McDONALD'S: NON CENTS AND NONSENSE

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12)

Many of you know that in March I was diagnosed as having Crohn's Disease. It's the Crohn's Disease issue that could almost keep me from posting this, because there are very few items on the menu at McDonald's that a person with Crohn's Disease should be partaking of! Well, I'm careful, but Crohn's has not made me totally give up McDonald's! I had an experience (actually, two experiences) at the same McDonald's restaurant today which were, to use a word that I admittedly overuse: unbelievable! In some parts of Massachusetts, you can drive for many miles without seeing a McDonald's. In one portion of northern Worcester County, however, (in the Leominster/Fitchburg area) there are three McDonald's restaurants which are very close to each other- about as close to each other as are Assemblies of God churches in Springfield, Missouri! I was in the Leominster/Fitchburg area at breakfast time and decided to stop at a McDonald's for a breakfast. I could have chosen any one of the three, but I picked the one that comes "in the middle" as you drive along Route 2. (None of the restaurants is actually on Route 2, but each is just off the highway, and easily accessed by one of three exits.)

The young lady at the "in the middle" McDonald's was someone I'd never seen before. She may have been a new employee. She was confusing. I ordered something from the "dollar" menu, and she insisted it cost $3.39. I had to explain carefully what I wanted and that it was from the dollar menu. I ordered a couple of other things, also. I waited and waited for the items to be put on my tray. It seemed I was having to wait way too long. Finally, a male employee came up to me and said, "Everything is on your tray, it's ready!" At my answering service job, I absolutely hate when a caller speaks to be in a perturbed and condescending manner. So, I was embarrassed that I spoke to him in a perturbed and condescending manner. "No, it is not ready!" I explained, and proceeded to tell him what I'd actually ordered. The order listed on the receipt slip was in fact not what I'd ordered. The young lady who took my order had sort of a carefree "sorry I must've got it wrong" attitude, and he got the correct order for me, which incidentally cost me about one more dollar. I apologized to the guy who seemed to take things in stride.

If the breakfast scenario was all there was to my experience at that "in the middle" McDonald's today, I probably would have quickly forgotten about it and I'd never be writing a piece on my blog about it! No, there was a second experience at the same McDonald's restaurant a few hours later! I stopped at the "in the middle" McDonald's to use the bathroom and to grab an iced coffee to go. I don't usually stop there in the middle of the day to buy food but I found myself to be so hungry, I decided to buy a snack to "take the edge off" my hunger. The same cast of characters was at the counter. The young lady who took my breakfast order took this order. After I handed her some money, her cash register (correctly) indicated she owed me 55 cents change. She looked dumbfounded, and verbally protested, "No. My register shows me I owe you fifty-five cents but that's wrong! I owe you fifteen cents!" She then handed me a dime and a nickel. I so wanted to say to her, "After what happened with my breakfast order a few hours ago, are you serious?!" I didn't. I kept my composure and just stared at the dime and nickel. She was moving around behind the counter doing various things. I said to her, "I'm confused. This change is not correct." She insisted that it was correct. "I'm still confused," I added, "and it's not correct."

An older coworker quickly appeared and asked her what the problem was. She told the coworker the amount of money I'd handed her, what the register indicated she should give me back, and what she actually gave me back. She insisted to her coworker that she was right and the register was wrong! The coworker gave her a very quick math lesson, similar to what you'd say to a third grader having trouble with her arithmetic homework. The young lady still insisted she was correct in giving me fifteen cents! The older worker instructed her to give me another forty cents. She paused. She took back my fifteen cents. She had to get the male employee to open the register drawer with a special key, and then she handed me fifty-five cents. I got my drink and snack and walked out to my car.

I admit I'm very poor at math. I've got two Bachelor's degrees, but I'm very poor at math. Honestly, I don't do well with handling money in fast or stressful situations when you have to make change. I've resisted applying for jobs where you have to handle money and make change. I'd rather shovel horse manure than have to handle money and make change in fast, stressful situations. (And, listen, many years ago I did shovel horse manure!) Thus, I don't want to be too harsh in my criticism. But, you've got to admit; in those "non cents and nonsense" situations at McDonald's today, something was seriously wrong!