Rant #3 081: I Know Where It's At

Perseverance and panache, that is all it takes.

Confronted with complete ineptitude, I kept my resolve, stayed on my course, and I got things done.

Yes, my battle with local fast food franchises and their lack of care at the drive-through window continues.

Last Saturday, I did what I always do on the weekend, which means that I go out to bring in food for my family and for my mother, and I also do this on Sunday.

I do it to give a break to my wife, who cooks our family food during the week (not for my mother, but it also gives my mother a break, giving her something else to eat than the usual stuff she eats).

But on this particular Saturday—one of many weekend days and other days that this has happened to me—not everything went smoothly at the drive-through window when I went to get us something to eat …

And it is an occurrence that has definitely increased exponentially since the coming of the pandemic.

I have personally found that the lack of a strong work ethic during this period has grown to epidemic proportions, whether at the drive-though window or in government offices.

My experience is that on more than one occasion, I have not received the food I have ordered through the drive-through area of just about all the fast food outlets that we use—Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and to a much lesser extent, McDonald’s.

I have also had some other problems with the drive-through process; as you know, a few weeks back, one of the workers accidentally dumped three big cups of soda in my car while trying to hand me an already broken drink caddy through the window.

But let’s bring this all up to date …

I went to Wendy’s. made my order, picked it up at the drive-through window, and sped home with what I thought was my full meal—

And I got home to find that we did not get what my son wanted, which was a 10-piece nuggets meal.

I had a sneaking suspicion that the order was going to be messed up, because the girl that I gave it to seemed preoccupied when I told her the order, giggling and laughing and talking to her fellow co-workers when I relayed the order to her.

When I got to the window to pay and pick up the order, she—and I noticed that she had a big earring in her nose, and I mean the biggest earring in someone’s nose that I have ever seen--was still seemingly pre-occupied, initially fouling up my drink order, and after I asked her, “Is everything in there?” meaning in the bag that she handed me through the window, she insisted that it was.

I called up the establishment, got who I thought was the manager on the phone, told her the problem—mentioning the girl with the huge earring in her nose--and she said that she would write my name in her “book” and that, at my urging, I would get my full order replicated—my son’s missing order and everything else I ordered—when I came back to the restaurant during the week.

I was agitated, because as I said, this has happened many times during the past couple of years or so, including at this place, but at least I would receive my order again at another time.

Yesterday turned out to be a busy day for myself and my family, so I figured it would be the perfect day to pick up the order.

I did my food shopping, and on the way home, I stopped off at the Wendy’s to pick up the order—with my receipt in my hand.

I got there, told them through the drive-through why I was there, and the woman taking the message seemed to be completely befuddled as she told me to drive up to the window.

Here is how the conversation went as I arrived at the window:

She: “Look, I am the manager here, and I don’t have any recollection of you supposedly getting your entire meal redone.”

Me: “I spoke to a woman who told me she was the manager, and she said that I could have the entire meal over again, because this has happened here several times to me in the past.”

She: I AM THE MANAGER HERE, NOT HER (Editor’s Note: She did raise her voice, not screaming, but to a visibly annoyed level), and I was not told that you should get the entire meal once again.”

Me: Look, this was our agreement, because it has happened several times at this location.”

She: BUT I AM THE MANAGER, and this was never communicated to me by the other person, who is actually the assistant manager.”

Me: It doesn’t matter, This was agreed upon between the two of us.”

She: “But—“

Me: “Look, if you won’t give me the entire meal again, then I am just going to have to report you.”

She: “But—“

Me: “I am just going to have to report you. Simple as that.”

Saying that got the manager into motion, and I got my full order and drove away content … and yes, when I got home, it actually was the full order.

I have found that telling a fast food restaurant that “I am going to have to report you” is akin to the days of yore was fighting one thing or another due to my rights as a parent being violated with school districts who did not want to deal with me as a custodial parent of my daughter without physical custody, or even more recently when I was fighting government bureaucracy, and you tell whoever you are on the phone with—

“I will get a lawyer and sue you.”

They don’t want to hear it, the fast food place doesn’t want to hear that they will be reported, and everything pretty much turns out hunky dory when you are pretty much forced to utter those respective magic words.

And it worked again yesterday.

I have become so used to not venturing inside fast food restaurants since the days of the pandemic, and whether I do go inside, or make my order on the outside, I am still paying the same U.S. greenbacks for my order to be fulfilled to the letter.

So, if I am missing an entire portion of what I ordered—and paid for—because the workers are having a jolly old time while at work, they won’t do it at my expense, period.

And if this type of incompetency happens to you, take a page from my book … it is a small victory, for sure, but you pay for something, you should get what you paid for.

Looking ahead to next week, I have an extremely busy day on Monday—it is “tax day” for my family, among the many things I have to do that day--so I will have to skip the Monday Rant.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Tuesday.

And don’t forget to always stand up for your rights, whether the situation is a small one or a large one.