We approached the drive-thru of the first location and my husband placed our son's order. The voice on the other end read us back the order and then stated the price, followed by "Thanks, please pull forward". Maybe I'm wound up a bit too tightly, but I got miffed at my husband for not saying 'Thank You" back to the person before we proceeded on.
After we received our son's food, we pulled across the way to the establishment that my husband and myself desired something from. We walked inside to place our order there, as their food takes a bit more time to prepare and I hate to leave the engine running for no reason. My husband placed our order to the kid at the cash register. The kid asked if I wanted just the sandwich alone or the entire meal (side, drink), to which my husband replied, "Did I say the meal? If I wanted that, I'd have said so". Well, you can imagine how that set me off. I waited till we got back into the car before I let go about it.
Let me preface by saying that I've worked in fast-food as a teenager. It's fucking hard work. It's long hours, it's shitty pay, it's hot, it's tiring, it's thankless. Add to that the fact that 90% of the public treat you like shit on the bottom of their shoe, and you've got one of the worst working environments known to man. My husband also worked in fast-food when he was in High School, which is all the more reason I was so shocked by his demeanor.
When I was very small, my mother busted her hump as Head Waitress at Howard Johnson's to support her 6 kids. She was fucking good at it, too. She made everyone feel special and mothered all her customers, which is why she held the title she did. I always think about her when dealing with waiters/waitresses and other food service staff. I appreciate the work they do and I'm exceedingly polite, MANY 'please' and 'thank-you's, not asking for anything out of the ordinary and not rudely flagging someone down whilst their busy helping another customer. Did I mention I'm a super tipper? Well, I am. : )
So, I said to my husband, "Honey....you do realize they're just kids? I think you scared that last one into shitting himself. You know their job sucks, why not treat them as if you're familiar with it?" "I'm having a bad day!", he said. I won't go into why that's no excuse.
If you don't already, next time you're being waited on by someone (no matter where or for what reason), don't forget they're just people like you and me. They have families, bills, problems.....but most of all, feelings. Take a vacation from being a prick.
