Working the Front Counter

There is more than a likely chance that you have purchased something at McDonalds by walking inside the store and ordering, rather than Drive Thru service. More often than not, someone like me is taking your order. There are a couple scenarios that go down when working front counter, and perhaps by the end of this post you'll understand why no one ever wants to work front counter.

First of all, front counter is the basic training for new recruits. It's the first place when working in service that you'll go. It's where you learn how to take orders, and all that McDonalds has to offer in it's vastly greasy menu.  9 times out of 10 the person taking your order on front counter hasn't been working there very long, or the restaurant is short staffed and an experienced person is forced to take orders on front counter while multi tasking with something else. There are a few common stereotypes that I've noticed over the years of people that come in threw front counter alongside all you normal people who just want a Big Mac meal and a Coke to go.

1) The Elderly Couple. These people are either the nicest people you've ever met, or the meanest people ever who cannot hear a blessed thing and don't understand why the menu and prices aren't the same as they were forty years ago. The nice people come in all the time and get just about the same thing, they're what we call regulars. One of my regulars is named Bill. He and his wife come threw and order two medium sized Filet-O-Fish meals and diet cokes, and occasionally an apple pie here and there. In all good fun, they brighten my day a little bit. The other extreme being the mean old people who yell at me for just about everything. The price went up by ten cents? No senior discount on anything but small drinks? It is obviously my fault, the part-time, minimum wage employee at the front counter. In all actuality, they're probably just upset with something in their life, and the constant change around them. However, yelling at me and arguing with me over every little thing is not going to change anything.

2) 19 Kids and Counting comes thru McDonalds! Not really, but it feels like it! Stressed moms bring five million kids in for happy meals galore, and what happens? He actually wants his cheeseburger plain, and is their any way we could get a different toy? Kids are all over the counters yelling and screaming and I can't hear a blessed thing this poor mother is saying. I actually feel pretty bad for her, because once I tell her what she, deep down, already knows, that that IS the only toy in the store and yes, we ARE out of milkshakes, all hell breaks loose. Kids are serious about their happy meals, let me tell you!

3) The Quiet Ones. This could be anyone, and it's horrible. This is easily a form of torture. Usually I have to coax their order out of them like this, "Sir, was that a Big Mac you wanted? Or perhaps some chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce and a coke?" I feel like I'm ordering for them. To top it off, when they do choose to speak, it's so quietly that with all the noise going on behind me, I have to keep asking them to repeat their order. And then they start yelling at me like I'm deaf and all I want to say to them is "You know what? I may just screw up your order on purpose just so you learn to speak up next time. Oh, you actually wanted Sweet and Sour sauce? Here's hot mustard instead, that's what your incoherent mumbling sounded like." Next time you go to a fast food restaurant, assess whether YOU are the quiet one. Silent but annoying, I tell you!

Normal people do come in as well, and some sympathetic people. The McDonalds I work at tends to be the busiest one in the area for both Drive Thru and front counter. We run out of food and products like crazy, and things break left and right. In actuality, there's nothing we can do about it. Everything's so automated that when something breaks, we're screwed. You normal, kind people out there, you're our favorite people and make this job bearable.

That's all for today, folks! Thanks for stopping to get your daily dose of the fast food business.

Ground Rules

I realized this afternoon that I talk about my job way too much. When a person has this realization, the usual response would be, "gee, I should really fix that, and probably get a hobby." My reaction went something more like, "I should write a blog!"

I believe some introductions are in order. No doubt you found this page through some mishap and are probably wondering who I am and what exactly I do for a living...okay, probably not, but I'm going to tell you anyways.

My name is Bridget, I'm 18 years old (and I don't need a governess! Just kidding. Props to anyone who can name that movie!) and I am currently employed at McDonald's.

A couple side notes before any real posts begin:

1) All of the names of other workers will be changed for security sake and as to not offend anyone.

2) I do actually like my job sometimes.

3) I do not bear any grudges against any customers, fellow employees, or the McDonald's corporation.

And there you have it! As my friend says, every beginning must start with an introduction. The next post will be way cooler, I promise!