I was in the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant the other day, starting to get mildly irritated at the little chicky that was taking my order. Oh sure - she was perky enough, but she was rushing me. And it's not like I was taking my own sweet time even. She was just obviously rushing everyone trying to get to the end of her shift. Wait, here's an excerpt of my order:

Me: Hey. I need two children's meals, with diet coke and....
Her: Okay. I got two kid's meals. Would you like anything else?
Me: Yes. I need one Combo #3 with Dr. Pepper and could you....
Her: That's two kid's meals and one Combo #3 with Dr. Pepper. Would you like anything else?
Me: I also need a pint of red beans and rice.
Her: What drinks did you want with the kids meals?
Me: diet coke. I already said that.
Her: That'll be $16.78. Please drive through ...


***
Bitch. I hate it when people cut me off when I'm speaking. And I was CLEARLY continuing on with the order signified by the "AND" after my first sentence. But oh well. I started thinking back to my first job which was in the food business. Baskin Robbins. I actually worked there for 3 years. That's a long-ass time to be scooping ice cream. (Daquiri Ice was the worst ice cream to scoop...) But it gave me spending money thru high-school.

I also remembered how irritating people could be, and how sometimes I would let one single instance of discord ruin my whole work shift.


We used to become astronomically busy in the summer. I lived in San Antonio, TX and it got HOT down there. We would sometimes have a line out the door of people waiting to order one of the 31-derful flavors that Baskin Robbins dished out. One thing that would always chap my ass was when I would ask the person next in line what flavor of ice cream they would want. They would stop whatever they were doing, and start perusing the cases of flavors. You gotta understand that they've been lined up next to these very same cases for the last 5 minutes while we helped the person in front of them. It was like a surprise to them that they actually had to choose the flavor that they wanted. Meanwhile, there's a line out the door in 110 degree heat of people grumpily waiting to be served. Of course, they would be oblivious of the line as they wandered back and forth, occasionally asking for a little pink spoon sample of the Butter Pecan or Almond Amaretto. Then finally, they would make their choice: "I'll have a scoop of french vanilla. "

fffffuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccckk... "Would you like that in a cup or a cone?" I would ask, while gleefully entertaining thoughts of shoving a sugar cone up their ass. Of course, this would prompt another deep and thoughtful pause as they contemplated their choice... "What kind of cone?" oh for the love of.... "We've got cake cones, sugar cones, and waffle cones..." I would explain, while eyeballing the grumbling, shifting line... "I think.... sugar" "THANKSTHAT'LLBE$1.80HERE'SYOURCHANGE!"

Finally!! Onto the next customer.. "May I help you?"... "hmmm... let's see.. what do I want...?" ARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eventually, the line would go away, but not before I was pissed off and annoyed by everyone. Even though my shift was only 4 hours long, I would be ready to go home after 2 hours. Those last 2 hours were endless.

So I got to thinking...maybe the little chica that was rushing me at the drive-thru...maybe she was just ready to go home after having annoying customers. Or maybe she was just a bitch...