Only if there are mashed potatoes.
corkboard, you can always just go inside the restaurant! Drivethrus are for people who have at least a very good idea of what they are going to order. If you don’t know the menu, go inside the restaurant!
Yeah, if you’re going to spend a couple of minutes perusing the menu before deciding what you want, just go inside the restaurant. I know that sometimes you might encounter a restaurant where the drive-thru is open but the main restaurant has closed, but in general, if you have a long and complicated order, or you aren’t quite sure what you want, just go inside.
(Former McDonald’s drive-thru employee here.)
Wee little print, assuming it is uniform and organized, might be welcome. Drive-Thru boards were like that once–all the offerings were organized under headings like “sandwiches,” “drinks,” and so on; in uniform type that created easily-readable words. I realize that with the rise of the Value Meal, things need to be somewhat different; but I wonder if they have to be so different that modern Drive-Thru menu boards must be nothing but photos of food, large-size type advertising Value Meal prices, fine print telling you about less-popular items, pictures of this week’s toys, and other gimmicks that are seemingly designed to make sure that if all you want is a simple burger, you’ll never find it on the menu board.
I usually know what I want without looking at the board but there isn’t a lot else to look at while waiting.
(I probably wouldn’t have given you an answer right away either. “Say whaaa? What are you sandwich are you?”;))
I saw a guy do this at a Quiznos once. Long line for lunch, you order early in the line, move forward in the line, your sandwich pops out of the oven and they ask what you want on it. Oblivious cellphone guy is chatting away when the order taker says “Who’s next?” and no one speaks up so the guy behind him ordered.
Cellphone guy just keeps moving along with the line. He finally gets up to the point where the sandwichs pop out and the lady asks “What did you have, what do you want on it?” He suddenly comes back to earth in a “huh, wha” moment and the lady asks him again “What did you order?”
“I didn’t order yet.”
“Well, you order at the end of the line.”
He got all confused and was about to get huffy when he saw everyone around him looking at him like he was a loon and stomped back to the end of the line.
Thanks for all the responses, everyone.
Here’s one that sort of relates to the customer flirting problem.
Don’t buy 30c worth of bolts and then try and tie up one of our staff with a 45 minute conversation about how you are renovating a lamp you found in the trash.
Don’t expect staff to provide complex technical advice, especially if you are utterly ignorant of the tools, techniques and materials involved with your project. No, we can not tell you how to run a natural gas line in your house especially if you ask why the pipes are threaded backwards. In fact, I am NOt gonna tell you, as your house’s potential blast radius might include my own home.
Try working at an agency named “Women In Need”! We heard 'em all. :rolleyes:
Oh, but it IS that kind of party. If only I’d have known…
Joe
Yep. I mean, I know that if I get flirted with as a normal non person I can just roll my eyes or walk away, but if you’re being paid to, are you really going to show the signs of discomfort that you would that you would if you weren’t on the clock?
I mean, I think a harmless joke that you would tell anyone, male or female, is fine. Cheesy, but fine. But if it gets to be out and out flirting, then it’s obnoxious. I can’t really tell what tdn is doing, though, to be fair. Maybe it’s really not flirting at all?
You know, I really find this insulting. (Not just you, but several of you.) I have enough social awareness to know if someone is faking laughing or not. I have enough social awareness to read the clues and determine if what I’m saying to someone is bugging them or not. Give me a little credit here.
I expect snark and skepticism from some of you. I’m especially disappointed that of all people, Anaamika thinks that a) I can’t tell the difference between a busy restaurant and a not so busy one, and b) I’m incapable of saying something funny.
It’s flirting in a welcome way. I know that many of you think that there ain’t no such beast – maybe because you’ve never experienced it. Most women don’t. But you’ll have to trust me on this.
Yes, yes… a thousand times yes. He wants to drop it, but he is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS the one to look for any and all opportunities to let us all know how much he likes to flirt and how much THE LADIES seem to enjoy it. Mind you, it’s usually not ACTUAL flirting it’s just funny to make the ladies smile. You know, make their day. The waitress, the bartender, the cashier at the grocery store, the lady in aisle 4, the lady at the gas station, the woman at the library, the girl at the park, the neighbor by her mailbox, the…
I don’t care. I’ve just seen a thousand times where I had to wait for MY order because someone was flirting with the waitress instead of letting her doing her job. I am the number one proponent of flirting but not when other people are waiting behind. It doesn’t matter if it’s busy or not, because no matter what, everyone else has to wait while you do your little flirty lines.
Call it irrational rage, and it may be, but there’s very little that annoys me more than some guy trying to get some ass on MY time. Or get some poor waitress to smile. She has plenty to do already. I’ve never been a waitress but I have worked with the public plenty and I hate when people flirt with me and bog me down - I need to get onto the next customer or do my umpteen other chores that are waiting for me. And you would not know if I was bored of you unless I wanted you to know. You are not some kind of Zen master at reading women’s signals. I can and certainly have hid my emotions and disdain for men’s flirtatiousness for tips.
Also your line is not funny. She’s heard it. I should know.
Even the one about the rubber mongoose ? Drat.
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned this before, but speaking of lines Do NOT cut in line. It’s extremly rude to everyone who waited in line and it put’s the cashier in a horrible position. It does not matter if you’re in a hurry (like everyone else isn’t?). And if you don’t want to go to the back of the line and wait just leave. Don’t try waiving your item and saying “Just ring me up for a ___” and leave money on the counter. Don’t just yell “Turn the pump on” and toss money around. Don’t flip out because you think you’re so special you should be served before everyone else. Oh, and if you forget your money or ID and need to run out to your car to get it expect to wait in line again when you get back inside. Don’t expect the clerk to just trust you and let you take your unpaid merchandise out to your car or sell you your cigs/booze because you’ll bring the ID in “later”. :rolleyes: See my Pit thread here.
From my old job (Subway):
-Do not talk on your cellphone the entire time you’re in line. If your call is really that important, you can step out of line and finish it.
-Do not whine when I tell you I’m not allowed to do something. That’s not going to make me feel sorry for you, it’s going to make you look like an idiot. How old are you, anyway?
-If you’re getting several sandwiches, do not start ordering without either a list or a very good understanding of what you want. I had a lady get on her phone and individually ask each member of her family what they wanted as she was ordering every. Single. Little. Thing. All while there were like ten other people in line behind her. My coworkers and I all wanted to kill her, as did the other customers in line.
-Do not flounce out shouting “I’M NEVER COMING HERE AGAIN!!” That’s not actually a threat. If anything, we welcome your departure.
From my current job (at a museum):
-Do not let your kids run wild, or expect us to be their babysitters. There are things that are thousands of years old here, as well as sharp edges and heights you would NOT survive a fall from. There is very real danger of kids hurting themselves here, and though we’re quite good at keeping people in line, we cannot watch everyone all at once. Do NOT stand hundreds of feet away reading signs or chatting with other adults. THIS MEANS YOU, CHAPERONES.
-When we tell you not to do something (like take pictures of things you’re not supposed to take pictures of, or eat in the galleries, or attempt to touch valuable artifacts), do not wait until our backs are turned and then do it anyway. These rules are in place for a REASON, and if you can’t follow our rules, you can’t be here. Do what I say, or get out of my gallery.
-Similarly, when I tell you not to do something, do not reply with “well, I didn’t see a sign!!” or otherwise argue with me about why you should be able to do it. First of all, ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Second of all, depending on the rule, we probably have around five signs on each floor telling you not to do this. Third, again, the rules are in place for a REASON. No, I’m not going to let you break it “just this once.” You’re not special.
(Though if you DO have a real need to break a rule–such as a diabetic sugar crash where you need sugary food NOW–we can accommodate you. We’ll just also call our security/medical staff.)
-Do not ask me a question, and then argue with me about the answer I give you. YOU are the one who asked. Also, do not get irate when I tell you facts that just happen to contradict your worldview. It is my JOB to not lie to you, and you are the one who asked me about it in the first place. I’m not trying to insult you, I’m trying to tell you what scientists currently say about the subject (which is based on years and years of research and testing and peer review). Think of it as a learning experience.
And for those of you who feel the need to shout this, please have the common courtesy to follow through on your promise.
Ok, I’ve got a few more extra pounds on me than I care to think about. There have been times that I’m seated in a booth and I’m uncomfortable because the seat is too close to the table. I don’t know it until I sit down… especially if I’ve never been in that restaurant. Or I don’t know if there IS a choice between tables and booths for the same reason. I apologize profusely and explain that it’s just too uncomfortable for me so the hostess/wait staff doesn’t think I’m just being difficult. So please bear with me on this… I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear. 
I don’t think it’s meant that you aren’t socially aware. Just that women in general often feel weird about making waves. And this is doubly compounded if you’re younger and at work. Yes, you can tell if the girl at the bar with her friends is annoyed at you because she doesn’t owe you anything. But the waitress who wants to keep her job and knows that she might get a talking to for being rude to a customer if she eye rolls or something is different.
Plus, how many times on here or other boards or in real life have you seen women post stuff about how they thought they were making it clear (without being out and out rude) that they weren’t interested in a guy’s attention via body language but the guy just didn’t get it? And usually in those cases, other posters will chime in with, “You have to be more direct.” A lot of times guys just don’t get it or they’re pushy. And as a waitress you really can’t afford to be more direct to let guys know you don’t appreciate their attention.
I’m the last person to get in the way of harmless flirting, but they’re doing their job. Just let them get on with it.
Try this: while you’re waiting in line behind other cars, read the menu. It’s just like when you’re standing in line at the counter. While people are placing and paying for their orders, you’re looking up at the menu, right?
I came in to post (1) Don’t throw your payment down and (2) Get off your fucking cell, but I see those have already been covered. And we’re apparently back to our perennial favorite discussion, flirting with waitstaff. Oh joy.
As has been observed, it’s a sign that she wants a tip.
Unless you are **literally **a mind-reader, you have no way of knowing that every single waitstaff person you’ve ever flirted with enjoyed it. ***I ***find it really insulting that you’re so incredibly convinced of your own amazing hotness that you can’t possibly conceive that people in service-industry jobs pretty much **have **to play along with the customer, whether they want to or not, and that perhaps once in your life you made some woman uncomfortable who had no way of getting out of the conversation.