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When it rains, it floods.
Ok, so some background info. I work at a McD's connected to a BP gas station. We aren't that big, so it can turn "busy" pretty fast.Well,today was just horrible and I knew it right when we opened. I can usually tell how the day is going to go, based on my first customers. My first customers ordered two vanilla iced coffees. For those who work at a McD's can tell you how time consuming these can be. So, I make them so I can hand them out right away. I get to the drive thru window and collect money. The guy in the passenger seat says
"How long does it take to make coffee?"
I look at him with THAT look,hold up one of the iced coffees and said
"These?"
He shut up right away.
You can tell what kind of day this is going to be.
At opening, we usually have three people :Manager,grill person, and front counter person. We happened to have our new manager also, so she can be trained on opening. Well, it got extremely busy. I'm working drive thru by myself, with the new manager, K, getting my food. At one point, K had to be at the front counter, thus leaving me to take the order, money and get the food. Pretty difficult when as soon as someone pulls forward, another car comes up. We got one of our grill people to come in early, to help out R, who was there by himself, with no burritos rolled because the closing people didn't do it (as they were supposed to). Guess what people wanted the most of? BURRITOS! Main manager D steps in to help out grill.
Well, at one point, our lights flicker and everything shuts down for a moment. Power surge and more people coming through drive thru. I can't take orders or money because the computers have to reboot. Finally, we get things up and running, but not fully.
Our card readers are down. No credit, no debit. Can only take cash. Now, most customers do carry cash, just in case, or just pay up front with cash. Of course, there are a few asshats who only carry cards. A few of the asshats were actually nice and understood. One guy...he was lucky I didn't have a pencil to stab him with.
After trying his card more than a few times, I calmly explain to him that we just had a power surge and our card reader has not booted up. I asked him
"Sir, do you have cash on you that we can use instead?"
"No."
I gave him a look like 'Ouch.Sorry."
"None at all?"
"No."
So I am at a loss of what to do. I had already given him his coffee and both managers were busy. He is looking at me as I'm trying to decide whether or not to just let him have it and be on his way. I wanted to do that for him, but I didn't know if I would get in trouble. He hands me back his coffee and starts going off on blah blah blah. I told him
"Sorry. We just had a power surge."
"It's not my fault, so don't go blaming me."
I'm thinking 'Wtf? When did I ever indicate that it was his fault?'
He starts saying stuff, but the drive thru had beeped and I didn't hear him. Mamacita comes up and asked me
"What did he just say?"
"I dunno. F**k him. I don't care."
So time wears on and it continues to be busy and I'm pretty much alone. I dared to look at the clock and it is fifteen past seven. I looked at K and said
"Isn't someone supposed to be here at seven?"
"Yeah. Ky,Da,and B are supposed to be here, but they haven't showed up yet."
Seven o'clock people usually come in to be cash people and take over the headset so the opener can go on their break. So, my tummy is rumbling, I'm feeling like I'm going to pass out, and still freaken busy.
So, the d-bags were out in full force. We had people talking too softly, I got their orders wrong and they got mad when I asked to repeat. I had people saying their orders so slowly, as though I were stupid because I work at McD's. I had people yelling, almost giving me a panic attack and I couldn't hear them that way. I had some people who took so long of pauses between items, that I assumed they were done (now, we aren't allowed to ask if that is all and not everyone says that is everything), so i would tell them their total and they would get huffy and say "I'M NOT DONE YET!" I had people say their order is correct on the screen when I asked them if it was and then they came in later, bitching and moaning that their order was wrong.
As for the card thing, to prevent having to hold up the drive thru line, we posted a note at the drive thru, stating that we cannot accept cards at this time. I swear the same lady came through about ten times, asking. Then she asked if the gas station was accepting credit cards. Ok, I'm working at the McD's, not the gas station. Get out of the car and go ask them yourselves.
It was around eight when my cash taker came in, late. I almost cried with relief, but it was premature. We were running out of everything. Ice,iced coffee,coffee. Since I was order taker, I was the one who was "mobile", but the people kept coming, so I couldn't even get out of my area without that dreaded beep calling me back to my screen of doom.
It was eight thirty when I finally got my break. I'm so glad to get my food because I was about ready to pass out and I welcomed the bitter taste of my black coffee. After my break, I go back,fresh as a daisy. Of course, our regional manager (I think he was our regional manager), J, came in because of the power surge. So, I have three different managers, telling me to do three different things, plus do the neverending drive thru. I go to do one thing and then I'm told 'Don't go do that! This needs to get done!"
Finally,my shift is over. Two people had not showed up and never called.
Casualty count : My sanity
Sorry this was so long. This is my first post and it was just a hard day. Were these people sucky because I was so stressed out or were they just sucky in general?
One good thing did come out of this. I got a thing for a free meal and dessert for holding up and keeping my cool (even though I did get short with a guy on headset).
- Angelspit, '100%'
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