

 

[Renderking Fisk]

You all know how I feel about McDonnalds… if not do a search on COW about the Woman who burned her groin after McDonnalds was told the coffee was too hot, hotter then industry standards.

Thanksgiving we drove down to NJ and we stopped at the McD’s in Springfeild mear the “Ingleside� mall. We went on our way and we started to eat once we were back in the flow of the Turkey-Day traffic. I bit into my “Big and Tasty�… which will now refer to as “Big and Nasty�… Right in the middle I bit into something that was rotten. I didn’t bother to look at what it was because I was driving, I was wearing my Wested and favorate Bean pants… I didn’t want to throw up.

Two lessons:

Number 1: Never again eat at McD’s… which is now the “Special Olympics� of Fast Food.

Number 2: Never cheese off a guy with an comfortable chair, keyboard, and ISP and his own website to flame your resturant.

How come I never get crap from Wendy’s?

 

[jamespowers]

Originally posted by Renderking Fisk
How come I never get crap from Wendy’s?

Because Bill Thomas put together a franchise with higher standards. When he was alive, you could count on him actually going into your franchise if he was in the area and you never knew when he was. If he was not treated right or the food was not up to his standards then you would lose the franchise. That was just the way it was. I do not know how it is now as I have not been in one since his untimely passing.
Kentucky Fried Chicken used to be the same way whrn the Colonel was alive. He would go in and eat at a frachise to see if they were screwing up his recipe. More than once he went into the kitchen and told off a cook. He would even don an apron and show them what they were doing wrong! Now that is scrutiny man.
Being a businessman, I know that is what it takes to keep company standards high. When people think they can get away with anything then they try to get away with anything. Surprise inspections keep everything on the up and up.
That is not to say that individual customers are not part of the process too. If you do not complain then they will never know. Go to the library (Reference desk usually) and find a Directory of Corporations. There you find the chairman's name, address and phone number. Give him a call or write directly to him if you are not satisied. I have had some interesting chats using this resource for complaints. Just tell the secretary that John or Jack Smith wants to talk to the Chair. They always seem to know someone by that name. LOL

Regards to all,

J

 

[Renderking Fisk]

I'm thinking we could change a lot if we were more vocal in the Net. This thread would be a good start.

If I posted about the lack of service my family and I got on my own site as an article... what kind of trouble could I start?

 

[HistoricDetroit]

McDonalds... I shudder at the sound of the word. I spent three years at a local McDonalds, working summers and every day after school. And by God I hated it. I tried to make the best of the situation, and ended up making friends with many of the regular customers, who all complimented me on my neat appearance and good manners. I think I was the only person in the whole joint who treated people with respect and did the job right. I'm proud to say that's the way I was raised, and the way I do things.

Still, it was bad. By the time I got through the work week, which consisted of 40 stress filled hours of dealing with incompetent teenagers, inept management, angry customers, and a cramped, greasy building with a leaky roof, all I got for my time and effort was a paycheck so small I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Once they brought in the mexicans, things really went downhill. The idea was to have the mexicans make the food, so they did't have to deal with the customers. Problem was, someone didn't think things through because you still need to be able to communicate or at least read English to make the food. Of course, when orders were made wrong (frequently), the guy up front, which often seemed to be me, took the heat for it. Seems like I was always in one of the positions where one takes the most heat.

For example, one time the guy taking the drive through orders got this woman's drink order wrong. Well, of course I ended up handing her the wrong drink, and before I knew what happened I found myself soaked in 42 ounces of sticky orange drink. Then she had the nerve to wait for me to make her a new drink. Worse yet was management, who yelled at me for wasting time as I tried to dry myself off, and refused to give me a new shirt unless I paid for it. A short time later, while wearing that new shirt, the nozzle blew off the shake machine, coating me from head to toe in very cold vanilla milkshake. Management ordered / yelled at me to clean up the mess, and ever so kindly offered to sell me a new shirt.

Needless to say, I feel no remorse about the way I left things... smashing a headset, throwing a stack of trays across the room, and yelling a manager, all the while receiving applause and cheers from some of the regulars who were dining. I am happy to say that I have been 99% McDonald's-free since I quit! :hamburger