Do you want Fries with that?

While stopping by a local burger place to get a sandwich I was reminded that the typical counter help is not paid for their stellar intellect. I ordered the special and asked if I had water instead of a soda if it would be any less. Of course this question was beyond the realm of responsibility for this employee. Upon referring the question to the manager I began to learn that the brain trust was not in charge of taking orders or managing the store. What initially was a simple question became a quest for the Holy Grail.

At this point, and after waiting for at least five minutes just to try to place the order, I had decided to retract my question. But it was too late. The entire staff was brought into the conversation. No one was getting any service. sandwiches weren't being made, people waiting at the drive through were leaving due to lack of attention. I became concerned that other customers would realize that I had been the cause of the delay and focus their frustration at me.

After another couple of minutes I shouted out. "Never mind, I'll pay full price for the water". If I thought this would have brought peace to the mayhem I was sadly mistaken. Now, the challenge was to make the original request right. OK, I should have just not asked if I could get a price break for getting water instead of a soda but I am a tightwad and squeeze the life out of every penny.

I decided that any further interruption from me would result in more confusion so I sat quietly while the staff slowly came to a consensus. When I was finally rung up for my order I found that one or more of the employee's had tried to enter what they thought was the correct solution into the cash register. The total bill came to just over $15.00 for a special that was advertised for $3.99. I asked to see the receipt to check why I was being overcharged. I was very nervous to ask the cashier to read back my order fearing a repeat of the earlier conflagration.

I decided that because of the earlier problem I owed it to the other customers to just pay and take what I was given without any further complaint. When My order arrived I checked the receipt to compare against what I was billed. I discovered that I had been charged for 4 combos at full price not the sale price, a credit for the cost of a regular drink had been subtracted 3 times and a fifth combo charged at the special price. What I got was 4 hamburgers, 3 orders of fries and one drink cup. I had more food that I ordered but less than I paid for. I was fighting the urge to ask for the extra sandwich and two more bags of fries and one more drink when I realized that I had been sucked into the vacuum of stupidity that had enveloped the hapless workers.

I decided that it was time to suck it up, hand out the extra food to waiting customers and cut my loses. I handed out three sandwiches and fries and the drink cup since I only wanted water in the first place and sat down to eat my meal. As I finished, a well dressed gentleman walked in and after conferring with the manager,came over to me and introduced himself as the owner (I assume of the franchise since he was definitely a local).

I thought that one of the employees had called him because I had created quite a stir and now I was going to get it from him form disturbing his place of business. As the man began to speak I realized he had recognized the problem the staff had in making basic decisions but decided that keeping them employed would be better than hiring others to do the same job. His reasoning is that these employees are extremely loyal and hard working. And so long as nobody asks for anything not on the menu they are very efficient. This man knew that these employees would not be able to find satisfactory employment in the current state of the economy so replacing them was out of the question.

I apologized for causing the mix up and promised to only order from the menu in the future. The gentleman offer to give me a discount or refund some of the more I had been over charged. But after hearing what his situation was I thought it best to leave it as a contribution to his charitable work he was doing with his employees.

I have made it a point to stop by more frequently and order only simple things from the menu. The cashiers know me very well now and are quick to remind me "No substitutions on the special...period". I have sometime received the wrong order but I will not complain since I know there was a good effort on the part of the staff but still they make mistakes. As I look around the dining area I realize that many of the people who frequent the restaurant are either friends or family members of the employees.

It may not be a money maker but I can just bet the owner of that franchise is earning more than profits. Every time I am confronted with poor service I think about this small fast food restaurant and remember that the person on the other side is doing this job to provide for themselves and family. so long as I can reasonably negotiate my order I have no problems. If they are rude or uncaring I don't raise an issue I instead remind myself that I need to frequent another small place rather than this place of business.

Sometimes we look at others and laugh at what appears to be ineptitude but in fact we are cheapening ourselves and our own character. By being patient and waiting our turn, accepting others mistakes and not trying to confront the smallest of issues, we can minimize the stress in the lives of others who barely have enough coping skills to do work we may feel is beneath us. So rather than looking down our noses at them or scoffing at their lack of understanding, take stock and learn how to make their job a little less troublesome so when they go home at the end of the day they can smile and feel happy they made it through one more day.