Can you control my picky request?

The McDonald’s restaurant is every one knows what it is. McDonald’s is a very popular fast food restaurant all over the world even in my country, Korea. The ad says “i’m lovin’ it”, but I did not love dining there. Indeed, I would prefer to eat at a Joe’s burger, which in my opinion is taste better than McDonald’s burger. When my professor Kurpis announced a special assignment to order only 4 pickles inside a burger and one small French fries without salt, I assumed it would be impossible because all McDonald’s cash registers’ machines probably can not operate in detail, so they could not show only 4 pickles and French fries without salt on the receipt.

On November 12, one of my classmates and I went to McDonald’s located in 28th Street to do the assignment. There were many people waiting on line to order their food. We were a little bit afraid of our picky order. I approached one of cashiers, and I asked her “What kind of 1 dollar hamburger do you have?” I did not think that the McDonald’s would still have 1 dollar menus. The cashier suddenly paused and soon explained some of the menus, but her short silence made me feel embarrassed because it was such a cheap menu. I gave up on the order and my friend and I got out of there. I thought that I would try again around my neighborhood where it is not crowded.

After finishing my part time job, one of my coworkers and I walked into McDonald’s around 8: 50 pm on November 15, in Main Street, Flushing. I was happy to see that there were not so many people waiting on line because I was very embarrassed when I requested the picky order the first time in Manhattan. There were about five cash registers, but only four were being used. I got on line and waited for my turn. One of the cashiers serving me was a cute looking Asian boy. When I asked the cashier what I needed, he said “we cannot control it”, so I asked him “why not?” He just looked puzzled with my order for a second and then he asked another cashier and a kitchen staff. He tried to control the register again and he said “got it.” At that time, I kind of felt embarrassed. The cashier told the kitchen staff that a customer wanted 1Cheesburger with exactly 4 pickles on it and 1 small French Fries without salt. The kitchen staff was listening to him and said “no salt?” and the cashier said “right!” I saw that they were din and bustle quietly in the kitchen because of my unusual order.

Finally, the cashier returned to his place and he said, “No problem.” It took about 10 minutes to complete this order. It might seem that it might have taken a while, but it was pretty quick. While I was waiting for my order to be completed, I paid to the person behind the counter and asked him for a receipt. I checked the receipt but it appeared to have a problem. I asked him “I need a receipt showing 1 small French Fries WITHOUT SALT”, but he said “I am sorry I cannot.” I was disappointed but I understood him who tried to make everything correctly for me. I requested that I need a manager’s hand writing with no salt and his signature. Just few second later, I got all. I thought it was enough. There were three staffs involved, a cashier, in just getting my special order, a kitchen staff and a manager. Before I ate the burger, I observed inside, and not only was I happy to find that exactly 4 pickles were placed onto my cheeseburger but also French Fries without salt was pretty fresh. Therefore, I put 1 dollar into the tip box before I left. The workers at the McDonald’s may not have the vision to manage but they have the sense to get the order correctly. They were able to hear the order and relay the message to the proper department. Each department handled their task with ingenuity. They seem to have a cooperative work force where each handled their task regardless of their rank. They satisfied me to the fullest as a McDonald’s patron.

If there were things that I would change, I would have to do the following changes:
1. Change the burger’s stuffs because I found the cheeseburger with only cheese, meat and pickles. I think that the fast food’s quality is so bad. They need to improve on their food quality like Joe’s burger, which has good topping, fresh vegetable and a good taste.
2. Provide better working environment; when cashers treat for the customers, they need a chair to sit because they work on their feet for long hours, so their legs and feet must hurt. These may sound trivial, but comfortable may improve them in treating customers with smile and kindness.

In conclusion, my journey to McDonald’s was not smooth, but service quality was higher than my expectation. If they get motivated as I mentioned, they have potential to be improved.