.
i've worked full time at chick-fil-a for about three weeks now. there are so many things i love about working at CFA of boone, and it's mostly due to the really fun, down-to-earth people i work with. they make the hours go by fast and make sure to encourage and support one another. we give amazing service and i'm happy to be a part of that.
another main link in why i'm enjoying this job so much is that i get to deal with SO many people on a daily basis. in an eight hour shift, i see, interact with, and observe the details of all kinds of people. the CFA of boone is such an interesting location, too, being one of the only CFA's in a 30-mile radius, in the heart of the high country. it makes the restaurant a definite melting pot of everyone from the deep-wood country folk of appalachia (i've seen the amish in CFA, people) and fast-paced city slickers traveling from big towns, just passing through to see the beautiful blue-ridge mountains.
aaanyway, enough anthro blabber.
i decided in the past few days that i should make a mental list of all the things about customers that are extremely interesting to me, that make me giggle, and that irritate me to no end. i hope you enjoy.
1. return to third grade.it is astounding to me how many adults have no manners whatsoever.
"
gimme that number one"... "i
need a value-sized number 5".... "i
want a chicken filet sandwich no pickles plus provalone and bacon" ....these are the three most common wordings used to place orders at CFA. most are said so quick that they start to blur together undetected until the
one wonderful customer that steps up and, to my surprise and refreshment says
"may i have?" or
"i would like". oh my goodness. it is SO nice to hear that amongst the stressed out demands of the common fast food customer. of course, i care about words more than the average person, but i'm sure this little change of syntax wouldn't go unnoticed to any of my other co-workers.
"
may i" might have been an annoying phrase to learn in 3rd grade (when you'd ask "can i go to the bathroom" and your teacher would reply, "i don't know, can you?" and you'd stare in bewilderment until realizing the magic polite words that would grant you your request) but those magic words still go for today, and makes the fast-food employee pleased to serve you your food.
2. the many uses of the word "please"this is hilarious to me! i have noticed that a fair amount of customers don't really mean please when they say please. observe it in this context (which is a scenario i live many times a day, every day)
:a family of a mother, father, and three young children walk up to the counter. the mother looks stressed out and the father looks pissed to be there all together. the children are jumping around, screaming "ICE CREAM" or "i want a brownie!!!"
:in hopes to lighten their load, i attempt eye contact, and when i can catch them, i offer kind smiles. i approach the dialogue with the most amount of politeness and help as i can."how are yall doin today?" smile. eye contact attempt.
"gimme the number one, uh...."
"what would you like to drink with that, ma'am?"
"uhhh.... a diet"
(this conundrum will be discussed in number 3)"a diet coke?"
"uh
please."
"okay, and what else for you today?" smile. eye contact attempt.
:at her children, who are much to young to really make any great decisions on what to get from a fast food place:"what do yall want? maddie! stop that! what do you want, nuggets or strips???"
:after much bickering and failed attempts at group child control:"just gimme two kids meals and uhhh... hi-c's"
"would you like the six count kids meals?"
"uh
please."
this particular use of please, used many times per day by many different customers of varying situations, drips with disdain, as if they hated that i presented them with the clarification of their own orders. i don't know what would make it better, because we know it's not the word, it's the use, the attitude. maybe a "yes" before the please would help. i don't know how but it does.
3. the conundrum of the universal "diet" i never knew.more customers than i could ever explain know a secret code about the word "diet".
"what would you like to drink with that number two, ma'am?"
"diet"
"....."
waiting for further clarification"a
diet"
"(well maybe you shouldn't be eating here then?)"
i realize, now, it is a way of saying, "i don't know if you have coke or pepsi, so i will say diet so you give me whatever you have" well, customers, welcome to the age of way-too-many-choices. we've got diet dr. pepper, diet lemonade,
diet caffeine free coke, not to mention the whole world of diet drinks that are out there beyond the doors of CFA. which one would you like? abbreviation of "diet coke" to "diet" = not necessary. but i don't mind asking you to specify. that's my job, after all. and i'll do it smiling the whole way!
4. the many many hilarious faces and quirks i have seen and have visibly tried to disguise giggling at- oogling at the menu board, mouth draped open and brow in a furrow. best seen in groups.
-specification of wants to a tee. also known as the "persnickety customer"
(sweet tea no ice extra lemon half and half with unsweet tea. this HAPPENS, every day. kid you not.)
-making a scene when "i SWEAR the small cup of ice dream has been bigger every single other time i've ordered it!" or "my ice dream cone was hollow in the middle." there is no shortage of pissy-ness, the same amount as if they had found a little black curly hair in the fries, or if they had just lost $100. i'm sorry. you just paid $1.27 for an ice cream cone.
it's a dollor. it's ice cream. it's fast food, not to mention chick-fil-a, the cleanest, friendliest, most attentive service of any other fast food place. if you're going to complain, which you have every right to, at least do it with class. m'kay.
- the many "i'm not sure" sounds i hear. these are HILARIOUS! i wish i could just film them and then make a short of the many "i'm not sure" faces and sounds, back to back. it would be the perfect depiction of my day. the best one was the lip-trill. yes, he wasn't sure, he blew his lips together in the pulsating, spit-flying lip-trill of choir warmup days of years past. hilare.
okay, that's enough for now. i love my job. i love people. i love to observe people and the sheer america i see day in and day out. we're funny. we're loud, we're demanding, and we're absolutely ridiculous. so i urge you! go make a fast food employee's day! may i, you ask? yes please!
i've been praying before my shifts, that the Spirit would allow me to see individual people, and to bless my speech, even though it's just taking orders and giving them their food. it's fun, and needed (so i don't lose my patience with people who are just downright mean and/or rude.) there are days that i don't feel it at all. it astounds me how, even in those days where i'm just going about my job, the Lord annoints, blesses, and people are touched. i am making a nice, albeit small, collection of remarks from customers. "you blessed me", or "young lady, if you keep smiling like that you're going to make it far." hey. testify: not me.
