Poor little girl...

[Ree]

My daughter's friend took his little girl to a "golden arches" restaurant today and ordered the children's meal.
He had asked for it plain because, much like many little girls that age (5) she is a picky eater.

The burger came all dressed, so he went to the counter and explained that he had asked for a plain one.
The girl at the counter rolled her eyes and said she would bring another one out.
A short time later, the girl came out with her jacket on and her bag in her hand.
She tossed the burger down on the table and left.

A few minutes later, his little girl became really upset because her mouth was burning.
He opened the burger, and found that it was covered in black pepper.

There is no way that was an accident.

This little girl is just a bit older than my granddaughter. If someone did that to her, I would be livid.

I cannot believe that someone would be so deliberately cruel, knowing it was a child's meal.

His little girl is such a sweet-natured little thing. It makes me so angry.
I can't help but put my granddaughter in that scenario. and I know how furious I would be.

[Ree]

I told him he needs to speak to the manager. He's very laid back, and he says the manager comes into his store for supplies, so he will mention it.
That alone tells me he wasn't irate when he was dealing with the employee in order for her to be so nasty and spiteful.

If he is upset by what happened to his little girl, and he isn't reaming the manager a new one, I highly doubt he gave the girl a hard time over dressing on a burger.

An acquaintance who works at that restaurant is defending the worker.

I am not familiar with the prep and running of these places, so maybe she really is right, and it really was an error.

She says it could have just been a simple accident that more pepper came out than there should have been, and nobody noticed.
He described it as "smothered in pepper", so that doesn't seem accidental to me.
She also says that the girl on the counter would not be the person who made the burger.
She dropped it off at the table.
Who is to say she didn't grab it from the cook and open it herself to put the pepper on?

[MoonCat]

Oh HELL no. He should make a formal complaint. NOW. That's unacceptable. I don't believe it was "accidental". He asked for a plain burger, there's no reason to put ANYTHING on it.

[Sapphire Silk]

Not an accident.

IS child abuse. Problem is, proving who did it. Could have been the cook, annoyed or the cashier.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I used to work at the Golden Arches.

No way in shit spiking hell could that have been an accident. Especially if it was a burger that was going to be remade. The grill and other workers tend to treat re-makes with a bit more of a keen eye to make sure it doesn't get messed up again.

Finally, stuff like a customer asking for a new burger happened all the time. We would always just apologize and have a new burger made. It wasn't hard. We didn't lose a lot of money by doing it, and what we did do was make a customer happy. Hell, we even did it if the customer hadn't specifically asked for a special burger, if they had asked (and both the receipt and order history would prove it) then we were more than happy to make the food right! - Sometimes people would accidentally grab a fully dressed burger because they didn't notice the specific order required a special one and a normal one popped out first.

Formal complaint is my opinion. Who the hell does that when the burger isn't even going to the "person who harassed her" - she said, voice dripping with sarcasm - and is instead going to a child?

Also, the fact that she just dropped it there and immediately left speaks pretty highly of "Oh, I'm off and just about to leave anyway, HAHA!" Timing is just too perfect.

[shopgirl15]

I hoped he kept the burger for evidence. That is messed up. No one would order a burger covered in pepper.

[Draco]

I hoped he kept the burger for evidence. That is messed up. No one would order a burger covered in pepper.

This especially. There is no "putting too much on accidentally". Pepper is NOT put on their burgers.

[mikoyan29]

That is just wrong on so many levels. It doesn't sound like he was abusive in any way at all. He just asked for it to be done correctly. He should complain.

[csquared]

Something should have been done immediately, as now all the evidence has been destroyed. That is not a sucky employee. That is a criminal offense.

[PepperElf]

Not an accident.

IS child abuse. Problem is, proving who did it. Could have been the cook, annoyed or the cashier.

might as well call the health dept too.
and what the hell, a word to the local media outlet.

i was thinking the police too but i wasn't sure if they'd respond



all i can think of is... how mad i'd be if that happened. cos when we get plain burgers they're not for us. they're for the dog. and if someone over peppered a burger just to spite us i'd be pretty furious.

although this is also why we check the burgers too. i mean if they're for poochie

[wolfie]

Never worked the Arches, but saw the prep from the other side of the counter. The only time I saw powder (might be pepper) sprinkled on a burger was with the Angus burgers - NOT the hamburgers/cheeseburgers that someone would order for a child. Even if the person doing the remake had been on autopilot and made it as a "standard" rather than plain burger, they wouldn't have reached for the shaker, and therefore wouldn't have had the opportunity to accidentally add too much. This was clearly a deliberate move, to get back at someone who had the gall to ask for a remake on an item that originally wasn't made as ordered.

Whoever was behind the "pepper burger" needs to be fired - and the firing needs to take place at a ceramics factory.

[Sunshine]

Ohhhhh hell naw. If someone did that to my bebe i'd be typing this from jail...that is so fucked up!

[Aethian]

I think my ex would have had to be restrained.

[georgie]

can i ask why the father didnt kick up a fuss there and then? I'd be mighty furious and asking for a manager if i opened my daughters burger and found that much pepper. it sounds too deliberate

[Ree]

Like I say, he's a really laid back guy. That's how I know he wouldn't have done anything to aggravate the girl enough to do something like this.

I don't know why he didn't raise hell then and there. I know I would have. I guess he figured since the girl was already gone, he would just wait to talk to the manager.