Working the drive-thru can be a tedious and stressful job. People are barking at you through a headset, and you have to make sure you do everything correctly. Sometimes though, it's not just people barking orders on the other end of the headset. The people in the following stories share the weirdest and rudest things they've ever heard at the other end of their headset.
(Content has been edited for clarity.)
The Ghost Of The Drive-Thru
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When he drove up, there was no one in the backseat. It messed me up for months.”
We Hear You… But We Really Wish We Didn’t
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“Back when I worked at a coffee chain we would get a 2:30 a.m. rush with wasted people after the bars closed. I don’t think a lot of people realize that when you land on the order pad to place your order, we can hear EVERYTHING!
Sometimes you would hear ramblings and the poor DD driver trying to calm his trashed posse down, other times you could hear gross make out sounds.
The worst experience was when this guy pulled up, and his buddy threw up while they were on the order pad. We heard every chunk of vomit, the heaves, the splash on the pavement, every gross detail of that vomit. The sound alone made everyone working gag. We were close to a barf fest.
Dear high people going through the drive-thru, when you get to the pickup window please, for the love of God, do not blow smoke in our faces when we go to hand you our order. You are not doing us a favor, and you don’t look cool.”
Nobody Messes With Beth
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“In high school, I was working a late shift at McDonald’s. One of my best friends (we’ll call her Beth) worked with me. She stood about four foot nothing and weighed about 20 pounds. On a good breeze, she could ride a kite to work. She also had the devil inside her.
This jerk we knew (we were 16, he was about 24) hit the drive-thru about 9 p.m. and proceeded to order. Then he changed his order four times then berated her for getting the order wrong, then called her a name and said something about her father.
When the guy pulled up, the store manager and I were on our way to the window, but she was already hanging out the window with his windpipe in her hand. She lost it. He had an abrasion on his throat, a black eye and mild concussion where she snatched his head toward the window.
The cops were called, and because of his antics, no charges were filed.
I found out later our manager paid some kids at the high school to beat the tar out of him. They did. Mercilessly.
Ah, good times.”
You Tell Me!
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“I work at Chick-fil-A, and a guy pulls up to the speaker, and I do the usual greeting, ‘Blah blah blah, how may I serve you?’
He answers, ‘You tell me!’
I ask, ‘What would you like to eat?’
‘You tell me!’
‘Okay, a 12-count nugget.’
‘EFF YEAH!’
‘Do you want the meal or just the nuggets?’
‘You tell me!’.
‘Okay, the meal.’
‘EFF YEAH!’
‘What would you like to drink?’
‘You tell me!’
‘Okay, Coke.’
‘EFF YEAH!’
Then he pulls around to the window, and the person working the register tells him the total, and his response is, ‘EFF YEAH!’ Then we ask him if he wanted any sauces. ‘You tell me!’ Then he pays and leaves. The whole encounter made my night.”
AMERICA!
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“So I worked for seven years at a Taco Johns. Off the top of my head, the daily facepalms were explaining to customers that we didn’t have pizza and we didn’t deliver – that’s Papa Johns. No, we aren’t Taco Bell, and our burrito isn’t seven-layered, we won’t put Volcano sauce on it, I don’t care.
Once a guy ordered $43 of food, one of those people asking for the Volcano sauce, ugh. He was in this loud pickup he didn’t shut off for the order, and when he got to the first window, he laid on the horn to get the attention of the Vietnamese gentleman ahead of him in the Toyota, and to scream at him to buy American cars.
He was screaming at a Mexican restaurant trying to make a Vietnamese man who just wanted a taco, to buy American trucks.
This whole time I was trying to take his money, and he was arguing about the total since he didn’t turn the engine off he misheard it and insisted what he heard is right. No, I will not give you $40 of food for $20.
After almost 20 minutes, I ran his card and showed him the math, double checking every single item, he consented and left, but that order still wakes me up at night five years later.”
Some People Never Learn
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“I used to work at a Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. my senior year of high school. We had an annoying number of people who we would have to ask to turn down their car radios because we couldn’t hear their orders over the sound of Eminem blaring.
I don’t remember too many other weird things in the drive-thru, but we did have several drive-thru customers then stomp into the store because they were mad about something. The weirdest one I remember was a guy screaming that he ordered a ‘large value meal,’ and was angry because his burger wasn’t bigger, too.
Another was a young guy who kept screaming about ‘hologram stuff’ on his roast beef sandwich.
