Hell Week At The Golden Arches: Free Coffee Custys, Horrible Coworkers, and Monopoly Game Piece NATS

Oh joy of joys, you know when Mollywobbles writes in, it's never good.  Well, it was that one time when that beer store slave gave us free beer, but I digress.

Some of you may have heard the ads last week about free coffee at McFuckYou's.  Small coffees were free from Sunday to Saturday (limit one per person per visit/vehicle, meaning one could conceivably get a free coffee, drink it, leave and come back later and get another free coffee).   That actually wasn't so bad. 

It was the days following it that were.  You see, when people get accustomed to getting something for free for a full week, they tend to bitch a bit when they have to start paying for it again. 

And on top of that, the day after the promotion ended (Monday), all our prices went up a small amount.  But now, soft drinks and coffees are all sizes for $1...except the senior coffees, which increased in price along with everything else, which are what people were used to paying for before.  Also relevant: Monopoly's back, which I'm usually excited about, but...you know what?  Let me run down my week day by day.

Sunday: Free coffee was over, but prices hadn't increased yet.  I opened on Sunday (something I loathe entirely because I'm a night owl and I have to be to work at an ungodly hour).  Now, depending on who is the opening manager, this means that on a Sunday, we all have to be there at anywhere between 4:30 and 4:45.  I had looked at my schedule on Saturday evening and seen that the opening manager was "Faith", who usually doesn't show up until 4:45. 

So I roll in at something like 4:48, and lo and behold, Faith isn't there.  It's Preggers, so named because she's currently pregnant (this is about a month after Faith has just given birth - I am getting really sick of working with pregnant women, let me tell you).  Preggers is one of those that shows up between 4:30 and 4:40.  As soon as I walk in the door, she's on me.

Preggers: Where've ya been, Molly?

Me: Uh, home.

Preggers: You need to start showing up when everyone else does.  We can't have you coming in so late, especially when you know as well as I do that you have a hard time opening.  If you're going to get everything done, you might not be able to take a break before we open blah blah blah.

Now, I'll give her that, it's another big part of why I hate opening: I've done it a grand total of five times with huge intervals in between, and I do struggle with it.  The last time I opened with Preggers, I wasn't fully done until about an hour after we'd officially opened.  But, I wasn't going to argue that I didn't know the schedule had been changed at the last minute and all of that, and I set to work. 

Preggers had already started tea and iced coffee, and had put the soda tabs back on in lobby, so all I had to do was finish tea, make salads and parfaits, and fill the ketchup pump in lobby.  When I had all that accomplished (I had only to pour one more container of tea into the big holding container and push it into the walk-in cooler) and it was ten minutes until open, I went over what all was done with Preggers and asked if I could go smoke.

Preggers: "I don't care if you go smoke, as long as you've got all your shit done with you having been late and all "- basically starting back up with me. 

I went outside and smoked and fumed, confident that when the 7 o'clock manager came in, it was the first thing Preggers was going to complain to her about.

Well, between 6 and 7, one girl that was supposed to come in didn't show up - a no call no show.  Great. 

Then another girl had (apparently) been in the emergency room the night before, and had her mother run the doctor's excuse over.  Preggers took a look at the note and said, "If you knew she was there since midnight, you should have called and told us she wouldn't be here today." 

I was like, What the fuck? The mother had literally asked "She's not going to be in trouble for this?" and that was the answer Preggers decided to go with?

Then the mother said, "Well, it was after midnight and we knew you guys were closed, so we figured no one would be here," to which Preggers responded (as though she were talking to someone who knew how the place was run): "There's usually someone here until one or two.  Next time, you need to call," and walked off to file the doctor's excuse. 

I just couldn't believe how unprofessional and rude she was being.  It really blew my mind.

Then, since they couldn't get a hold of anyone, I had to stay until 1 PM even though I was scheduled to get off at 10.  Yay hours and all of that, but still, pleh.

Monday: As I said, prices increased, but all soft drinks and coffees (except the senior) are all sizes for $1. 

I was scheduled for a 6-10:30 shift (seriously, most of my shifts for the last few weeks are four-hour shifts or the like, it's really irritating), so I'm not given a drawer but am sent to the drive-thru.  Now our drive-thru is one of those face-to-face dealies, where you order and pay at the same window...usually.  On busy days at busy times, we have a two-window system, where you order at one window and pay at the next, and our second window is at kind of an awkward angle that a lot of people either cut too close or pull way too far away, but I digress again. 

So it being early, a lot of people (about 90% of them regulars) are ordering coffee.  Some of them are still using the phrase "A free coffee" to order, at which point I have to inform them that coffee isn't free anymore, and has, in fact, gone up in price. 

I can't tell you how many times I heard "Oh, so that was their game - get you hooked on the coffee and then raise the price!  Hyuk hyuk!" 

After about two orders, I quit informing people that the price of everything had gone up, because I realized I was wasting my breath.

Well, we have one particularly picky female crusty who always gets two coffees in the morning, and then she'll come back once or twice during lunch/dinner to get food or a tea.  She's extremely picky with her food, and God help you if you mess her order up. She's sweet with you - until something doesn't go her way. 

Well, apparently she wasn't happy at all with the price of senior coffees going up 11 cents, and when I sent her to the second window to pay for her order, she smiled sweetly at me - and let the poor cashier (I'll call her Jean) have an earful. 

I didn't hear any of it, but I had a few seconds of downtime and paid Jean a visit.  As I rounded the corner, I heard Jean slam her window shut and shriek "Then go to fucking Burger King and don't ever fucking come back here!" 

Apparently, this crotchety crusty had bitched incessantly that 80 whole cents was too much for coffee, and that Burger King was giving their coffee away for free this week. By the way, Jean is about 60 where this crusty is about 70-80...and to top it off, Jean has some kind of bronchial thing that she's taking antibiotics, an inhaler and a nebulizer for. By the time the crusty had pulled off, Jean was shaking, and I couldn't help but give her a hug.

The rest of the day is rather uneventful other than the usual idiots and ignoramuses (including one of my all-time pet peeves: people who order from the passenger/back seat at too low a volume, forcing me to ask them to repeat themselves several times, and the driver refuses to act as a go-between), and 10:30 rolls around.  Jean gets back from her break and I ask if she's been told to shut the window down (revert to the one-window system) and let me go home.  She says no.  10:35 comes and goes.  Finally at 10:40 I wait for a break in traffic and gently remind them that I was supposed to go home 10 minutes ago.  They tell me to shut it down and go home.  Now, I hadn't eaten anything by this point and was really wanting a biscuit, which I of course didn't get because they'd all been sold literally two minutes before.  Little thing, but it was the driving force behind my wanting to go home, and I was miffed.  Also, 10 fucking minutes?  I was wondering if they were going to let me go at all.

I had Tuesday off, so Wednesday: 7-2 shift.  I walk in the door and am sent to drive-thru...again.  Seriously, I'd rather lick the floors clean than work drive-thru.  But, I go, and as soon as I get to the back, Jean is there and she asks "Was SM pissed when you came in?"

I said, "No, why?"  Jean explained that this morning, Preggers found a stack of hash brown bags in the women's bathroom trash.  Now, for those of you that follow McDonald's Monopoly, you might know where this is going, but for the uninitiated, the game pieces are on the hash brown bags.  Sometimes you can instant-win food with them.  Someone had taken a stack of the bags, ripped all the Monopoly pieces off of them, and threw them in the trash...along with all of the non-food prize pieces, keeping the food prizes for themselves.  No one knows when this was done or even who did it, but as a result, anyone seen tearing the game pieces off of the things they come on will be terminated on the spot, and no employee can redeem them at our store or the other store in town.  I really want to know who would be that fucking stupid, so that I might punch them in their stupid face. 

Usual people still asking for free coffee, still asking about the "Buy a Quarter Pounder, Get a Quarter Pounder For a Quarter" promotion (it only runs on Mondays, there is a huge banner and at least two signs on the property that proclaim this), usual uneventful-but-still-annoying BS.

*

Thursday (today): 1-7 shift (PRAISE JAYSUS, I don't have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn).  No one has come forward/been caught in regards to the Monopoly hash brown bag incident.  I get sent to drive-thru AGAIN.  FUCK.  My very first customer pissed me off at the time, but thinking about it it's kind of hilarious.

She orders a tea and hands me a card, muttering something about she doesn't know if there's money on it or if it's even the right one, but to try it anyway.  I do, it does, I hand her the card AND her receipt and say "Thank you!"

She takes it, still looking at me, and says "...Did it work?"  I mentally facepalm and send her on her way.  The rest of the day is slightly uneventful, though we had a total dick come through that acted as though the entire process of having to speak/hand money to someone in order to get food is a complete waste of his time.  Had another dumb bitch who didn't quite know how the two-window system worked, she passed me up (at the second one) about halfway, on her way to pay at the pick-up window (which you can't do, they can't retrieve the order there and have to run money back to me).  I open my window, yell out "Hello!" and her total, she looks at me and goes "Uh, I'm already pulled up."  She had half a car length between her car and the one behind her, she could easily have reversed (which she did, begrudgingly and rolling her eyes the whole time).

Three hours into my shift, I have to ask to get my break.  It's at this time I'm asked if I can stay an extra hour.  I agree.  An HOUR later, I get my break, at which point my manager "Cruella" tells me "Oh, you might not have to stay until eight, but go ahead and take your thirty and we'll see."  Christ.  I've had to ask to go home and ask to get my breaks, something I NEVER do.  I've had to ask for breaks twice in the past few weeks, too, and I'm afraid it's been reflecting poorly on me.

Oh, and Birdie still owes me $10.

At least I have the next two days off.

Blarglflargl,

--Mollywobbles

 

 

Comments

[Skittles]

Wow that sounds awful I hope your next week is better. That whole thing with the monopoly tags is ridiculous. It just doesn't seem right that because one person did that all of you are being punished and threatened. Can't they just watch the security feed to see who walked off with a stack of hashbrown bags and came back without them?

[The Last Archimedean]

Things have to get better. I'm basing that on the idea they can't possibly get any worse. That was horrifying just reading about it, I can't imagine what it was like to live through it.

*sends hugs and positive thoughts to Mollywobbles*

Oh well. Here's a bit of philosophy to cheer you up.

White's Statement: Don't lose heart...

Owen's Comment: ...they may want to cut it out...

Byrd's Addition: ...and they want to avoid a lengthy search.

[photoslave]

Sounds like Preggers needs a talking to. She can't speak to an employee's parent like that.

[Mollywobbles]

Jesus, TLA, that was morbidly inspiring. I love it.

Skittles: I have no idea how the security cameras work - whether they get deleted at the end of the night or not - and since they don't know if someone from the previous night or someone who opened had done it, they wouldn't know where to start looking. I guess.

photoslave: I absolutely agree, but as she's related to our Store Manager (and the mother and I were the only witnesses to this behaviour and neither of us has the guts to speak up), I doubt she will. I personally was aghast that anyone would even think to speak to someone like that.

I have since asked to be taken off of openings and to be put on as few morning shifts as possible, so we'll see how that works out. Basically I get put wherever the hell they need me. I actually got two noon shifts this week - yay =3

[Slave of Arch]

<.< And people wonder why McSlaves hate that place with such a passion.
Best of luck to you next week! Like TLA said, it's gotta start looking up soon!

[Bagel Bat]

I applaud Jean, that senior crusty deserved what was coming. I can also see where the "get you hooked then raise the price thing" gets old :/ They think they're being funny and witty but it just makes you want hit them harder.

I haven't eaten at a McDonalds in over a year but it doesn't mean I have serious respect for the you and slaves that work there and make it run.

[Bagel Bat]

I haven't eaten at a McDonalds in over a year but it doesn't mean I have serious respect for the you and slaves that work there and make it run.

Edit: what I meant to say what that I have serious respect for you and your co-workers, you do a great job :)

[James]

You sound like you completed hate your job, somewhat justly, somewhat not. Find something else, where you can be happier, and not nitpick every last little thing that makes you u nhappy.

[Queer Geek]

This brings back memories. Fast food is its own kind of hell.

[Svantus, the Steelport Psychopath (formerly the Wage Slave Avenger)]

James, it isn't just that easy. Think before typing.

[Jami]

@James - In this craptasic economy just leaving one job for another is not just that easy. Unless you're already a multi-millionaire. If it was I would've quit working at the library years ago.

I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in years. Mostly just because I don't like their food. Though I admit I do miss their hash browns.

Molly, here's hoping that The Publisher's Clearing House makes you their next big winner. Then you can buy your own McD's and run it how you please! Hire all the coworkers and managers you like from your current one and leave all the ones you can't stand behind!

[NC Tony]

Shit like this is why I could never work fast food. After dealing with co-workers and managers who don't give a shit about their jobs, they'd mysteriously disappear, and we'd start serving the McSoylent Green!

[The Last Archimedean]

NCT, the McSoylent Green couln't possibly taste worse than what they serve now... you may be on to something. Any crusty who physically assaults a retail slave gets put into The Machine. Any co-worker, manager or executive who treats the slave as anything other than a human being gets put in as well. If that doesn't provide enough raw material we'll start adding other categories of people who deserve it. :)

[Arch Guy]

Monopoly is the bane of any worker of a Golden Arches. Any promotion where its buy one, get one free also sucks. People use and abuse the system so much it's not funny.

@NCT and TLA: I'll send a few of my COW-workers your way to start off the process. Granted, they may taste as bad as their nasty attitudes.

[McDeli]

Oh, Monopoly. I swear, every single day I worked during Monopoly season I would have at least one customer demand the answer for the skill-testing question.

I hope next week goes better for you

[perky]

@McDeli--I haven't kept up with McDonald and the whole Monopoly thing for years so forgive me if I sound out of the loop, but what is the "skill-testing question"? I have never heard of anything like that. Is there now some sort of test question included in the Monopoly game pieces now?

[Mollywobbles]

I'm curious about this, as well, perky. I've never heard of a "skill-testing question" for Monopoly, unless you mean asking what items have the pieces on them.

Seriously, though, there is a pizza place opening soon right beside of my workplace. I had entertained the idea of putting an application in there to supplement my current shitty income, but things are getting to the point where I'm seriously considering hopefully getting a job there and just quitting McHell's. I'm honestly at my wit's end with this place. Thing is - and I know this is going to sound really weird - I would honestly feel a little guilty quitting my job. A few months back, a buffet restaurant opened up in town, and there was a slight exodus of people from here to there. One day I had been late for work, and one of my managers had apparently made the joke that "Maybe she quit to work at [other restaurant]." My Store Manager chimed in and said, "Nah, she'd never go over there." I dunno, I feel like I've established myself there, and quitting would betray some unspoken trust between myself and some of the people there. It's actually a small part of why I haven't quit already.

[Zaku-sensei]

AFAIK - The skill testing question is a Canadian thing. Contests that would be pure chance in the USA are considered a kind of gambling in Canada, and they frown on that sort of thing, but instead of banning them, they just add a test of skill for winners. To claim a prize you have the winning game-piece for you have to answer a skill testing question. usually a simple math problem like 9 x (5+6) - 2
and that is enough of a loophole for the Canadian government to pretend the game of chance isn't a form of gambling anymore. pretty much a cop-out
I've never had to answer the STQ for a food item prize, but it was built into the process of claiming a website based prize like free photo prints, so I assume any cash prizes would have it too.

[Mollywobbles]

That's...really odd. I've never heard of anything like that. Also still not really sure if the answer is 97 or 81. Parenthesis in my math problems always throw me off.

So, you're telling me that if I won something and couldn't answer that math problem, I wouldn't be allowed to claim my prize? That's ridiculous. The whole point of a promotion like Monopoly is (nearly) free money, something for nothing, no skill required.

[McDeli]

(Sorry about the late reply)

But yes, pretty much what Zaku-sensei posted. You have to answer a question (usually mathematical) because the Criminal Code of Canada bans for-profit gaming/betting, but allows prizes to be given for displaying a "skill".

To best describe it, it would be like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- in order to get that Golden Ticket, you improve your chances of finding it by buying more candy bars. Because of this, businesses and Willy Wonka make more money.
Here in Canada, everybody would have the chance to win a Golden Ticket. All you have to do is go somewhere that has a draw box, fill out a form, and answer the question without needing to purchase anything.

But I agree. Skill-testing questions are a load of bullshit and ridiculous, and usually, no one takes them seriously. None of my coworkers nor myself took it seriously, and we gave them the food prizes, whether or not you were able to answer the question.