# The Greatest McDonald's In the World. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 11, 2002, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889 "2002-09-11T01:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/41 "2002-09-12T18:22:48Z")
I’m a bit boggled, too, **Ace**. “Diner food will be for dinner after we put the ferret in”?!?! Put the ferret in what-the diner? The dinner? Oh, and while I’m on the subject of “Huh?”, **Pammipoo** -what’s a TTL? We’d all like more ammo in the war against fast-food abuse! ---
**Author:** ![Jonny5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@Jonny5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonny5)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/42 "2002-09-12T18:26:22Z")
I Love McDonald’s I am unnerved by this thread. Are the employees growing brains that cause them to question the Dogma of McDonald’s? The customer is ALWAYS right!!! ALWAYS!! After the first time, you’d think they’d just shrug it off, and punch it in. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/43 "2002-09-12T19:19:42Z")
For those of you confused. I assume they were stopping to get lunch and wouldn’t be able to eat it until they got home when it would be dinner time. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/44 "2002-09-13T00:53:58Z")
For the record, I think I understood **Jeff Olsens** ’s post perfectly. He and his wife (maybe, I know nothing of his life situation) have a pet ferret. They are bringing said ferret along with them on their vacation. They do not wish to leave said ferret unattended in their vehicle while dining on the road, for obvious reasons. Therefore, their dining options are limited to those establishments that provide “drive-through” windows to their customers. Quite clear, actually ---
**Author:** ![sundog66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/45 "2002-09-13T01:35:45Z")
A short anecdote on topic of “McDonalds employees, brain power of”: Someone suggested to me that I go to a McDonalds and order a half-dozen nuggets. The idea is that the cashier would not understand the term and reply, “We only serve 6, 9, and 20”. So I decided to try it. “I’ll have a half a dozen chicken nuggets,” I said. And without hesitation the cashier rang up the order and said, “That’ll be $2.12”. Oh, I guess it didn’t work, I thought, she sure showed me. But then I got my order. It consisted of two packages, each containing six nuggets! But wait, thought I, wasn’t I only charged for a single six-piece? Then I diverted my attention to the daily specials. Fucking 99-cent day. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/46 "2002-09-13T01:55:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Or be members of groups that don’t drink caffeine. Of which there were not a few of in the area where I grew up, so huge orders of Sprite (or 7-up) were not infrequent. Ummm… maybe. But I think my soda-cult scenario was more likely. ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/47 "2002-09-13T02:41:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by singular1 \* > \*\*Oh, and while I’m on the subject of “Huh?”, > **Pammipoo** -what’s a TTL? We’d all like more ammo in the war against fast-food abuse! \*\* I dont remember what it stands for, but a TTL is a running clock from the time your order first hits the screen to the time you drve away. McDonalds shoots for 90 seconds…if you order, and sit for about 5 minutes, you’d get a TTL of about 300. McDs tracks each order, averages them, and sends them to the corporation. Bad TTLs look very bad for the management. ---
**Author:** ![WortMeWorry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@WortMeWorry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WortMeWorry)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/48 "2002-09-13T04:47:51Z")
Where to start? Everyone, remember this number. 1-800-244-6227. Or you can go to the homepage, [www.mcdonalds.com](http://www.mcdonalds.com). For the most part McDonalds is running scared. They used to have the best service, and the lion’s share of the profits. At least that’s what the marketing data showed. Now they have been passed,by a good deal of their competitors. No, I don’t have a sight, I learned this at various company functions. At this point the corporation wants to know about bad service, bad food, or anything that impacts company image, or more importantly, profit. Even if the store you went to is privately owned, the owner still has to answer to someone from the corporation. As far as food tampering, I make sure no one tampers with a customer’s food. The possibility for legal action is just too great. Plus once I fire you, I sure as hell will not hesitate to testify against you. Or fill your next prospective employer in as to why you were fired in the first place. Besides it’s easier and more fun to ridicule you once you’re gone. I’ll get off my soap box now, thank you for your patience, And Please Come Back. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/49 "2002-09-13T08:19:35Z")
I’m in LA, so customer service anywhere, not just at McD’s, is often impeded by a language barrier. Like today. Me: “Are you using the new low-fat fry oil?” Cashier: [deer-in-headlights-look] Me: “The new fry oil. Are you using it?” Cashier. “No. I dono. Yes, we use oil.” Me: “But is it the new, low-fat oil that I heard about?” Cashier: “I dono.” Me: [gritting teeth] “The new low-fat fry oil. It was all over the news last week. I thought all McDonald’s were using this oil, all McDonald’s across the country.” Cashier: “Which country? This?” :smack: Manager told me they should get the new oil “next month”. Whatever. But I’m tired of this! First of all, when I worked in a McD’s in downtown Pittsburgh, we were supposed to know about these things. We were briefed on the games, for instance, and if a customer asked us “What do you do to win?” we darn well better be able to explain the way the game worked. We had to be able to describe all the sandwiches, not just wave vaguely at the board when someone asked what was on this or that. Secondly, and I know this is eventually going to spin off into its own thread, I am sick and fucking tired of people who **don’t understand English**. I’m trying to communicate here. Once, I went into a Carl’s Jr. for the second time in two days. I told the cashier, “The sandwich I had yesterday was soooooooooo good…a whole bunch of pickles and slathered with ketchup. Can you have them make it the same way this time?” Again, I got the deer-in-the-headlights look. And a virtually dry burger with two shriveled pickles. (If I’d been the customer in **jk1245** ’s anecdote, I would have thought I’d died and gone to heaven!) And there was this pleasant exchange at a Burger King: Me: “Two hamburgers, ketchup and pickles only.” Cashier: “Two hamburgers, no ketchup, no pickles!” Me: “No, ketchup and pickles only.” Cashier: “No ketchup, only pickles!” Me: “ **No** , ketchup and pickles only.” Cashier: “Two hamburgers, only mustard!” Me: “ **NO**. Ketch-up and pick-les on-ly.” Cashier: “No pickles, only ketchup!” Me: “Is there a manager here? I know there’s a manager here!” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/50 "2002-09-13T14:56:08Z")
Am I the only one that knows what was going on at Jarbabys McD? Obviously the real staff was tied up in the walk in and these people realized that there wasn’t enough money to steal so they decided to operate the place for a bit to get more cash. I know that under normal circumstances being tied up in your underwear is fun but not this day. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/51 "2002-09-13T14:56:14Z")
**jarbabyj** as you will, no doubt, be attending many of the Bears home games I trust that you will be stopping at that McD’s regularly. It’d just have to be a trip highlight! Great story. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/52 "2002-09-13T16:32:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by singular1 \* > **I’m a bit boggled, too, Ace. “Diner food will be for dinner after we put the ferret in”?!?! Put the ferret in what-the diner? The dinner?** In our motel room, ya nut! 🙂 > [@](#): > > _originally posted by Exgineer_ > \*\* He and his wife (maybe, I know nothing of his life situation) have a pet ferret. \*\* Close. We just live together. > [@](#): > > \*\*They are bringing said ferret along with them on their vacation. \*\* Right. Last time we made the trip we had a POS Chevy wagon and no ferret. We did (and still do) have cockatiels but we weren’t about to bring them along. The gasoline fumes from that car would not have been very good for them, nor would the 0°F temperatures. They probably wouldn’t have liked being in unfamiliar surroundings for a week anyway. > [@](#): > > \*\*They do not wish to leave said ferret unattended in their vehicle while dining on the road, for obvious reasons. > > Therefore, their dining options are limited to those establishments that provide “drive-through” windows to their customers.\*\* For lunch anyway, though one of us could stay in the car while the other gets takeout. The ferret should be fine in the motel room by herself while Angie and I go out for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Skerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skerri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/53 "2002-09-13T16:35:46Z")
“This is not, The Greatest McDonald’s in the World. This is just a Pit Rant” - (Apologies to **Tenacious D** ) Ok. I just had to add this, as it has been stuck in my head since the first time and I’m not clever enough to come up with an entire parody. The only time I have had a horrible Mickey D’s experience was about 5 years ago. My friend (who used to be an avid Mickey D’s fan) and I went to grab some lunch. CounterBitch took approximately 5 minutes to stop playing slap-ass with the cook to come take our order. She put the order in, and told us it would be a few minutes, because they would have to make more fries. So, we get our drinks, and go sit down. We were the only people in the restaurant at 2:30 PM. 10 minutes later, our food still wasn’t ready. I went up to the counter to check on the food, and the CounterBitch is in the kitchen, literally playing with the cook’s ass. She looked at me as if I had just shit on the counter when I asked her if our food was ready. She sucked her teeth and said, ‘uh, yeah’ and threw our tray up on the counter. (God, that teeth sucking thing pissed me off.) The fries were cold, (already!) and the sandwiches weren’t even cooked enough to be warm. I asked her to bring out the manager, and she said that the manager was out of the store at the moment. I left the tray on the counter and walked out. I eventually called the manager and got a refund, but I _really really really_ wanted to dump that tray on that girl. I haven’t been to a McDonald’s since. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/54 "2002-09-13T18:39:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I dont remember what it stands for, but a TTL is a running clock from the time your order first hits the screen to the time you drve away. At least in the computer networking world, TTL stands for “Time To Live,” a mechanism used to keep packets from wandering networks forever. I’d assume it stands for the same thing in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/55 "2002-09-13T20:15:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Me: “No, ketchup and pickles only.” > > Cashier: “No ketchup, only pickles!” Oh, Christ, that’s just too classic! Similar story: I was throwing a party last week, and my friend and I were looking to pick up a keg. He was pretty sure you could get them at Safeway, so we went to the one near my house. We walk in, and ask the cashier (Mexican) if they sell kegs. She says yes and tells us to go in the back to the bakery. Bakery? Well, she seemed to speak pretty good English, so we assumed she knew what she was talking about. We go back to the bakery, and ask the woman there (South American) for a keg. Taking out an order pad: “Yes, okay. When do you want it?” “Um, today?” “Oh, no you need to order at least two days in advance for a cake.” “No, not a cake, a _keg_.” The woman looks puzzled. “Yes, we have lots of cakes.” “No a **keg**.” My friend makes what he apparently thinks is the international sign for “keg,” which is forming a big circle with his arms and shaking them up and down. Kind of looks like Pamela Anderson feeling herself up. The woman gives us a blank stare. “Of _beer_.” “Let me get my supervisor.” Supervisor (African) comes out, asks if he can help. “We’d like a keg of beer. You know, beer?” “Oh, sure! Of course!” We are relieved. Finally, we have gotten through to someone. We smile and nod our heads. The supervisor smiles back at us. “Like the animal?” And he uses his fingers to make little ears next to his head. “No, not bear! BEER! A KEG OF BEER!” Exasperated, my friend (American) grabs the order pad, flips it over, and writes “keig” on it. :smack: Great move, Dan. Way to lose the linguistic high ground. Let’s just get our bear cake and go home. Anyway, turns out that Safeway doesn’t rent kegs. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/56 "2002-09-13T20:43:17Z")
You all should read Fast Food Nation. It’s pretty enlightening. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/57 "2002-09-13T22:09:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **I think Mickey D’s food is delicious. It’s junk food, it’s bad for you, and it was always a treat as a child. So I love it.** Don’t worry hun, you’ll grow out of it. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/58 "2002-09-14T00:46:17Z")
I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Mcdonalds kid… Hehehe… for dinner I had fries and two Big Macs (a coupon for buy one, get one). AND I just had an oreo McFlurry. YUM!!! ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/59 "2002-09-27T20:46:28Z")
As an addendum, after I c&p’ed the OP and forwarded it to my co-workers in Kankakee two weeks back, today I get a call from that particular Mickie Dee’s, from the boss-lady, who seemed a bit miffed at the harsh words conveyed through e-mail. I took her name and number and sent to **jarbabyj**. This could have a Chapter Two! ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889/60 "2002-09-28T14:08:10Z")
I had a coupon for a free breakfast bagel, so I stopped at McD’s on the way to work. Me: I’ll have a breakfast bagel. Counter girl: What kind do you want? Me: What are my choices? Counter girl: shoves a laminated brochure at me that shows 3 kinds of breakfast bagels. Me: I’ll have a number 3. Counter girl: We’re out of number 3. Me: Okay, I’ll have a number 2. Counter girl: The number 2 we make isn’t like the picture. Me: What’s it like? Counter girl: It’s just like the number 1. Me: Okay, I’ll have a number 1. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-mcdonalds-in-the-world/127889.md?page=4)