Fast Food Fury

First, let it be said that I am not a big fan of fast food, or any type of junk food for that matter. Every now and then, in a pinch, or when the mood strikes me, a good juicy burger is just what the doctor ordered. Every so often, when my kids have been especially good, they might get a trip to the local BK to climb on the playground equipment and enjoy their children's meals.

I suppose in addition to my aversion to artery clogging substances, I have an intolerance for ineptitude, which seems to be rampant in fast food chains. Take tonight for instance. I go to the drive through at the local Golden Arches and order 3 hot fudge sundays and a Happy Meal. I pull up to the teller and my total is $5.24. I think.."hmm, I got of cheap tonight" it then become apparent that they only put 1 sundae on my bill. The teller asks me if the toy is for a boy or a girl, when we get home there is no toy at all!

A couple of weeks ago, I endulge in a Whopper. I order it no lettuce, no onions. I get home..open up my sandwich and voila -- lettuce on my sandwich. Try picking that out of the melted cheese! I ask for ranch dressing with the chicken strips, no ranch dressing. Now mind you -- the order was repeated back to me.

Do we as customers really have to hold up the line and check every order we place? What kind of people are they hiring at these places? Why is it that when you order, let say pizza, you ALWAYS get the right thing, but when you go to these places, there is almost always something amiss.

Is this group of mostly teenagers representative of the leadership of tomorrow? God I hope not.

For the record, I have gone through the trouble of phoning these places, and if you are lucky enough to get a live body on the phone, they usually will make good on the order they screwed up. But let's face it -- this is supposed to be fast food, a convenience, and having to go back by the restaurants to have your order corrected would defeat the whole purpose, wouldn't it? Not only that, but usually the kids are so eager to delve into their food that it would be almost cruel to pack up the erroneous order and head back out.

Another observation: why is it that these screw ups happen almost exclusively at the drive through and not when you actually eat your meal inside? It's a conspiracy :)