I worked at Mcdonalds and the customers were the worst

I worked at McDonald’s for three years. It was my first job at the age of 17, and I worked there on a part time basis during my A-Levels and full time in my breaks from university.

My time there genuinely wasn’t all bad, I worked with some amazing people, had a good laugh and it turned me from a shy, awkward introvert who couldn’t talk to anyone into someone who doesn’t have a breakdown at the prospect of talking to a new person. Overall, working there did me the world of good and I’m glad I did it.

Grumpy me on my way to work

However, that doesn’t change the fact that for the most part it was dreadful. I would work 10 hour shifts, for minimum wage, most of them finishing at 1am. I always got put on Dive/Window 1 shifts, which is taking drive-through orders whilst also cleaning everything in the restaurant, and it is the worst job in the world.

There is nothing worse than being midway through cleaning a grease filled slop tray and hearing that beeping in your ear that means you have to take an order. If there is a hell, it is just doing that shift for eternity, no doubt about it. But the worst part of working in a McDonald’s? Having to deal with customers.

photo: Flickr

For some reason, fast food turns people into total cocks. I’m an optimist and I genuinely believe there is good in every person, but customers liked to test this belief. Now, some customers were lovely of course, but so many just seem to think that because you are a ‘McDonald’s worker’ they can treat you like dog shit on their shoe. I wasn’t that bad at my job, I swear – customers did just go out of their way to be pricks. And to prove it, here is a list, which is by no means complete of some of the terrible things customers did to me or my colleagues during the time I worked there.

• Once, I was complaining about my long shift to a friend of mine. A customer, overheard me and yelled ‘Well you should have stayed in school then, love’. He then laughed like this was the funniest joke imaginable. And because of the company saying ‘the customer is always right,’ I had to laugh along, instead of responding, ‘actually, I go to the university of the year and am studying for a degree in political science but I’ve still got to make rent, you ignorant dildo’.

• Another time, a customer received his order wrong. I think it was something tiny, like he’d asked for no ketchup on his burger. A simple mistake, which we were all very apologetic about, but apparently this was too much for this customer. He threw the burger in my colleagues face. Charming.

• I was once on the Drive Thru, taking an order over the headset. I finished taking his order and then he said ‘And a kiss at the next window as well babe.’ Now this has happened to me many times, for some reason, men think it’s hilarious to hit on girls who work in McDonald’s when going round the Drive Thru. There isn’t a girl working there who hasn’t been ‘Drive Thru hit on’. So I wasn’t thrown by that. I would’ve done what I usually did and get one of the boys to take the money, but I couldn’t find some free. When this man drove round, he put his head out of the window and pursued his lips. His two children were sat in the seat next to him. “Go on,” he said, “My kids won’t tell their mum.” I walked off immediately and got a manager to deal with him.

• Another lovely customer on the Drive Thru, paid and then said ‘Cheers tits!’ before driving to the next window. This confused me because I have the chest of a nine year old boy, so I’m not sure what tits he was referring to. Was he trying to make me aware of my lack of tits? I just don’t know what his agenda was there. Whatever it was, it was sexist.

• A woman once yelled at me for five minutes because her fries weren’t standing up. I’m sorry Susan, I’m no culinary expert but I think fries taste the same no matter what angle they are to the tray, sort your priorities out.

• The bloke who complained about his 20 box of nuggets not being hot enough three times. When each time, they had genuinely just come up of the fryer. He swore at us all, called us animals and then threw his nuggets on the floor. This was a grown man.

• The woman who complained that she’d had to wait 20 minutes to be served when all she wanted was a coke. Other customers got there before her and had bigger orders that were more time consuming. Somehow that’s my fault. I mean, maybe if I were you and I just wanted a coke, I’d have gone to the garage across the road which doesn’t have a queue of customers out of the door but that’s just my opinion – and no you don’t get it for free.

• The guy who wouldn’t leave unless I gave him my number. He was holding up several other cars in the Drive Thru but still wouldn’t move. In the end, I gave him a fake number just to get him to move.

• The multiple guys who demand some secret menu items and refuse to believe that it doesn’t exist. I’m going to clear this up now. THERE IS NO SECRET MENU, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A SECRET MENU.

• I was sweeping the floor and a customer asked me, (and this is a direct quote), “here love, how far do you reckon you could shove that broom up your fanny?” I don’t think I’ve ever quite recovered from this interaction to be honest.

I could go on forever. Now, I’m not saying I was perfect at my job. I’ve definitely messed up an order or ten in my time, but I don’t think I deserved any of that. And I had it relatively easy. I worked with some people who endured horrific racist abuse from customers. It was horrendous what some customers would say.

It’s just fast food people, there’s really no need to be a wanker.