The Evils of Fast Food

First off this is not a diatribe about how bad fast food is for you. The empty calories, the additives & the trans fats; we all know this when going in so it's our choice to eat at those establishments. That angle has been beaten to death.

No this is an essay about the the annoying things that accompany ordering and receiving food in the drive thru window and the questionable level of intelligence of some of those who work in the drive thru window.

1) You know how you go to convenience stores and they have the give a penny take a penny dish. It's a great concept for everyone involved. They need such a system at fast food drive thru windows.

One day at McDonalds I had driven up to the window and the total was $4.89. I did everything I could to fish out $.89 cents (it took probably 30 seconds). Unfortunately as fate would have it I only had $.88 cents and a $5 bill. The clerk was looking at me and I said in disappointment "I only have $.88".


At that exact moment we shared what I thought was the glance of understanding between teammates. The same glance that Craig Hodges would give Michael Jordan just before a lob for a dunk. The look that Joe Montana would give Jerry Rice at the line of scrimmage when he could see the cornerback was taking away the inside route where they both knew to run the "go route". It confirmed to me that we were on the same page when he said "oh it's good" and I handed him the $5 and the $.88 cents. It was at the moment that the clerk got into the register and was fishing around for coins. I was puzzled because I had already committed to running the go route and left the cornerback in the dust. The clerk then proceeded to give me $.99 cents in change after putting $.88 cents in change in the register.


2) Calculators are the death of American's youth. As a young person I could do most math in my head. I didn't automatically go to a calculator to do the math. Young people now do not seem to have that ability. For instance at another McDonalds back when I worked for Pacific Bell in Pleasanton here is what happened:



Clerk: The total is $4.89
Me: OK (I go up to the window with $5.14 so I can get a quarter back)

Ok was that unfair to do that to a 18 year old at a suck job who just wants to get through the day so he can stay up all night and play wii...and text his friends, maybe.





Apparently by doing this it was the equivalent of having him explain the concept of the center of gravity. He looked at me with a blank stare took the money didn't know what to do and then proceeded to hand me back the $5 bill as change. I then told him just give me a quarter back. He then said ok and reached in and gave me another quarter. So now I have given him $5.14 and he just handed me back $5.25.



So now I have made $.11 on this transaction. I finally said "here take the $5". To this day I am not sure if he thought I was giving him a tip or not...