The Downsizing of the Supersizing

Fast food had become an everyday experience for many Americans. It seems like every street corner has some type of fast food establishment whether it be McDonald's, Wendy's, or another one of the hundreds of different franchise chains setup up across the country. It seems like there will never be an escape from the ever growing fast food industry. Despite how many different restaurants a person may stumble across, it is a rare exception to find a good restaurant.

My teenage years were when I ate the majority of my fast food. I even worked at a Taco Bell for a while. I hardly ever had problems with orders except for the occasional screw up. This is to be expected. We are all human and have all made mistakes in our time. As time has gone on, I have noticed a drastic increase in the problems at fast food establishments.

It may just be my own bad luck that is the problem, but it seems to be more than that to me. It seems like every time I go to a fast food restaurant anymore there is a problem. I never get hot food anymore even if I wait in line because they are waiting for the fries to cook. I still get cold fries. Now I know that people working at McDonald's or Wendy's are not doctors, but it doesn't take a college degree to put a burger under the warmer. It just seems like the simplest little things get overlooked because people are upset about having to do their job.

It seems to me that what these giant franchises have overlooked is their employees. I would love to blame each individual employee, but I believe the problem is much larger. If you ever notice when you go through a drive thru or line inside one of these stores, you hear the employees ask you standard questions like "Do you want fries with that?" Over the years, these questions have changed and have grown into multiple questions employees have to ask every customer. It sometimes makes ordering food confusing for employees as well as customers.

In one trip to McDonald's in Huntington, WV, I started to order a #2 combo meal. Before I could even say I wanted a coke with the meal, the girl asks me if I wanted the meal or the sandwich. I was a little stunned, but started to repeat myself. My thought was that by saying I wanted a #2 she would understand I wanted the meal. If I had wanted just the sandwich, I would have ordered the sandwich in a #2 or just said the name of the sandwich. Common sense, to me at least, would show that if I had not wanted the #2, I would not have ordered a #2.

So I began to repeat the order. I got to about the same point, about ready to say with a coke, and the girl interrupted me with the same question. This went on for at least two more attempts before I finally told her to be quiet and listen. This last time through I said meal after every combo I ordered and she finally got the message.

This type of problem should not occur. McDonald's should know how to take an order better than I know how to give an order. This girl was not trained properly or she would have been able to do a better job.

There is also McDonald's idea of the dual lane drive thru. The idiot who designed this setup should be fired. Now instead of McDonald's having lines during rush times of the day, I get stuck in a line every single time I go. I also have the problem of being skipped over in the line. People who pull through the drive thru long after I've been waiting in line get their food before they even come to my screen for an order.

These issues could be avoided if McDonald's had left well enough alone a decade ago when I was still a teenager. I have used McDonald's as an example, but these types of problems exist at many other fast food locations. It is a shame that the customer's satisfaction is not the most important part of the service. Speed and sales seem to be the focus, not the people who spend their money at these establishments.