The reason why McDonald's drive-thru workers aren't also actuaries.

[MelloKira]

Ok, so I'm pretty sure half of you on this forum probably hate me (and the other half have never heard of me) but I'm willing to bury the hatchet for just a moment so that I may share this story with you. Here goes...

Four days ago I got my drivers license, and today I finally had my first wacky drive-thru experience. It all started out when my grandma came to my house this morning. She said she needed to go to the DMV, but that she didn't feel like driving. "You know this is going to seriously cut into my 'comment RBCP's blog entries' time?" I replied "Fine, I guess I'll take ya. But Brad will be disappointed." And with that we started out the door, and up the mountain to the DMV.

After setting in the car for nearly 3043t08450843908450704 hours waiting for my grandma to pay her $5 fee, I started to get hungry. So when she came back, I asked if she could buy me something to eat. She checked her purse, only to find $2 (half of it primarily in pennies). I guess that's a lot of money to her, because she seemed rather thrilled to have even found that much. She handed it to me, I stuck it in my pocket, and we were off. I pulled into the nearest McDonalds, and drove up to the speaker-box thingy.

I said I wanted "A chocolate shake and a McValue fry". With that, the lady working there typed "Med. Shake, McValue Fry" and immediately hit 'enter' without asked me if I was done ordering.

"$3.64" she demanded, not skipping a beat.

"Wait!" I raised my voice "I wanted a SMALL shake, not a medium".

"$3.16" she said, without corrected the order on the computer screen.

I drove ahead, not knowing what I could be getting myself into. When I pulled up to the first window, I was baffled. Apparently I HADN'T been ordering food from a retarded monkey. In fact, it was a seemingly normal human being. I tried to play it cool, but in the back of my mind I somehow realized that all hope for humanity was lost. That the universe really was just an accident. That America's Funniest Home Videos isn't really that funny.

She told me the amount, $3.16, and I reached for my wallet. I pulled out a TEN DOLLAR BILL and fished around for 16 CENT. I handed her the money, but she didn't budge. She just stared at it, like a deer in headlights.

"You owe $3.16" she said.

"I know" I looked at her seriously, trying to let her know that I hadn't made a mistake.

"Oh" she replied. "Here you go"

She pulled some bills out of the register, and handed them to me along with my receipt. Well, apparently they were having some kind of customer rewards day or something, because she gave me TWELVE DOLLARS back. I had only given her TEN DOLLARS and 16 CENT.

Ok, so if I owe $3.16 and I give you $10.16, how much change do I get back? Normally $7, that is if you can do 3rd grade math. But she gives me TWELVE??

I didn't say anything. I just took the money and food, and I left a few bucks richer. And this, my friends, is the reason why McDonald's drive-thru workers aren't also actuaries.


Oh, and sorry this post is so long 

[ApprenticePhreak]

I work at McDonald's. One day a week. Have a few burns already. I'm 23 and my life is going backwards. All in all, complain about ants in the play place or on your table and you can get free food.

I've been telling people to do that since I started working there. The ants are fucking crazy. Also make it a point to ask for just a sausage breakfast burrito with bacon added. When they tell you that it's pre-made you should start complaining and ask why the fuck they have a made fresh daily sign.

Free food is never easier to get from them.

[rbcp]

Here's my favorite McDonald's incident, copied and pasted from a blog entry on my homepage that MelloKira hasn't commented on yet:

I went through the drive-thru and placed my order. The total came to $7.35. When I got to the first window, a high school kid told me it’d be $7.35 and I handed him 35 cents, a twenty and 2 ones. He closed the window and started to put in in the register.

Then he opens the window and says, “It’s only $7.35 - you gave me $22.35 here.” I told him I realized that and he says sarcasticly, “Well here’s $2.00 of your change!” and tries to hand me the 2 ones. I tell him I’d rather not have the ones and just to take it out of the $22.35. He looks at me for a second and shuts the window. Then he calls a friend over and I see him explaining to him how I must be retarded, holding up the money and motioning towards me.

THEN he punches the $22.35 into the touch screen register and sees my change is $15.00 even. He stares at the screen for a minute, pulls out a five and ten and hands me my change without saying thank you and not looking directly at me.

I get shortchanged/overchanged all the time by minimum wage workers.  I usually tell them about it either way, just so I pretend that I'm superior by outsmarting the minimum wage teenager.  Someday I'd like to keep their money and say to them as I leave, "Your drawer will come up $2.00 short at the end of your shift because that's how much extra change you gave me."

[Tachyon]

Anybody know of a minimum wage job that would let me take long leaves of absence (multiple months off) or maybe just keep me as an employee without making me come in to work? Its for this thing I'm working on.

[Altalp]

She checked her purse, only to find $2 (half of it primarily in pennies).

She told me the amount, $3.16, and I reached for my wallet. I pulled out a TEN DOLLAR BILL and fished around for 16 CENT.

Why did you take your grandmothers $2 if you had $10?

[MIB]

Anybody know of a minimum wage job that would let me take long leaves of absence (multiple months off) or maybe just keep me as an employee without making me come in to work? Its for this thing I'm working on.

You could always run for public office.

MIB

[SpaceBison]

I can't believe that people actually eat at McDonald's and live to tell the tale.  puke city

[Nod]

Anybody know of a minimum wage job that would let me take long leaves of absence (multiple months off) or maybe just keep me as an employee without making me come in to work? Its for this thing I'm working on.

If you ever find something like this you should let me know. I'll move to Canada for THAT job.

[MattGSX]

What really amazes me is how many people who handle money can't fucking count. When I worked retail (at Hardee's for the ages of 14-17, and Officemax @ age 18), I never actually punched in the amount people paid with. I learned in 1st grade how to count back money, and I still trust myself to be able to do so. It's called SUBTRACTION. Maybe I just grew up privileged, but I don't get how some people can actually be that stupid.
[Paraphrased from a call I took last night at work]
Background: Customer wants to pay for his shoes over the phone with a money order. After I carefully explain how impossible that is, I offer to quote him the price to send it in.
Him: How much that is?
Me: Well, the subtotal for the shoes will be $100 even, and the shipping will be $7.
Him: I asked how fucking much that is
Me: You add them together.
Him: Huh?
Me: You add together $100 and $7 and write that number on your money order.
Him: ... (silence) ... (silence). Ima get two money orders. One for $100, and one for $7

what the christ. Adding round numbers together has never been so difficult. I have co-workers that would actually punch those numbers into a calculator, though, so I guess I can't say much.

[rbcp]

I can accept that teenagers haven't mastered counting out change yet, even if it is simple subtraction.  What amazes me is when cashiers in their 30's and 40's make incredibly dumb mistakes.  If you can't do simple math at that age then it's time to find a new job that doesn't require counting.

[Nod]

I always enter exactly how much money customers give me because they sometimes get confused. I had a customer argue with me for ten minutes one time because I hit the five dollar button even though they had given me a fifty for their two dollar soda. He thought I was trying to trick him.

[Tachyon]

I'm so glad I never have to see customers any more.

[ataxicwolf]

Anyone else have people complain that you're charging them for a drink with a combo just because it's on the receipt? Where I work, we price the combo and drink separately, so the price on the menu is the cost for a combo + separate drink price, but every single time people look on the receipt and see Coke..........1.24 (or whatever it is) they start freaking out and yelling at me like I'm an idiot. They then explain to me how combos work and how drinks are included with them while I try as simply as possible to explain to them how it works. Ugh. Can't stand people.

[ApprenticePhreak]

When I worked at the gas station over night we had to say out loud what the customers gave us if it was over a five dollar bill. We always had to do it. It always made me laugh when a customer gave me a five and then said it was a fifty and that they wanted all of their change back. They'd argue, I'd get the boss to go through the register for a 50 and then have him print out the last twenty minuets on the safe printer to show the last money deposited.

I was eventually fired in the winter time for calling a customer a dumb ass who slipped on ice who came in and called me a lazy nigger.

[MelloKira]

I was eventually fired in the winter time for calling a customer a dumb ass who slipped on ice who came in and called me a lazy nigger.

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