A Holding Pattern Emerging Here

(I am heading to work and haven’t eaten anything, so I decide to grab a burger to eat when I get to my job. I sit behind a car for several minutes; it is a bit longer than normal, but I’m not in a big hurry, and as a retail worker I try to be patient. I finally pull up to the drive-thru slot.)

Worker: “Hi, can I take your order?”

Me: “Yes, I’d like a number one meal with no pickles.”

Worker: *silence*

Me: “Hello?”

Worker: “I’m sorry; could you please hold?”

Me: “Okay.”

(I wait a couple of minutes.)

Worker: “Okay, what would you like?”

Me: “I’d like the number one meal, no pickles, please.”

Worker: *silence for a minute* “I’m sorry; could you please hold?”

(I am starting to get frustrated at this point, but I don’t say anything. I just wait.)

Worker: “So, you’d like the number one with no pickles.”

Me: “Yes.”

Worker: “Would you like a large drink?”

Me: “No, I’m fine with the size that just comes with the meal.”

Worker: “Okay, you got the number one burger, no pickles. That will be [total].”

(I realize she has not put my order through as a meal; even though I said, “meal,” three times, she had just put it in as a burger.)

Me: “No, I want the meal, not just the burger.”

Worker: *silence for a minute* “Please hold for a minute.”

Me: *bangs head against the steering wheel*

(She finally comes back and gets my order right, or so I think. I pull to the first window and pay; getting my money is, of course, the one thing they get right. I get to the second window, where the worker who took my order hands me the sack of food.)

Worker: “Okay, one number one meal, no lettuce.”

Me: “What? I said no pickles!”

Worker: “Oh… Please hold on for a minute.”

Me: *bangs head against steering wheel again*

(A different worker comes back with my food.)

Other Worker: “Here you go; there’s a survey on your receipt.”

Me: “Thanks, I’ll definitely be taking it.”

(The food was stone cold, but at least it was right. This was the first time I ever felt compelled to write a survey about my experience. I don’t know if she was new or what, but I was at that drive-thru for almost fifteen minutes, when the average is supposed to be less than four. I will not be going to that one again.)