Fried Potatoes And Neurons

I pull up to the drive-thru.

Employee: *Over the speaker.* “Welcome to [Fast Food Place], what would you like to order?”

Me: “Yeah, can I get a cheeseburger meal with cheese, please? Medium fries and a Diet Coke.”

Employee: “So that’s a double bacon burger with no cheese, onion rings, and a Dr. Pepper?”

Me: “I… I don’t even know how you could get everything so wrong.”

Employee: “Thanks so much! Please pull forward!”

Me: “No, wait, I—”

Employee: “—Welcome to [Fast Food Place], what would you like to order?”

Me: “Are you an AI?”

Employee: “We don’t have that on the menu, currently.”

Done with this, I pull forward so that I can speak to a human being… to be presented with a young worker speaking in the exact same voice I heard on the speaker, so not an AI.

Employee: “So, double bacon burger with no cheese, onion rings, and a Dr. Pepper?”

Me: “Not even close. I asked for a cheeseburger meal with cheese, medium fries, and a Diet Coke.”

Employee: “Isn’t that what I said?”

Me: “Dude, are you okay?”

Employee: *Huge fake smile.* “I’m great and happy to be here!”

His smile seems to be hiding deep, sunken eyes and exhaustion. Then I remember what week it is and that this is a college town.

Me: “Oooooh, finals week.”

Employee: *Huge fake smile, somehow becoming even larger, speaking in a sing-song voice.* “I haven’t slept in three days!”

I got my lunch somewhere else…