Alright, this situation happened when I took my mom through the drive-thru at a particular fast food restraunt on Friday. A friend and I have been debating it and since most everyone here is familiar with drive-thru times AND customer service, I thought I'd throw it out there and see what you all think.

First of all, you have to understand, my mom is just slow. It frustrates me to no end because I'm the exact opposite. She's always been that way but it seems the older she gets the worse it gets. So, I expected her to be a little slow at the drive thru but WE were in a hurry and it wasn't like we were going to spend THAT long at the drive thru.

Anyway, we are at the drive thru and I'm trying to get her to tell me what she wants. This wasn't a restaurant she's been to recently so I expected her to have to look at the menu. All the while I'm trying to get her to tell me what she wants, we are interrupted twice (after the initial greeting) with someone asking if they could take our order. I had already politely said "Just a moment..." after the first greeting and each interruption was exactly that - an interruption. Each time, we have to stop the conversation and I have to add another "Just a moment."

We are finally just about ready to order and I'm confirming with my mom exactly what she wants and we are interrupted again with a "Would you just like to come inside?" After that, they almost got an earful from me. Yes, the mom was taking a little longer than usual but no sense in being rude about it.

I wish I had been timing it because it's impossible to say exactly how long we were there. I think it was around a minute but I can't be sure. Either way, it wasn't THAT long because I was trying to get her to hurry. It was around 1:00pm so the restaurant was a little busy but for the most part the lunch rush was over.

I didn't complain to anyone because we were in a hurry (had to pull up and wait several minutes for our food once we did order) but have decided I'm not going back to that location. Thought about sending a letter to them but don't know if it's worth the time and my friend has almost convinced me it was OUR fault and not theirs.

He seems to think the employee had a right to be rude because her job is one of the worst jobs out there (she'll possibly get in trouble for the speed of service) and that it's OUR fault because it negates the point of "fast" food for everyone and we should be the ones apologizing to her. However, I've worked fast food before, although not a drive thru, and was never rude to anyone and noone has a "right" to be rude. Plus, it's not like we sat there 5-10 minutes.

I don't agree with your friend that the drive-thru employee has a right to be rude because she has crappy job. If a person doesn't like their job, deal with it or get another job.

Having said that, I don't think the employee was rude. I think she was doing her job. A drive-thru is supposed to be fast. Having sat behind cars where the person(s) ordering couldn't make up their mind, I can tell you anyone behind your car was frustrated by how long it was taking, especially as you say it was during the lunch rush and was crowded. The drive-thru order-takers are told to speed things up as much as possible. After you said "just a minute," she apparently gave you a minute and asked again. And again. Doing her job. I think she may have been right in encouraging you to come inside. If your Mom was sitting in the passenger seat, she probably could not see the menu board very well. Inside, she would have been able to read the menu board much easier and you could have stood out of the way of the lines. That would mean less stress for Mom and for you as you looked at and discussed the menu. Plus no line would be held up.

If I had been in your place, I might have done things a little differently to make it less stressful for my Mom and myself (and the drive-thru order-taker and anybody in line behind me). Knowing Mom is slow and would need to look at the menu before ordering, I probably would have opted to go inside. If that's not possible (maybe Mom doesn't walk well, etc.), I would have prepared Mom in advance for ordering at the drive-thru. I would have downloaded a menu for Mom to look over. Mom and I would have decided what we wanted to order before we got into the drive-thru line.

So, bottom line, I don't think the order-taker was rude for interrupting you to see if you were ready to order. And it sounds like it made service time off - I'm glad I wasn't in the car behind you timing it - I would have had to answer the question "what was the reason for the delay" - I HATE that question - does any shopper ever know how to answer that one?

Marion - The drive thru employee should not have been rude, but it sounds like the employee was following standard training to expedite taking your order. These people are expected to perform to strict timing allocations, and the delay could have caused stress on the employee.

In a situation in which your mom was expected to have a problem choosing, trying to decide while in a fast food drive thru line was not a practical option (I know, hindsight etc., we've all got a bunch of it).

No need to place blame here on anyone. This upset you and I'm sorry it happened, but both you and the employee were trying to handle a difficult transaction in the best possible way. I hope you will extend the benefit of generosity toward the employee and the establishment, and will continue to spend time with your mom and take her out to eat.