I heard the burgers were pretty good here. I guess I'll never know.
I came in on Friday after work, I was tired and hadn't eaten all day and since it was on my way home and didn't look too busy, I thought I'd find out what all the buzz was about.
I walk to the counter and the woman behind the register looked as if she was anywhere else but behind the register. You know, maybe I am starting to get old, but the kids these days just seem to behave as if everyone owes them something. They all want credit just for showing up. No one is asking them to go above and beyond, or even be thrilled about the job, but when they completely ignore the customer as if that customer is a nuisance at a job they agreed to and someone is paying them to do, something has gone awry during the past 20 years in regards to societal norms. Call me old fashioned but when someone pays me to do a job, I do it.
After being rudely ignored for about a minute, the woman finally gives up, gives me a baleful look, and murmurs under her breath what I make out to be "frehgggg fmmohfs shhermpa grummm". I take this as a request for an order, or something.....
I've never been here before so I don't know if there is some protocol in ordering food here. I just bluntly say I want a cheeseburger and fries. She seems to be confounded for a few seconds, then finally processes the words through her head and rings up the register. Which to my amazement she is actually capable of operating.
12 bucks. I don't mind the cost, as I hear these are really good burgers.
She tosses the receipt at me in a "I'm a princess" fashion then continues to glare out into space with that empty, stoner, deadhead look. I pick up the receipt and note that I'm ticket 27, and then go hunt for a clean table to wait at. Well, there are no clean tables but I'm exhausted so I take the cleanest looking table available and sit and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
And wait............
And I check my phone.... It has now been 20 minutes and I still haven't heard my ticket number called. The place isn't very busy. Maybe they had to make some more fries or something.... I don't know. But I do notice that the people who came in after me are already eating. Some have even finished and are leaving.
Well.... Its probably my fault anyway.... But I reluctantly get up and shamefully head toward the space cadet behind the register to ask about my order. This time she doesnt ignore me for 45 seconds before murmuring some incoherent babble, she knows why I've approached her, I can see it now, the gears are turning in that empty vessel of hers....
I clear my throat and nervously ask if my order was placed............
She pauses, and squints at me like Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies........ And laughs.
She. Laughs. She laughs right in my face. "They called your number already!"... Laughing. This stupid little game of hers. She really thinks it is funny. A mix up or goof is one thing, but this is just wrong.
I don't know what to say or how to respond. I'm actually fearful as to how we as a society have allowed ourselves to devolve into this. I'm being laughed at in front of everyone in this establishment for asking about my order.
Naturally, I'm humiliated and completely embarrassed, and I don't even know why. I displayed no aggressiveness or rude behavior. I simply didn't deserve to be humiliated like this in front of all these people. I didn't raise my voice, or threaten anyone. I even avoided making eye contact.
I politely apologized and quickly shuffled out the door, but before I made it, I could hear the other employees behind the counter mocking me on my way out shouting the typical stoner deadhead expletive that I've heard a million times before...........
I'm out 12 dollars. I'm still hungry, I feel like I'm going to faint and I'm totally demoralized.
How did this happen? I'm still processing this trying carefully to see what it was that I did to deserve that treatment. I'm still in shock of how those people could get away with taking my money and then laugh in my face about it.
Should I have tipped? There was a tip jar, but I had no cash..... If this was the case, then I apologize for not having any tip money on me. I promise to do better in the future.
Needless to say, I will never try Five Guys again. This experience has been one of the most traumatic of my life. I know I won't get my 12 dollars back, consider it a tip I guess. At this point it isn't even the money anymore. Even though I can't afford to throw money away, perhaps this was a lesson learned worth 12 dollars.
But consider this..... If your job in fast food is so miserable that your only joy is to humiliate the customers (who, by the way, are the ones paying your wages), there are other opportunities out there and other jobs that aren't as crappy as fast food. Just think about it. read more