Stephen Yeargin

Today I stood in line at a local McDonald’s, waiting on my turn to order. I always lose a bit of faith in humanity when in these situations because they inevitably turn sour. A few months ago, I waited behind a woman who was verbally abusive to the cashier over how many Chicken McNuggets she ordered versus what she received. Note that I did not say “versus what she paid for,” because her receipt and bag contents matched. For whatever reason, she felt that this injustice warranted holding up the line and making all of us a bit uneasy.

Today’s events were not quite as awkward, but similar. I stood behind a guy on a cell phone that had no concept that he was blocking the rest of us from reaching the counter to order. Finally a woman pushed past both of us to get to the counter, fed up at the idea of waiting. The afternoon did not include a fistfight, as the guy did not even blink and continued on with his conversation.

The people behind the counter do not even blink when things go from bad to worse. I suppose when you work in an industry built around the concept of never having to wait long for anything, dealing with the inconsiderate comes with the territory.

Then again, I suppose from the woman’s perspective I was no better than the guy talking on the phone. To the phoning friend, the two of us were just impatient. The people behind the counter probably think all of us are ungrateful for our leisurely lunches. I think I will just go to Subway next time.