Ribs

I had a potentially never-ending conversation with a customer the other day in the drive-thru. (I really hate the "thru" spelling, but for some reason, I use it. It drives me crazy though.)

girl: Hi
Man: Hi! How are you?
girl: Great, how are you?
Man: Good, how are you?
girl: *blank stare* Um, good. *nervous laugh*

Nice huh. The weird thing is that he wasn't doing it to be funny. Don't ask me how I know that, but I could just tell. It was strange. Today, Rib-man came through. He's old and drives an big car, and NEVER orders at the designated place. He pulls around, verrryy slllooowwwlly, parks away from the window, and starts getting out his money. I have always wanted to just stand there and see what he'll pay for if I don't say anything. But I ask him, "What was your order?" and he looks at me blankly, with a slightly terrified/suspicious tinge, for about 5 seconds, then goes back to counting his money. Oookay. So then I have to prod him to give me his order, which usually consists of him saying "two ribs." He does it in a manner of tossing his head at me, like he's throwing me the words. He has his wife with him, who has also been counting money during this whole exchange. I then have to decipher if they want two rib sandwiches, or the rib meal, and then extra one for a dollar. If it's the latter, then I have to drag a drink out of him. Rib-man's wife tries and helps but I can't hear her. Ever. We finally reach an understanding, shaky as it may be, and I give him the total, which results in another blank/terrified/suspicious stare and then back to digging out money. Amazing! He pays for the meal, which means I have to hang out the window since they park so far away. It astounds me that from all that digging, he never pays the exact amount.

I was not alone in the pit today. I had a helper taking orders who loves to try and up-sale the customer. If they order a number 3, he will say, "would you like to upsize that?" 90% of the time, the answer is no. He's tenacious. I'm not that motivated. I figure if you want a large, you'll tell me (hopefully BEFORE I punch it in, see earlier post).

Question to ponder:
If when you order, you don't specify a drink, i.e., "I'd like a number 3," what are you expecting to get?

"another" "post"

From my pit, I have a clear shot of the carwash, of which I mentioned in a previous post. The name bothers me. It is called, "The" "Downtown Carwash." Why the need for separate quotation marks on the "the" and the "downtown carwash?" Why not group them all together. Why even put quotation marks around it in the first place? It perplexes me.

I'm doing laundry right now. I spilled gas on my jeans and shoes last night. It was fun stuff! My car had to have a new battery put in. Those suckers are expensive! But at least it runs so for the time being, all is well. G-Had and Terra came to see me today! Terra gave me hound-eyes. I wonder if she ate any of his steak. (It's dat whoo-WHOO!) I don't know what made me think of that, I was suddenly inspired...

Observations and thoughts

I am intrigued by the number of people who wash their cars at 8am in the morning. There I was, bleary eyed in the pit, watching car after car go through the carwash. I can't remember the last time I washed my car. I wait for rain. I thought it would be fun if it was still freezing and after they finished their car wash, they would have to stop and scrape their windows.

If you happened to drive by McD's recently, you've seen the construction. They're fixing our sewage lines and I think some other stuff too. They had to shut down the drive-thru lane, oh horror of horrors. That means that there has to be someone outside to collect money, run it to the window, get the change, run back, and then go and get the food. I got to be the runner outside this morning, which was fun for awhile, because the sun was out. All I could think of was how fun it would be to go play softball. But anyways, then the sun went away and it got colder, but I did get free hot chocolate out of the deal and I didn't have to smell hamburgers all day.

When the construction guys came yesterday, I watched them dig a big hole to get to the pipes. I busted out laughing though, because then, one of the guys lit up a cigarette which really amused me. I was inside at this time, and had to do something so I missed some of the digging process. I came back and looked for the guy but couldn't see him. Had he left? Had my entertainment gone? But then I saw some reassuring puffs of smoke emerging from the hole, and I knew all was well. I couldn't see him, but I could see his presence. I never lost track of him again, I just looked for the smoke. That was enough to put a smile on my face for a looong time. Maybe they were signals.

Order numbers

At McDonald's, we give out order numbers in the drive-thru, so the money-taker can keep each order straight. SO, when they drive up, we ask them, "Number....?" (half the time, no one remembers, which is understandable; too many numbers) They number from 1-99. I really like it when 59 comes up. I always say it with a smile...

System failure

There was no joy in Mudville (or Mar'ville) this weekend at McD's. When I arrived on Saturday, I found that the basement had flooded and it smelled like sewage. Strangely, I found a small smile creeping on my face when I heard the news. Then, all our computers crashed and for awhile, we had to manually take orders. Everyone went crazy and they were flustered and it made me laugh. I wanted to line everone up in a single-file line and take them outside and have them gaze up at the shining golden arches that adorn our precious establishment. Then I would ask them, "Where do you work?" After they all replied, "McDonald's," I would then say, EXACTLY. This is NOT some top government agency where a system failure would result in the destruction of a small country, or the loss of important records and stuff. It's a HAMBURGER. A greasy, nasty, drippy, HAMBURGER. It is NOT the end of the world. They take things SO seriously, and I just have to laugh. I'm sure they thought I was crazed as they thought the world was coming to an end in Hamburger-Land, and I stood there with a silly grin on my face. I did get a few looks when a girl ran back and exclaimed with much consternation (for you, Cowboy!), "The computers crashed!" and I responded with, "That's AWESOME!" I learned then to keep my comments to myself, but everytime a new "disaster" would occur, I found myself nodding and grinning. McDonalds. It's just McDonalds.

People rule...

pickles and such

Get ready for some more McD's insider info! Did you know that you are supposed to have only ONE pickle on a hamburger/cheesburger/double cheeseburger? On all other sandwiches, the alloted amount is two. Who does that? I have seen quite a few discrepancies though. In the rush of the moment, a gloved hand will grab more than the pickle quota for a particular sandwich. So if you bite into a greasy, slimy hamburger and delightfully find yourself eating not one, but two pickles, consider yourself lucky.

On another note, I had an extremely moving experience on Thanksgiving Day. I suppose I shall never fully realize the opportunity I had, given the gravity of the situation. We were driving to my dad's aunt's house, and entered into "Pecan Country." It's a place not known for anything else really, except pecans. So, they LOVE their pecans there. Signs everywhere, shops, postcards, everything. Kinda creepy. Well, we've been driving there every Thanksgiving since I can remember. And every Thanksgiving, we drive by it. I can see it, looming on the horizon, and I watch with wonder and a longing heart, as every year it slips by the car window and disappears behind us. But this year, something amazing happened. We stopped. Yes, my family and I stopped at...The World's Largest....PECAN! And to top it all off, I got to TOUCH it. My parents were there to witness the occasion, as I slowly approached it's broad brown side, and ceremoniously placed my hands on it. I'm not sure, but I think my dad got a little misty- eyed. But for me, touching is wasn't enough. I can say with pride and awe, I not only touched the world's largest pecan, I kissed it. So, I feel my life has been bettered by this experience, and it is only fitting that it feel on such a day as Thanksgiving.

I'm done.