Everyone has good intentions, and we want to be polite. But sometimes our intentions can miss the mark. While we think we could be doing a good thing, it may be rude to the workers when we’re not meaning to be. With our list, however, you won’t make mistakes anymore. This is what fast food workers don’t like.
Social Media
Unless you’ve gotten permission to record people, the rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t record them. People have been in danger of losing their jobs because of content creators. Others have been harassed. It’s unfair to them, and the filming only serves a purpose for the content creator. If you want to do something nice and tip someone $100, do it off camera.
Don’t Ask For Recommendations
At a sit-down restaurant, this is more acceptable, but fast food places typically have the same sort of items, and the person may not have time to talk to you if they’re busy. It’s also hard asking many questions to find out what you like and don’t, so the employees might not know what they should tell you.
Paying With Change
If this is the only thing you can do, then do it. But if you have bills, the cashier would prefer that. Paying with change means they must count, give you money back, and hold up the line. This could irritate them because they want to keep the line moving and their efficiency high.
Checking Your Order
You’re checking to see if they made a mistake, which is what you should do. However, they don’t want you to do this at the window. The best thing to do is park and make sure everything is right, then go in and correct it if it’s not. That’s the fastest and easiest way to do this.
Joking
It’s sweet that you want to cheer the workers with a joke, but it probably won’t be well-received. They’ve heard everything a million times before, and they may find it annoying. In fast food places, speed is everything, and they don’t want you to slow them down. In some cases, it can be seen as flirting or being too friendly, which can make someone uncomfortable.
Don’t Compare
If you’ve had an issue with a fast food restaurant before, you may think you’re helping the employee avoid making a mistake. What you’re really doing is insulting their intelligence. Each employee is different, and they are going to make your order their way. If they make a mistake, you can tell them, but bothering them with critique beforehand is unnecessary.
Don’t Apologize
It seems that more people are ashamed of what they’re eating, but here’s the thing. Most of the time, the worker isn’t going to care about what you eat. They shouldn’t be. It’s not their business. If they do judge, it’s not your fault and you don’t owe anyone an apology. If you want to eat the burger, eat the burger. Don’t think about what other people think. Just get what you want.
Reaching Past Them
Don’t get into a worker’s bubble. It’s rude and it’s not your place. Reaching past them on the counter to grab things goes against policy, and you’re creating extra work for them for no reason. There is a reason why they keep things where you can’t grab them. Your hands are dirty, and if it’s food you’re reaching for, you’ve just contaminated the entire thing.
Don’t Tell Them Their Job
You don’t need to tell them the recipe for their job. If you want a burger and think you know the recipe better and want to save them time, don’t. Your intentions are good, but this ticks off the employee because if they don’t offer the item anymore or they don’t do a secret menu, you’re creating more work and coming across as condescending.
Tipping
Many people want to tip because it’s a nice thing to do, but in our country, the tipping culture is getting out of control. Many fast food restaurants don’t allow tipping, and should they be caught accepting your tip, they could be fired. Be sure that you’re following the rules of tipping, and if they can’t accept it, then you can’t force it on them. Your act of kindness isn’t worth someone losing their job.
Don’t Comment
Workers are not always treated well, and you may want to be an advocate, which is great. However, the issue with this is that if you’re making comments to the worker, you can make them feel bad. For example, someone who is retired or at that age may not be able to sustain that and have to get a job. Commenting that they’re 70 and still working only makes them feel sad. Instead of speaking to the worker, speak to the manager about the conditions or corporate.
Don’t Argue
If someone asks you to pull to the side, just do it and don’t cause a problem. You may think the polite thing to do is wait at the window, but you’re slowing down their line and impacting their work. That doesn’t help them and is only going to end in frustration. It may feel inconvenient that you have to move, but let it go and do this for them so they can have a more leisurely day.
Keep It Simple
You may think it’s easier to hand the cashier extra money because you get the exact change back, but it doesn’t help them and only complicates things. Instead of giving the cashier extra change to make it easier for you, make it easier on the employee and let them give you the change you need. Letting them count the change and getting you through the line is what’s best.
Big Orders
If you’re ordering for your entire office, you should order ahead of time instead of going through the line. It slows the entire line down, and it causes issues. The best solution is to order large orders for offices or birthday parties ahead of time and pick them up inside. That works the best for the employees.
Don’t Ask About Their Job
Many people are just working to provide their families with money for their bills. Even if they like their job, they don’t have the time to sit there and talk about it with you, and it’s probably not something they want to get into anyway. It’s nice that you want to be polite, but most of the time, they don’t have time.
Quick And Easy
The world needs kindness, and it’s something that would benefit people. But, with fast food workers, they don’t have time to talk or joke. They just have time to do their job and get through the day. You can still smile and be polite, just respect their time and ensure you’re not slowing them down. With our list, you’ll be set!
