Tuesday, July 11, 2006

He hangs back, looks for the opening...he scores!

A couple of posts ago I mentioned my outing to McDonalds. I’m thinking it may not have been my accent after all that resulted in my shitty service….

While I was there, there were three tills open. People were lined up in front of two registers, but there was only one guy waiting at the third. I wondered why some of the people from other lines hadn’t moved into this empty one, so I sort of hung back waiting to see if it was closed, or the guy was complaining or something. But no, he got his order, walked away and the attendant looked for her next customer. I took one step left and five steps forward and placed my order. I repeat, there was nobody else in this line...the net was open.

To me this is the McDonald’s etiquette. You may not get in front of someone already in line, but you are free to switch lines to exploit an opening at any time. Any of the people in front of me were free to do so and, being in front, would have had an advantage. But they were too slow and missed out. However they were no worse off than before as they had maintained their original position. But they all just stood there staring at this McDonalds attendant, who must have been hiding behind that man who just left, because they didn’t (apparently) know she was there.

They haven’t had Macca’s (as is called here) for relatively long so when someone like me with a lifetime’s experience in McD’s walks in, scans the situation, sees the opening and takes it…well they’re flabbergasted. How did he know? Is it voodoo magic? Is it cybernetic trickery? How did he KNOW? Then they chased me off with pitchforks and burning sticks screeching Heretic! Yankee! Tall man with… cheeseburgers! When all that happened I naturally assumed it was my accent that had set them off, but perhaps not eh?

Please tell me the McDonald’s Line Jumping Etiquette for your own country, or any others you’ve been to.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

If there are three separate lines, then it becomes the "you snooze, you lose" rule. However, if there is one line with a large gap between the patrons and the registers, and the McWorkers are calling for the next in line, then you can't just walk up to an open cashier.

BTW, what do kangaroo burgers taste like anyway?

exile said...

On the savanna there are two kinds of gazelle, those that run fast and those that are eaten. There are two types of predators, those that kill and those that starve.

We seize opportunity as a means of survival, when we do so with efficiency we ascend to a new level.

Your register(till) sense and line navigation have become an adaptation that has made you superior to the other McD's Dregs

It’s evolution, bitches.

Ghetto Photo Girl said...

Evolution loves thigh fat. Other than that, it rocks.

Amanda said...

I'm of the 'you snooze, you lose' mindset (don't spend too much time in Mickey D's thou- being a veggie an all). Consider it a teaching opportunity.

SkookumJoe said...

I actually hate the place, but when you are on the road its just easy, especially with kids. It may be crap, but it's consistent and predictable crap.

The empty line is rare, this is why I didn't rush right in, but usually you can sort of play Frogger accross the lines and at least advance a few places.

Exile is right, its a natural survival instinct adapted to modern conditions.

Yes H. Wood, you can't enter a gap, only the end of a shorter line. Kangaroo tastes pretty much like beef to me.

exile said...

skook- the only flaw in my theory is that the food we're consuming is macdonald... so we will eventually get fat and be eaten by a dingo....