Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Thursday Thirteen Why I Feel Guilty

13. Recap from previous post about this subject- My friend Beth was here for four days. On the way to church last Wednesday night, we hit the drive thru at McDonald's to get food for the four boys, and ended up ordering six kid meals, including ourselves in the mix (six piece nugget and apples with diet coke comes out to 285 calories)

12. Employee came right out at the first window, scowled at me, and told me I was "irritating" her because I had ordered so many meals

11. After posting, several people suggested I call the 800 number...I emailed instead, relating our experience.

10. Got an email from corporate McDonald's saying that the proper people at the local franchise have been notified

9. Two days ago-I received a voice mail from location manager asking to call back

8. I decided to let it go...not really necessary to make a big deal. I just wanted them to work with her on her service skills.

7. Tonight-I received another message from Andy at McDonald's. I figured I should call him back since he took the time to call twice. I hoped they were nice to the poor girl.

6. I called him back. I started by saying that I don't want anything....just wanted to let them know but I don't want anything bad to happen to the poor girl

5. Manager told me this was a repeat offender and it was the final straw. They fired the poor girl.

4. The manager insisted that he had to somehow "make it right" wanting to know how to make it up to me. I told him I really didn't want anything. I just didn't want to face rudeness at this drive thru again.

3. The manager was determined to give something in return. When I didn't have a clue what to say, he gave his own suggestion.

2. For the next two days, my car will receive as many apple dipper bags as I want for free.

Now, as silly of an appeasement as it may seem, you need to understand. We hit this drive thru several times a week for "burger apples". It is a small price to pay for a healthy snack for my hypoglycemic boy to eat something on the way to school, often ensuring that he will have a successful morning.

1. My guilt has several layers. In one layer, this poor girl got fired. How do you get job after getting fired from McDonald's? In the 2nd, more selfish layer, I am thrilled to be receiving free apples for two days. Noah will not eat ones I cut up because they "turn brown." In the third most selfish layer of all, I am tempted to get quite a few apple bags on each visit to get us through next week's Spring Break. He never said how many apples. We did have six happy meals the day of the incident.

I talked to my sister-in-law who told me not to feel guilty. I don't know quite what to think.

Back when we were in college, Steve used to tease me because I could get free stuff in pretty much any situation. I don't know if I've become more meek or more mature, but it no longer feels right to get something for nothing.

However...

I will be hitting the drive thru tomorrow for my free apples.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would also feel bad about getting her fired but at the same time it is inexcusable to treat a customer like that. Enjoy those free apples.

Hillary said...

Free apples! SWEET! It's too bad about the girl. But if it happened a lot, then it was probably necessary. So don't feel too bad.

Wendy said...

I just have to drop my two cents here, for what it's worth. YOU did not get her fired. Her behavior, REPEAT behavior at that, is what did it. Don't feel guilty about it. Managers need to know when their employees are not performing appropriately, and she definitely wasn't.

So, enjoy the apples. Consider it a reward for being a loyal customer. :)

Anonymous said...

You definitely did the right thing, don't feel bad.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Wendy completely... you didn't get her fired. You just let the management know there was a service issue. And it was an apparently ongoing one that they needed to know about. The way she behaved is what got her fired. Hopefully it will be an early wake-up call in her life to take responsibility for her actions. Enjoy those apples guilt free :)

Anonymous said...

K-
Don't feel guilty. You have worked food service and you know it's part of customer service to be nice no matter how annoying someone is.

The other thing is, if this girl was a repeat offender, and she was young, she has hopefully learned a lesson. As a mother of a teenage girl, I am waiting for the day my daughter's mouth gets her fired so she learns how NOT to talk to adults. This may have been the wake up call this young lady needed. She will survive and be a better, possibly more mature young adult for it.

And those apples are yummy!

Shannon

Ladybug Crossing said...

Guilt? For them firing a bad employee? Nah... She didn't do her job.

That's great about the free apples.
I'd go through a lot in the next couple of days.
xo
LBC

Nancy Lindquist-Liedel said...

Honey, she is a REPEAT offender. How many people did she treat like something she should scrape off her shoe that were afraid to say anything? You did not get her fired. She did that all on her own. Most McDonalds are happy to have employees. They give them a lot of chances. She probably went through a whole write-up process before and knew she didn't have much rope. I 100% bet this was not a surprise. Really.

bethn said...

Being as how I was there and I saw and heard what she said I would say it's all on her. SHe clearly had an attitude and had probably been given plenty of chances. Besides if I could dole out the 6 happy meals and 4 milks with a smile she could at least take the order with a bit of pleasantness or at least pretend to be pleasant. Enjoy all those apples.

Courtney said...

Good for you and don't feel guilty. I am waiting to hear back from BK for an employee calling me a ho and a b*&@!

Deb said...

I agree with everyone else - she got herself fired. You were just the last straw. If she cared about how being fired from McD's would affect her future career prospects, then she should've thought about that a long time ago. Hopefully it'll be a good learning experience for her - it sounds like she needs it. :)

Stacey,momof 2 said...

Please go and enjoy your apples!

The un-employed girl might need a prayer for changing her spirit towards others!

Just because {she} can use our words, doesn't mean {she} should!

They don't fire you at Mc'd's unless you are REALLY doing a bad job!

Cecily R said...

I'm late to the party, but I don't think you should feel guilty either. Who says that to a customer??? I'd be all over those apples. I like them as much or more as my kids!!

Becki said...

Wendy's right - she got herself fired ;)
Go enjoy lots and lots of apples - and thanks for getting rid of a rude chick at McDonald's that no one else will have to deal with again there.

Sarah in Disturbia said...

hopefully by now you have let go of that guilt! Not your fault. Enjoy the apples!

Mimi's Toes said...

I would have done the same thing. Bad service and rude comments get under my skin. Enjoy the apples.

Anonymous said...

I got a girl fired once from my Dr's Office. I felt horrible but he said she needed to go - your experience was the last straw. I'm sure it was the same situation as that. Plus free apple dippers?? How cool! My kids don't know they come with carmel and if anyone ever tells them, I don't know what I'll do!

Melissa said...

I hope your enjoying your apples! I wouldnt feel guilty at all!

j said...

You never know, that experience and learning how to treat people may help her to keep her next job. Folks have to learn it somewhere.

Be blessed.

Jennifer

Jenny said...

I agree with everybody else, please don't feel guilty!

As said many times before, her behavior is what got her fired.

Enjoy the apples!

Anonymous said...

Ok here we go...

You are not Catholic, nor are you Jewish; (Not a hsot at those faiths; it is a cultural thing... This was not the original sin of Adam...Nix the guilt...although it DOES involve apples...

You worked food service and I even at McDonalds. I am also responsible for educating our associates at the hospital on customer service. She would have had to listen to one of my lectures for 45 minutes!

If I were you, I would be asking for apples for a year. Or at least have the girl babysit for me every weekend for a year so I could have a date night with my spouse!(Though she might need an attitude adjustment before that :-)

She reaped what she sowed...
It is about time a corporate entity burned an employee that deserved it without fear of lawsuits...she was not an accountable individual. Corporate folks don't generally like to fire people for fear of legal ramifications adn liability. They must have documented the hell out of her prior to the incident and now your complaint was the last one the risk management people needed in order to act. The store manager is probably taking the girl's ruby slippers as her feet curl up and singing ding dong the crew member is dead.

So they canned her. Maybe she will laser off her tattoos, pull the piercings out of her nipples/ labia and put her iPod connected earbud pads out of her ears and ass. She got a nice little "Welcome to the real world HONEY!" corporate message.

You did nothing wrong; in fact, you did awesome! I want to call that girl up and ream her myself and laugh at the fact she was fired from a shithole like McDonalds. The lowest of the low! HA HA!. Heaven forbid you should assert yourself in a non-white trash manner!

As for the apples, a tip: if you want to cut up apples at home and prevent them from browning, lightly coat them in lemon juice; the acid acts to prevent oxidation of the apples, which causes the browning. Jen also says you can buy them that way in the deli section of th store...

KC said...

I say lose the guilt and enjoy those apple.. also from your post below.. congrats on your awards..
Great T13