If you're in college, there's a good chance that you've worked fast food at some point. There's also a good chance that you had a love/hate relationship with your fast food job. Love it or hate it, there's a few things that all fast food workers know to be true, or wish that they could tell their customers, including:
1. No matter what the internet says, there is no "Secret Menu".
You don't have to believe me, but seriously: THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A SECRET MENU. Don't roll up to the drive thru window and order a "McGangBang" or something of the like. We don't know what that is. If you're willing to pay for everything on the "secret menu" item of your choice, sure, it's yours. But seriously, we don't have a secret menu.<
2. Customers can be the best--and worst-- part of the job.
For every fast food horror story customers have, workers have at least two. It can be something small: one of the older customers calling you "sweetheart" because you're a female serving him coffee. Or it could be something huge: someone refusing to move until they get their food, despite the other 20 cars behind them in the drive thru line. There's always something that questions your sanity.
BUT when customers are understanding and polite? That makes our whole day. A nice word from a customer can lift the crew's mood like nobody's business.
3. Once you've been working a while, you find your dream team of coworkers.
They're the reason you go to work, pick up extra shifts, even visit on your days off. When you find that perfect group of people who can do their job AND be your friend? Never let go. That's magic.
4. That being said, breakfast/lunch/dinner rushes can tear any relationship apart.
No matter how much you love your coworkers, there are times you want to scream at them, and it usually happens when there's a screen full of orders and a lobby full of angry customers.
5. "Service with a smile" is harder than it looks.
When your feet hurt, your headset is pinching your head and it's the middle of lunch rush, it is very hard to smile and cheerfully take orders. So yes, our happy greetings and wishing you a good day can be a bit insincere sometimes. (There's only one person working fast food I know who can remain completely cheerful in the middle of chaos and I am convinced that she is actually a Disney princess in disguise).
6. If your bill is more than $3, please don't pay with loose change.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes I love it when I'm working cash in drive thru and a customer comes along and pays with a bunch of coins, because then I don't have to call a manager back to fill my coin-changer. However, if it's in the middle of lunch rush, and you come up to the window and start fishing around for $7.34 in all coins, and it's mostly pennies, I will stand there internally screaming because:
-It holds up the line and I'll be blamed, especially if I have to count it all out too.
-My drawer may be off if you don't have the right change, so I'll be blamed again.
-You may get halfway through and realize that you don't have the change you thought you did, so you end up paying with cash anyways or you drive off without your food.
Long story short--pay with cash when you can, and try to avoid paying with a lot of coins or with $100 bills, as that will keep you at the cash window longer than you want.
7. We can do just about anything you'd like. But don't go overboard.
If you ask nicely, we are happy to do our best to get you exactly what you want. But if you're rude, or your request is out there (or goes against health codes), we're less likely to try.
8. We deal with things that would make you cringe.
Real talk for a moment: we know our bathrooms can be disgusting, but that isn't our fault, especially if we're too busy to do bathroom checks. If the tables are gross, again, it's usually because we haven't had a moment to bus them, not because we're lazy.
Oh, and pro tip: if you see an employee in the playland, especially the jungle gym, stay clear. That usually means that someone made a mess in there, be it ketchup and nuggets, puke or poop. Gross, but hey, at least you don't have to clean it.
9. But really, one of the worst parts of working fast food is the smell.
Your hair smells like fries, your uniform smells like fries and usually you wonder if you took a dip in the fry vats, you're so greasy after work.
But hey...at least there's payday.
