- You are going to get messy, salty, greasy, sticky, and other feelings that you probably didn't know existed. In the summer, you are hot and sweaty standing by the heat lamps while it's 100 degrees outside and people are hot and complaining. In the winter, it's cold when you take food out to cars, you have to be careful with your greasy shoes on the icy sidewalk, and your long sleeves will get dirty. Really dirty. Ick.
- Your laundry pile will increase by a lot. Your pants will be greasy and salty, shake droppings will be on your shirt, pants, and even your shoes. If you're lucky, maybe even your face. And your eyebrows. If you get it in your hair, that's pretty special.
- People will complain. A lot. About the littlest things. "This has pickles on it. I specifically ordered it without pickles. I want a new burger. WITHOUT PICKLES. You got it?" Do you know how many times I have wanted to open their burger, pick off the pickles, wrap it back up, and then give it back, smile, and say, "Have a nice day!" However, the motto that "the customer is always right" plays very strongly at the restaurant. Just make them happy. We don't want screaming customers who have a little pickle juice on their hamburgers. Heaven help us.
- People freak out when they're in line and there is a lot of people around them. Everyone is stressed out, their eyes get huge, their pupils dilate, and they all look a little stunned. It's funny being behind the tills looking at this crowd of stunned people, but only until they come up to the till. Then you have to deal with a stress case, and in most cases, you have a family of stress cases that are all yelling at each other. It's your job to stay happy and try to make their order as nicely as possible. You will have parents yelling at kids to hurry and order, kids will be lifted up by their shirts, grabbed roughly, and many of them will cry. That might be one of the hardest things for me is watching parents yell at their kids over a kids meal. I know it's frustrating and difficult to try to order something perfectly for an entire family, but yelling and becoming angry towards your kids is something I wish wouldn't happen.
- One thing that happens A LOT is when I hand out a pager, tell them what number they are, when it will beep, handing them their receipt etc, people do two things. 1) They totally blow me off and ignore what I'm saying, and 2) instantly say, "IT'S A TASER! Look!" Then they proceed to "tase" the person next to them, and walk off laughing. The tased person is now confused because they're paying, and they didn't hear a single thing because the person tasing everybody was being loud and obnoxious about the pager.
- You will have people swear at you, throw stuff at you, and demand outrageous requests. However, as difficult as that gets, you still have to carry a smile on your face and try to figure out how to tame the angry customer that isn't making any sense whatsoever.
- Ice cream will explode on you. You might get cut. You'll be burned. You'll get scraped, bruised, and maybe even hurt enough to go to the hospital.
As bad as any of those things sound that you put up with each day, there are some moments that completely make it worth it. Here are some of those moments I've had.
- People will ask you what you're doing in life, where you're going to school, and will be very positive and friendly, and even supportive of your choices. Coming from strangers, that may seem a little weird, but it's nice to see that there are friendly people out there who care about what others are doing with the life they've been given. It gives me hope and reassurance that maybe I'm doing what is right. And it reminds me that working there is just temporary, and it's getting me through school.
- People might give you a tip for putting up with someone, or because they understand how difficult working in fast food is. Once I was taking out garbage, and I was trying to lift up a very full garbage bag into the dumpster. That is one of the most difficult things to do. You use one hand to lift the cover of the dumpster open, and the other hand to swing the bag into the dumpster. As I was throwing the garbage, the bag exploded open on me as it went into the dumpster, and I got garbage juice all over my pants and my shirt, as well as my arms. A guy who was in the parking lot came over to me, helped me lift another bag in the dumpster, and gave me a few dollars and thanked me for all the hard work I was doing, even if it was difficult. People like that make me still believe in humanity.
- You'll see grandparents take out their grandkids for ice cream cones, and seeing little kids order what kind of cones they want and having their eyes light up--it's pretty priceless. Daddy/daughter dates, grandparents, or just couples who are nice with each other. It's refreshing.
So next time you go to a fast food place, understand that it's not a simple job. People order strange things, we have had to put up with angry people, and are probably tired from other things we are doing in our lives. We are working there to get somewhere else in our lives, understand that we probably aren't wanting to stay there for forever. Be patient, be kind, and be understanding that nothing is as it seems on the surface.
We're all people. We all make mistakes, but I promise you, that if you are nice to people working making your food, we are much more willing to change and help you fix your order. If you're mean and pushy and not clear with what you're wanting, it's really hard to make the person that is making your day hard happy.
Now you know what it's like behind the scenes of fast food. :) Enjoy!
Live. Love. Laugh. Grow.
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