I’m a big fan of drive-thru windows at restaurants, especially Starbucks . I use them often and when I’m by myself, it’s easy. I know what I want and I order it. It’s far more complicated with more people in the car.
Drive-thrus are also great if you have mobility issues because you don’t have to get out of the car and wait in line.
Which reminds me of my childhood…
I remember going to McDonald’s as a child. I LOVED McDonald’s.
This was back when there were only 2 McDonalds in Sarnia and they were busy and fast. Not like today where every single person orders a custom order and they have over 150 things on the menu. There’s no way they can be fast today.
Wasn’t the whole idea of fast food that it was supposed to be FAST??? If I wanted good food, I’d go elsewhere.
Anyway – back to my childhood…
We would walk in the door of McDonald’s and it was often packed! Several lines of people and you didn’t know if you would even get a table.
As we walked in, I would tell Dad what I wanted, then I would go and find a seat while he ordered and the food was picked from the rows of burgers, fries and chicken nuggets waiting under the heat lamps.
5 minutes later Dad would get to the table with a tray of something that I didn’t actually order. It was close, but not quite what I had said.
Eventually, I just started ordering the same thing, which made things easier. 6 piece chicken McNugget meal with orange pop.
I still like orange pop today and although we only drink pop a few times a year, they look at me strangely when I order orange pop as a 41-year-old male.
Is there something wrong with an old guy liking orange pop??? That’s an age-based bias.
Anyway; as a child, I always wondered – “How could Dad forget what I wanted within about 30 seconds?”
And now I know.
Going back to the drive-thru discussion
Every time we pull up to a drive-thru window it’s the same. Joy conveys to me what she wants, as we’re reading the menu just before we get to the speaker.
When we move up a car length and it’s time to order, I panic.
As soon as I hear “Welcome to ???? what can I get you…” I freeze. My mind goes blank and I can’t remember what she JUST told me that she wanted.
I can sometimes get so flustered that the words don’t even come out right. I have no clue why.
This isn’t an occasional occurrence either.
It happens every. single. time.
And it’s way worse if there’s more than just the 2 of us in the car.
Now, all these years later, I know exactly how my Dad forgot what I wanted at McDonald’s. 🙂
I have turned into my father – which isn’t a bad thing – he’s a good guy.