# The Ten Commandments of Drive-Thru Etiquette **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607 "2005-08-11T16:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/61 "2005-08-11T19:40:15Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > and I don’t think it’s too much to ask of the customer to look up and notice the LACK OF FUCKING ARCHES before attempting to order a Whopper, ." JSYK You would not get a Whopper at the place WITH arches either, you need the place with the King on the sign to get a Whopper. 😃 You owe me one irony guage, I should know better than to have it on around here… ---
**Author:** ![biscuitsandgravy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@biscuitsandgravy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biscuitsandgravy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/62 "2005-08-11T19:40:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Park. Your. Fucking. Car. And. Go. Inside. Late. At. Night. Only. The. Drive. Thru. Is. Open. Thank you, pull through. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/63 "2005-08-11T19:42:12Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > There is a happy medium. Which differs for everyone. Even if someone takes marginally more time reading/deciding than you would, so what? I reading some posts here that seem to suggest that even a few seconds spent looking for a specific item is a no-no. What? ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/64 "2005-08-11T19:45:05Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > There is a happy medium. Would you like to super size that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/65 "2005-08-11T19:48:29Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > The people aren’t there to take our grief, it’s certainly not part of their job description, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask of the customer to look up and notice the LACK OF FUCKING ARCHES before attempting to order a Whopper, two orders of McNuggets, and “Biggie” size it- _at fucking Sonic_. Although I agree that there is some level of stupidity (on the customer’s behalf) there, you would know that they meant: a burger, two orders of nuggets/strips, and make everything large. Maybe I justify this because I am the person that refers to all the little stores attached to gas stations as “AMPMs”. It’s just one of those things…no real justification for it though. Maybe the customer just isn’t thinking (mind is elsewhere, whatever) and blurts out the usual terminology. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/66 "2005-08-11T19:52:30Z")
**askeptic** , your irony meter is in the mail. :smack: **bordelond** , while the happy medium might differ for everyone, I don’t think it’s out of line to be slightly annoyed at the dude who leans out the window, moving his lips as he underlines the difficult words with his finger. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/67 "2005-08-11T20:01:24Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > **bordelond** , while the happy medium might differ for everyone, I don’t think it’s out of line to be slightly annoyed at the dude who leans out the window, moving his lips as he underlines the difficult words with his finger. Who’s talking about that kind of stuff? I’m talking about customers/employees who are peeved that people are doing perfectly ordinary and acceptable things like spending half a minute reading over a menu/doing a little head math. Put more plainly: the OP’s First Commandment is way off and should be stricken. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/68 "2005-08-11T20:05:27Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Dude … sorry. You can’t wait 30 seconds? Really? > > So only those who know _precisely_ what they want before they go to the drive-thru should use the drive-thru? No menu-reading allowed? In your world, perhaps these menus are unnecessary? Dude. The answer is yes. Don’t get in line if you don’t know **exactly** what you want and can roll if off your tongue in one long, well-scripted, breath. After ordering about a million McKids Super-Duper meals with Frosty instead of a Pepsi, I am an expert and I don’t need you pickin’ your nose in front of me trying to make up your mind between a Royal w/ Cheese or a Douple Whooper w/ Jalapenos. Go inside! ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/69 "2005-08-11T20:10:18Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Dude. The answer is yes. Don’t get in line if you don’t know **exactly** what you want and can roll if off your tongue in one long, well-scripted, breath. After ordering about a million McKids Super-Duper meals with Frosty instead of a Pepsi, I am an expert and I don’t need you pickin’ your nose in front of me trying to make up your mind between a Royal w/ Cheese or a Douple Whooper w/ Jalapenos. Go inside! Agreed. If you don’t know what you want, or don’t know how much you can afford, go the fuck inside. I realize you don’t care about the people behind you, and you certainly don’t care about the cashier, but most drive-thrus have “seconds of service” meters, that monitors how long it takes for your car to get from start to finish. That’s why the cashier will “park” you if the food isn’t ready yet. They don’t want you in the lane. If the number goes way up for your stupidity, you don’t get yelled at or threatened, do you? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/70 "2005-08-11T20:10:32Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Maybe I justify this because I am the person that refers to all the little stores attached to gas stations as “AMPMs”. OK, I’ll bite. What is an AMPM? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/71 "2005-08-11T20:11:33Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Frankly, your inability to understand big color pictures and three-inch letters on an outdoor menu aren’t _my_ concern. Frankly, that throbbing vein in your forehead isn’t **my** concern. Chill out, turn on the radio, and breathe. As for how I can design databases yet not expertly navigate a fast-food menu, it’s because I’ve got a good mind for logical relationships and math, but a bad mind for spatial relationships. Fast-food menus with lots of color, items organized in a fashion that seems arbitrary to me, are not so easy for me to read. In the interests of full disclosure, I eat fast food maybe once a month, and I use a drive-through maybe once a year: I prefer to eat at a table. But when I use one, I’m not there to show off my leet fast-food fu and amazing skills at remembering product jingles. I really couldn’t care less whether I call your nasty pseudo-food by its appropriate brand name, and if you decide to give me attitude over that, I’ll drizzle you with contempt. If, however, you politely correct me (“Is Pepsi okay? We don’t do filet-o-fish, but we do have a WhaleVomit-o-Rama, will that work?”) then I’ll politely apologize and we can both get on with our sad existences. Just remember that your restaurant has next to no importance in my world. You have importance as a person taht I want to treat with respect, but I don’t care about your different brand names, the sizes in which you offer different nasty products, or the like. I just want sustenance with a minimum of fuss. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/72 "2005-08-11T20:12:43Z")
> [@NotWithoutRage](#): > > Agreed. If you don’t know what you want, or don’t know how much you can afford, go the fuck inside. > > I realize you don’t care about the people behind you, and you certainly don’t care about the cashier, but most drive-thrus have “seconds of service” meters, that monitors how long it takes for your car to get from start to finish. That’s why the cashier will “park” you if the food isn’t ready yet. They don’t want you in the lane. If the number goes way up for your stupidity, you don’t get yelled at or threatened, do you? Holy crap. 20-30 seconds to decide on an order is “stupidity”? Fuck impatient people. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/73 "2005-08-11T20:14:19Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. What is an AMPM? A 24-hour convenience store, AFAIK. Think of it as “a.m./p.m.”. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/74 "2005-08-11T20:14:47Z")
bordelond, I refer you again to the actual text of the First Commandment: > [@](#): > > 1. An there beith a preview board, thou shalt use it. Many drive-thrus now have two separate menu boards - one with the attached speaker, and a second menu one car-length behind the speaker. This is known as a “preview board” because the customer can look it over before advancing to the speaker and starting the restaurant’s speed-of-service timer. If you don’t know what you want, USE this board. Don’t drive past it straight to the speaker, ask the clerk to “gimme a second”, and then spend two or three minutes staring at it while the speed-of-service time gets higher and higher. He’s asking for a bit of consideration- don’t start his clock when you’ve got a whole separate area for head-scratching and indecision. And I have no problem with that. Big difference between 30 seconds and three minutes. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/75 "2005-08-11T20:16:50Z")
[display of fast-food ignorance]Um, how hard is it to decide what you want at a fast food place? I mean, outside of buying 7-layer burritos at Taco Bell I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to a fast-food restaurant, drive-through or otherwise, and I could probably tell you what’s on most of their menus: burgers (made with “beef,” chicken or fish); small/med/large/humongo fries; small/med/large/humongo soft drinks (coke/diet/sprite/orange/root beer if lucky); breaded chicken in some shape (nuggets/strips/fingers/noses); onion rings; and other items depending on the chain (fried chicken at KFC, various combinations of tortilla, meat, cheese and veg at Taco Bell, etc). Why does it take so long to decide what you want? By the time you’ve decided to go to the drive-through in the first place, aren’t you thinking something along the lines of “Man, I could really go for a burger and fries right about now.” So order the damn burger and fries. What’s the problem? Do you ever, when faced with a McD’s menu, say to yourself “Wow! I didn’t know they sold THOSE!”? [/doffi] ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/76 "2005-08-11T20:17:44Z")
> [@NotWithoutRage](#): > > If the number goes way up for your stupidity, you don’t get yelled at or threatened, do you? Right :rolleyes: That’s the typical experience. A customer takes half a minute to decide what they want, and a employee gets yelled at. Bullshit – there’s no way that’s the default situation. I worked fast food myself (admittedly back in the 80s). If a manager is the type to berate, any excuse will do and nothing the customer does can ultimately prevent verbal abuse. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/77 "2005-08-11T20:20:59Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > He’s asking for a bit of consideration- don’t start his clock when you’ve got a whole separate area for head-scratching and indecision. I’ve never seen a place with such a “separate area”, save for at Chick-Fil-A. I’ve seen preview boards with popular combos listed … but I don’t do combos very often. Also – different locations of the same chain often have different items on their budget menus (esp. McDonalds, believe it or not). What is and is not on those $1 menus often influence what I order, and I’ve never seen a place that had this on their preview board. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/78 "2005-08-11T20:21:27Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Thou shall not expect my business if there are no cars in front of me and no cars parked in the lot and I am told to “wait a minute” by the person on the other end of the speaker. So employees aren’t allowed to visit the restroom AND wash their hands? Gotta go sometime, and the best time is when there are NO cars in the drivethru and none in the parking lot… …aw, man, did somebody just pull up? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/79 "2005-08-11T20:22:31Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > Do you ever, when faced with a McD’s menu, say to yourself “Wow! I didn’t know they sold THOSE!”? I’ve never said that at the scottish restaurant, no. But, after 30 years of going to Sonic, I **still** find stuff on that menu that I swear was never there before. Getting back to the OP, it’s okay to pull into a Sonic and have a lesiurely nose-pick while you peruse the menu. Just don’t hit the button till you have it all lined up in your brain. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607/80 "2005-08-11T20:23:35Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > As for how I can design databases yet not expertly navigate a fast-food menu, it’s because I’ve got a good mind for logical relationships and math, but a bad mind for spatial relationships. Fast-food menus with lots of color, items organized in a fashion that seems arbitrary to me, are not so easy for me to read. Then go inside. In your posts, you heap derision on these people or their employers. Have you ever gotten riled about a cilent who didn’t understand how your programming language was structured or asked you for things you couldn’t give them? While I’m not going to get out of my car, drag you out of yours, and kick your differently-abled ass or anything, you come off (whether you mean to or not) like the princess of the autistic savants. Whether your grandmother was an Astor or whether you’re freaking Rain Man, there is no entitlement. Fast-food places are patronized by the impatient. The impatient trade quality and nutritional value for nownownow, and to act as though the status quo ought to be modified while you Indigo-Child your way through the board is, while not earth-shatteringly silly, certainly outside the bounds of the **fast** -food paradigm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ten-commandments-of-drive-thru-etiquette/316607.md?page=5)