# Can you hear me now? Oh wait, you're a machine **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925 "2004-10-13T01:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/1 "2004-10-13T01:44:06Z")
So I pull up to a drive-thru today, the restaurant brand name of which will become clear in the following paragraph. However, the meat of this rant applies to most drive-thrus. So I pull up to the order mike, mentally preparing what I’m gonna tell the cashier. In order for the order to go smoothly, it has to be said _exactly_ like this: Hello, I’d like a Number twoOriginalwithmashedpotatoes and potato wedges. If I don’t say it exactly like that, the conversation will go something like this: “Hello, I’d like a Number Two, Orig…” “Original or Crispy?” “Original. With mashe…” “With mashed potatoes and cole slaw?” “Mashed potatoes and potato wedges.” (And don’t get me started on the alchemy I’ve tried to attempt to specify that I DONT want a drink before they ask me. I’ve given up on that battle already.) But that’s not the point of my rant :). So when I pull up, I hear a voice say “May I take your order please?” Now, I’ve worked at fast food, and it is annoying to repeat that phrase over and over. In addition you might want to pre-program a voice to announce a current special which the grunts might forget. But, if you’re going to have a voice-over asking me for my order rather than a human being, can it hurt you to only start the recording when there is _actually someone there ready to take my order?_. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/2 "2004-10-13T01:55:12Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > So when I pull up, I hear a voice say “May I take your order please?” Those BASTARDS! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/3 "2004-10-13T02:11:13Z")
> [@Darth Nader](#): > > Those BASTARDS! > > 😕 What **Ludovic** is bitching about are the fast food places which have hit upon the “bright idea” of having a recording say, “May I take your order, please?” So you start to give your order, thinking that there’s actually a human being there, listening to you, only to hear, when you finish, someone with an entirely different voice (and the sound quality’s totally different, so you realize instantly you’re speaking to a human and _not_ the recording you heard before you gave your order), "May I take your order, please? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/4 "2004-10-13T02:17:35Z")
I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life. What is the posssible use of such a setup? That’s fuckin’ weird, man. Okay, they clearly _are_ bastards, then. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/5 "2004-10-13T02:34:24Z")
> [@Darth Nader](#): > > I guess I’ve lived a sheltered life. What is the posssible use of such a setup? > That’s fuckin’ weird, man. > > Okay, they clearly _are_ bastards, then. You want weird? From [this CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/09/10/drive.thrus/index.html): > [@](#): > > Modern technology is changing the business of drive-throughs. Some fast-food franchises are outsourcing drive-through orders through single location call centers. There has also been talk of vehicle-recognition systems to make ordering and pick up even quicker. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/6 "2004-10-13T02:39:13Z")
> [@](#): > > There is known to be drive-throughs for funeral homes, loan agencies, **strip clubs** and art galleries. Yep, I really need to get out more. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/7 "2004-10-13T03:13:48Z")
> [@Darth Nader](#): > > Yep, I really need to get out more. I’m thinking I need to move to the Netherlands. > [@](#): > > Also, officials in Venlo, Netherlands, recently released plans to sell marijuana and hashish through handy drive-throughs. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/8 "2004-10-13T05:54:40Z")
Real life drive thru story from a few weeks ago. Drive-thru jockey: “Welcome to KFC, May I take your order?” My girlfriend: “Yes, I’d like a three peice chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, and coleslaw, with Dr Pepper to drink, and also a chicken liver dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, and coleslaw, and also Dr Pepper to drink” DTJ: Would you like the three-peice original or extra crispy?" GF: Um…crispy. DTJ: Okay…and what side items would you like with that? GF: Um…mashed potatoes with gravy and coleslaw? DTJ: And to drink? GF: …Dr Pepper DTJ: Okay, will that be all for you? GF: No…no…I wanted a chicken liver dinner, too… DTJ: Okay and what would you like with that? (You can pretty much figure out the rest of the conversation.) ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/9 "2004-10-13T13:49:08Z")
Where do you people live? Every drive through in my area starts like this - “WelcometoGrabblefarzxhdg dorjf jaie chexxxxxsjfir kom adijif zzzfff? Kkkkkkkkarg ropfff sommel ege-al.” My reply, “Yeah, that’s great. Double that.” “That’l be farxj exx jkee seven. Please drive forward” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/10 "2004-10-13T14:40:18Z")
I’ve been getting that lately at a local Popeye’s. Since I always get the same thing, I like to think I have the order process down pretty well. So it goes like this: “May I take your order?” “I’d like a number 5, spicy, with fries and a lemonade.” “Spicy or mild?” Sigh. “Spicy.” “Would you like a side order?” “Fries, please.” “Would you like a drink with that?” “Lemonade.” “Would you like to add apple pie or banana pudding?” “No.” “Pull around please.” If I had wanted a pie or banana pudding (by the way, eww!), I would have asked for it, you brainless invertebrate. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/11 "2004-10-13T15:08:09Z")
I would love to hear “May I take your order?” Instead, I pull up to the drive-through, and the person says, “Welcome to \_\_\_\_\_, would you like to try our \_\_\_\_\_?” Wouldn’t it be a lot quicker if I just _told_ them what I want, instead of waiting for them to guess? ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/12 "2004-10-13T15:10:54Z")
Yea, the first time this happened to me I was quite confused. I heard the voice say something like , “Welcome to Snarf’n’Barf, Home of the Booger, May I Take Your Order?” and proceded to give my order. A few seconds later, I heard a completely different voice ask me if I wanted anything with whatever the last thing I said. I sat there for a couple of seconds just going “ummmm … what?” before I figured out what was going on. Since then, I’ve taken to completely ignoring whatever the recording says, because much of the time it’s something like “I’m ready to take your order RIGHT NOW This Very Instant Don’t Delay Start Speaking Hurry Hurry Hurry” to be followed up by your typical minimum wage worker going “Uhh hold on a minute I’m not ready”. So regardless of what the recording says, I immediately answer it with something like “Hello, are you ready to take my order?” I get responses anywhere from an openly annoyed “Hold on a minute I’m not ready” to an openly annoyed “Yes, dammit, give me your stupid order already”. Gaaaah. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/13 "2004-10-13T15:15:48Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I’ve been getting that lately at a local Popeye’s. Since I always get the same thing, I like to think I have the order process down pretty well. So it goes like this: > > “May I take your order?” > “I’d like a number 5, spicy, with fries and a lemonade.” > “Spicy or mild?” > Sigh. “Spicy.” > “Would you like a side order?” > “Fries, please.” > “Would you like a drink with that?” > “Lemonade.” > “Would you like to add apple pie or banana pudding?” > “No.” > “Pull around please.” > > If I had wanted a pie or banana pudding (by the way, eww!), I would have asked for it, you brainless invertebrate. Of course, not listening in the first place to your order is their fault, but they HAVE to ask you if you want “such and such” or they get fired and replaced with another drone who makes less money. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/14 "2004-10-13T15:27:07Z")
A friend and I were at a Hardee’s recently. Him: I’ll have a cheeseburger. Hardees: We don’t have cheeseburgers. Him: I’ll have the 1/3 pound cheeseburger. Hardees: One 1/3 pound cheeseburger. That’s a bad name for a burger by the way. You can say “quarter pounder” You can say “half-pounder”. “I’ll have the third pound cheeseburger” is a mouthful though. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/15 "2004-10-13T17:45:12Z")
> [@](#): > > **Darth Nader** said: > Yep, I really need to get out more. Club Climax, east of Pittsburgh on Route 22 had (may still have) one of these strip club drive throughs. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/16 "2004-10-13T17:53:23Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Club Climax, east of Pittsburgh on Route 22 had (may still have) one of these strip club drive throughs. [indeed, it is a magical place](http://dir.salon.com/sex/feature/2000/11/28/drive_thru/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Means\_Go](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cc9497/32.png) [@Green\_Means\_Go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Means_Go)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/17 "2004-10-13T20:17:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course, not listening in the first place to your order is their fault, but they HAVE to ask you if you want “such and such” or they get fired and replaced with another drone who makes less money. Way back in the day when I was a trainer at McDonalds, having to do this stuff used to drive me crazy. I knew it annoyed customers and it wasn’t like every 2nd or 3rd time we’d get someone saying “Yeah, I was going to just get a water but since you mentioned the number 87 combo meal, I’ll take that!” People stand back from the counter or idle near the drive-thru sign and then move forward when they decide what they want. You aren’t likely to do anything but waste time by suggesting something to them after they’ve already indicated they know what they want. So, when training new hites I would explain (out of management earshot) that there were two different ways to do this. The ‘correct’ way (to be used whenever a manager was present) and ‘my’ way (to be used when there wasn’t a manager around and you didnt feel like annoying the person you were talking to). Probably not the smartest thing in the world to do, but darn it, sometimes you have to take a stand for whats right… and all that… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/18 "2004-10-13T20:45:36Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky (quoting CNN)](#): > > Some fast-food franchises are outsourcing drive-through orders through single location call centers. There’s a chain of McDonald’s (IIRC) franchises in Illinois whose owner has outsourced the drive thrus to a company in Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/19 "2004-10-13T20:51:58Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I’ve been getting that lately at a local Popeye’s. Since I always get the same thing, I like to think I have the order process down pretty well. Unfortunately, given the next part of your post, I don’t think you have their process down particularly well. Here’s the trick to remember: These are unmotivated, minumum wage teenagers (often) who listen to about 1,000 orders during their shift, they are not going to remember your order if you blurt it out all at once. What they have instead is a fairly simple process where you make a selection, such as a “Number 5” and they enter it, with the computer telling them what to ask about next, like Drink type, spicy/not spicy, side order type, etc. They are not going to allow you to order a Number 5 without getting all of the necessary details, so there’s no reason to try to hurry it, just go with the flow. I’m sort of surprised that people expect them to remember a big order like xgxlx’s, that’s got ten individual items to key in, and you expect them to remember all that from a single hastily spoken statement? Would you do that to a waitress standing in front of you? These people are trying to take your order and get it right, calm down, slow down, and let them. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925/20 "2004-10-13T21:08:18Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Unfortunately, given the next part of your post, I don’t think you have their process down particularly well. Here’s the trick to remember: > > These are unmotivated, minumum wage teenagers (often) who listen to about 1,000 orders during their shift, they are not going to remember your order if you blurt it out all at once. What they have instead is a fairly simple process where you make a selection, such as a “Number 5” and they enter it, with the computer telling them what to ask about next, like Drink type, spicy/not spicy, side order type, etc. They are not going to allow you to order a Number 5 without getting all of the necessary details, so there’s no reason to try to hurry it, just go with the flow. > > I’m sort of surprised that people expect them to remember a big order like xgxlx’s, that’s got ten individual items to key in, and you expect them to remember all that from a single hastily spoken statement? Would you do that to a waitress standing in front of you? These people are trying to take your order and get it right, calm down, slow down, and let them. Fair enough. I hadn’t thought about it from that perspective, since I’ve never worked in the fast food industry. I’ll try that next time and see what happens (although the next time might be a while, since I got horrendous heartburn last time I ate Popeye’s). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hear-me-now-oh-wait-youre-a-machine/268925.md?page=2)