Supersize Frustration Please!

Admittedly I tempt fate leaving the office just before 10:30am just in time to get breakfast at McDonald’s. I left in enough time to get in line for breakfast before they change the menu over to lunch.

I normally go to the McDonald’s on Carnegie Avenue. It has two lanes so you can choose either. Of course, I chose the wrong one. The same thing happens at Wal-Mart, Target or any grocery store. This is why I do not gamble. I always pick the wrong one. A woman and a man were in front of me, the other lane had a person, I notice too late, he’s finishing up his order. At this point, I can’t back up and change lanes.

The woman and man in the car clearly didn’t know what they wanted. After about three minutes I rolled down my window to see what was taking so long. Here’s what I heard:

Customer: “I have an expresso as well.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “Will that complete your order?”
Customer: “You know what? I’ll have two coffees.”
brief silence
Drive-Thru Clerk: “Would you like anything in them?”
Customer: “Nope.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “Okay, would you like anything else?”
Customer: “You know what? I’ll have a cream for one of them. That’s all.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “If you don’t want anything else, your total is…”
Customer: “You know what? I’d also like to have an ice water as well.” {scrunching up her nose as if she’s only now becoming a pain}
Drive-Thru Clerk: “If that completes your order, your total is $12.44, please pull around.”

Now, the clerk switches to the person in the other lane, takes his breakfast order then comes over to me.

Drive-Thru Clerk: “Welcome to McDonald’s, can I take your order?”
Me: “Can I still get breakfast?
Drive-Thru Clerk: “I’m sorry sir, we stopped serving at 10:30” {my clock in my car read 10:31}
Me: “So what you’re telling me is I can’t order breakfast because the woman in the car in front of me couldn’t make up her mind.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “That’s exactly it sir. Can I take your lunch order?”
{conversation terminated}

I called McDonald’s and asked for the manager, who ironically answered my call. I don’t have a long history of complaining about much but this time my blood was pumping fast and furious. To the manager’s defense, he did listen to the above conversation and was very sympathetic. He said for me to ask for him the next time I came through and he’d take care of the situation.

I appreciate his generosity but instead of my beloved breakfast from the home of the Golden Arches, I had leftover DiGiorno pizza for my first meal of the day.

Talk about a supersized dose of frustration!