Friday, June 08, 2007

The Filipino and McDonalds

Am I an asshole? Am I asking for more than what I truly deserve? Some say I ask for way too much here in the Philippines. I should just shut up and accept what is and not to fight everything that the Philippines is not. And yes, sometimes, I do shut up. I do know how to pick my battles. I have learned this from one of my advisors in high school, Mr. Hendricks. He was also the one who told me to relax and not be so serious all the time.

Back to this thing of just desserts. Am I asking for too much here?

Just recently, I went to a McDonalds, the one near Greenbelt 2. I actually go there a lot, since it's near my condo, and when I'm lazy to cook, I just McDonald it. Yes, the fat, the grease, the salt. Can you feel the arteries clogging? Not a nice thought. Yuck. But on nights when you are just too damn lazy to fix a healthy meal for yourself, this is a great treat.

I'm probably one of their most frequent customers there. By now you are thinking, this guy must be really unhealthy. I actually eat a lot of chicken breasts and salads as well. I also go to the gym to burn all the calories. In fact, I love sports, and I play volleyball and basketball all the time. So, I think I'm pretty healthy. Sometimes, McDonalds is just so convenient. I actually prefer Burger King, because the burgers there are flame broiled, and the staff there is much nicer.

I digress.

I ordered a quarter pounder, and nicely requested from the cashier if they could put a small piece of lettuce in it. You see, I usually get a Big Mac, and it's got lots of shredded lettuce. This time, I wanted something different. I wanted a quarter pounder, but this quarter pounder has no lettuce. I thought maybe since they see me there all the time, they would grant my request of a lettuce leaf in my quarter pounder.

Obviously, they didn't want to put in a lettuce. The cashier confirmed with her manager, and NO, a big NO. Damn it. Just for a piece of lettuce. I didn't insist, though I guess I became an asshole at that time. What did I do?

I ordered my usual Big Mac. This time, though, I told the cashier to not put the lettuce in my Big Mac. Is there anything else, sir? Yes, I still want my quarter pounder. So I order a quarter pounder. But please put the lettuce, the one you're going to "hold" from my Big Mac, in the quarter pounder. The cashier confirmed with the manager. That was completely OK. No problem at all.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

When I saw my quarter pounder, I decided to change my order. Ms, I don't want the Big Mac anymore. Cancel that order. I just want the quarter pounder.

Voila!!! I got a quarter pounder with lettuce.

I would have paid for the lettuce, had she asked me for a charge from the beginning. In fact I pay eight pesos for barbecue and sweet and sour sauce all the time. I just got so upset, that after spending thousands of pesos there a month, they wouldn't grant me a piece of lettuce. If that makes me an asshole, then let it be. I felt good about it. I'm allowed to be a jerk once in a while, right?

7 comments:

Wil said...

Ok, Vegas, breathe in.... breathe out. Think happy thoughts. hehe. But seriously, McDonald's workers aren't exactly the local mom and pop shop where they care about their customers. They're just there to make money. Workers there are just high school students (usually) who follow orders. That's what they train McDonald's workers to be -- robots. That's what all franchises are. That's probably one reason why I don't really cater to franchises. Why not check out a non-franchise restaurant next time? It'd probably taste better. Peace.

Unknown said...

Hei again,
I was so surprised about your post. I am sure that this is FAST FOOD standard. It is not because the staff are filipinos or because the Mcdonald's is in the Philippines. Like wil said, if you want flexibility, you should try non-franchise establishment. We cannot expect flexibility from fast food chains (even in the western world).

Have a great week ahead!

mschumey07 said...

Nice to see you blogging again. Sorry to hear about you grandfather.

That's the reason why I always order McChicken instead. Nice to hear that one can actually go around the system sometimes.

Anonymous said...

Hope you have the chance to see this indie film "Endo" (short for End of Contract). Its characters are the 'invisible' people—the waiter who brings your coffee, the hotel staff who changes the towels, the salesgirl who gets the shoes in your size. The tables are turned; you eavesdrop on them.

After seeing the movie, I hope you will begin to see them as people with lives and feelings and not someone to bark on when they get your order wrong.

Anonymous said...

I've never seen the movie, but I can tell you that I already see the world as such.

One post like this can distort a view. We commit the fallacy of hasty generalization. We make a judgment of one person's worldview from one example.

The tone of this specific post of mine is a sarcastic one, even to the point of blaming myself for acting like an "asshole" or a "jerk". I see the ramifications of my action.

I do see people lives, regardless of who they are.

Margaret T said...

well, yeah, most of the comments above are true. I had the same experience at McDo-Vigan when uor queue became problematic because I requested a "ketchup" to g with my fries, and there are probably more than five kids who also wanted fries in our line. The clerk said there was no stock of ketchup. I told her the grocery store is just one block away (2 Bros).

I guess, the thing with MNCs is that the staff are not allowed to think.

oh, & by the way, have you talked to a customer service representative lately?

Anonymous said...

this reminds me of the movie Falling Down by Michael Douglas. am glad you did not end a vigilante after your experience in Mcdonalds.