Have you ever been told by the attendant at the airport, “Sorry, the computer won’t let me do that”? There are people who cannot think for themselves and do things they were not trained to do. Technology feeds into such human behavior. Computer software is designed for the non-thinking incompetent. This is why, when I went to McDonald’s to order a small hamburger with exactly four pickles and a small French fries with no salt it caused such confusion for the cashier. There was no button on the computer to make this order possible.
I went to the McDonald’s on 8th Avenue and 35th Street to conduct my experiment. The experiment was to see the reaction of ordering from the Dollar Menu a small burger with only four pickles and a small fries with no salt. After waiting my turn in line, I placed my order. The cashier looked at me, staring blankly, and after a moment said, “Excuse me, sir, what do you want?” I repeated my request for a small hamburger with only four pickles on it and a small fries with no salt from the Dollar Menu. She told me that they do not have a Dollar Menu, so I was off to a rough start. I instead ordered a small chicken burger, with the same requirements of the pickles and fries. She replied with a surprised look, “I’m not sure we have that, one second,” and proceeded to get her manager. The manager came out and asked me what I wanted and I repeated my request. She responded by telling me that they do not have fries without salt. After my insistence she told me if I was willing to wait five minutes they can get me the fries. She was astonished at my request of only four pickles, being that there is no logical explanation for this. At first the manager and cashier were warm and friendly to me but they got fed up and just thought I was crazy and was not so nice. But the manager did go to the back and after a few minutes, she got me the burger with four pickles. About five minutes later, she returned with my fries. While I was waiting though, I felt like they were getting frustrated with me it was as if no one wanted to go near me. I also caused the line behind me to grow. I then told her that I need the receipt to say what I ordered and she said she cannot print that. Her reason was that the computer does not give that option. So I insisted she write it by hand at least and sign it, which she reluctantly agreed to but not without thinking me to be insane. All said and done, after fifteen minutes and a headache, they finally were able to do the job.
The one thing that the staff at McDonalds did, even though they were clearly annoyed by me, they still were committed to helping me. They did not just say, “Sorry we can’t help you,” they actually did process my odd order. The cashier had no idea what to do so she went straight to the manager. The manager was at first very respective and he tried to help me. He went to the kitchen and told them what I needed and they followed through and did what their manager requested. Although they were no so friendly to me, the staff in effect did a good job because they gave me what I wanted.
If I could improve some things, the first thing I would do is make the store more friendly to custom orders. I should be able to put together my own meal, not just a preset meal from a menu. There has to be a better system in place that allows for customers to do that and for the kitchen staff to be able to accommodate such requests. The computer systems also have to be reprogrammed to allow for custom orders.
In a world where computers can do almost everything, people have to realize that they still need to think for themselves as well. The fast food industry where everything is pre-made and pre-programmed, so when some one should request something different than the norm, they have difficulty handing the situation.
