By Kelvin Wade
It’s a small thing and I shouldn’t complain. But you know I’m going to. I recently went through the drive-thru at McDonalds. I’d just been shopping and I needed something cold to drink. McD’s has that special where you can get a 55 gallon drum of soda for a nickel (okay, it’s a dollar for a large drink), so I had to do it.
I ordered a large diet Coke with no ice. I don’t like ice in my drinks because it makes the drink too cold. The drink is cold enough without the ice. That, and I don’t want them putting a shovel’s worth of ice in a cup along with a tablespoon of drink, you know? I’d rather have it with no ice. Simple.
In the old days when you customized an order, the employees would just have to remember what you wanted. But now, it’s printed right there on the receipt. If you order a drink with no ice, it says “NO ICE” right on there. It makes it easy for everyone.
I pay at the first window and pull up to the second. You know where this is going. A grinning woman hands me a drink and straw with a perky, “Have a nice day!”
The cup is full of ice.
“Uh…excuse me. I ordered this without ice.”
“Oh, you did. Does it say it on the receipt?”
I’m lying to you about ice?
“Yes, it does,” I told her.
Is this a huge deal?
She took the drink back and dumped it out. Then she told me, “We’re all out of Diet Coke. I have to refill the machine. Can you park up front?”
What? I got the very last of the Diet Coke? Why was she giving me the dregs of the Diet Coke anyway?
And I hate when they ask you to park. Parking defeats the purpose of going through the drive-thru. If I’ve got to go park and wait in my car for the order, I expect the order to be delivered on roller skates or something.
It’s amazing how little things like this are so frustrating. It’s like when you go through the drive-thru and order food and a drink and you’re driving down the street with the delicious hot aroma of those famous golden French fries filling your car. You fumble in the bag for a couple and pop their sizzling salty goodness in your mouth. At that moment, they’re entirely worth the 72 hours they’re taking off your life. But they’re hot so to cool down you reach in the bag to find the straw for your drink and after two passes around the inside of the bag, you realize they forgot your straw. A little thing like forgetting to give you a straw makes you go ballistic.
But I digress…
Since there were cars behind me, I pulled ahead and parked. How long could it possibly take? I worked in a convenience store with soda machines. You just pour the syrup in there. What’s the big deal? So I sat and waited. I pulled out my iPod Touch and started to play Scrabble on it while I waited for my iceless soda.
And waited.
Now if I had to get out of the car and go in, that would REALLY defeat the purpose of going through the drive-thru.
Through the rearview mirror I saw the McDonald’s employee come out the front door holding a large soda. Inexplicably, she headed towards a car three cars over from me. I stuck my arm out the window and waved her over. She turned and came to me.
“I’m sorry for the delay, sir,” she sang in a pleasant tone.
And she handed me a large Diet Coke with ice.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“Nothing…thank you.”
I drove off laughing. I had to laugh as I sipped my Diet Coke with ice. I’ve been behind people in the drive-thru and I’ve seen angry customers throw their food back in the window and peel off. It’s frustrating when your order gets jacked up at the drive-thru but if this is your biggest problem of the day, consider yourself lucky.
Still…how hard it is NOT to put ice in a cup….?
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