“He” Is Not Thirsty

(I’m taking orders on drive-thru. My manager is bagging orders, handing them out, and occasionally taking money when I am busy with another customer. Note that our timer starts as soon as a customer pulls up to the speaker, so it counts against us when a customer takes time to decide what they want. An elderly lady pulls up to the speaker.)

Me: “Hi, welcome to [Restaurant]. What can I get for you?”

Customer: “A hamburger and French fries.”

Me: “Okay, did you want, like, the 99¢ junior hamburger, or the single with no cheese, or which one?”

Customer: “The 99¢ one.”

Me: “And what size fries?”

Customer: “Value.”

Me: “Okay, anything else?”

Customer: “Yeah, a value-size drink.”

(Long pause.)

Me: “Um, what kind of drink did you want?”

Customer: “Oh, I’m just waiting for him to tell me what he wants.”

(Another long pause.)

Me: “So… just the hamburger and the fries?”

Customer: “Yes.”

Me: “Your total is $2.08 at the second window.”

(She drives slowly to the window, which is common with elderly customers. I have another customer waiting to place their order, so my manager takes her money.)

Manager: “Hello! That’ll be $2.08.”

(The customer doesn’t seem to be all there: she doesn’t look at my manager at all, rather she looks around dreamily. She takes so long to get her money that once she does, our drive-thru line is completely full. She gives my manager two $1 bills, two pennies, a nickel, and a quarter.)

Manager: *hands her the quarter and the food* “Have a good day.”

(Later…)

Manager: “That woman was not all there. She was telling me about how she’s from California, and they told her they have [Restaurant]s here!”

Me: “And wasn’t she the only one in the car?”

Manager: “Oh, yeah, that’s right! She said she was waiting on someone to order!”

(I hope she made it home okay!)