Working in fast food is a wild ride, sure, but working at a drive-thru is a whole different ball game. People seem to have a sense of comfort and security in their cars that they don't have at the counter, and occasionally, it can lead to extremely bizarre or disturbing situations like these. From couples who pulled up while they were getting busy to entitled Karens to cars filled with...unpleasant surprises, these drive-thru workers witnessed the worst that their jobs had to offer.
1. Aced It
When I was working at a McDonald's in high school, there was a fad where people would go through, order a drink, and then throw it back into the window. Well, one time, someone tried it but forgot to take the lid off. When he threw it at me, I finally got revenge for the months of persecution. I reflexively volleyball-spiked back towards his car. The cup hit the window, opened up, and spilled all over this guy's car.
And by that, I mean all over his lap, his seat, and his dashboard. He looked down, then back at me, and said: "Dang...you got me good." Then he drove off.
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2. Just Another Night
I was working at a Taco John's in high school. It was Halloween night. The beeper went off to let me know that there was a car out there. I pressed the button and said, "Welcome to Taco John's, can I take your order please?" I heard some muffled swearing and panicked sounds. Then nothing. I couldn't see the menu board from where I was, so I walked to the back of the store, opened the back door…and what do I see?
A car on top of the menu board. The guy was frantically trying to rip his license plates off, and a woman was yelling at him. The guy then took off, leaving his girlfriend there—but that’s not the funniest part. We call the authorities. The officers saw the car and the girlfriend, then said, "Oh yeah, Deano. We know where to pick him up. Sorry about the menu board. I guess your drive-thru is closed for the night."
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3. His Last Words
When I was 16, I worked at a McDonald's drive-thru. On a Sunday evening, I had a customer begin his order by asking for a double cheeseburger with no pickles. Then, he just stopped talking. After asking, "Sir? Did you need a moment with your order?" I just figured the dude had realized he'd forgotten his wallet or something.
I had one of the guys working the grill go outside and pretend to check on the display sign to see what was going on. I’ll never forget what happened next. The grill guy ran back in, obviously shaken and talking really fast. "Oh my God, I think the guy's dead!! I can't tell!! He's all slumped over. His window was down, but he didn't move when I asked if he was okay. He's dead!!"
We let the shift manager (who was only a 23-year-old guy) know what was going on, and he called 9-1-1. The ambulance showed up a few minutes later (by that time, our drive-thru line was wrapped around the building because people wanted to gawk). They did CPR on the dude for a minute or so, but nothing seemed to change.
Then, they loaded him into the ambulance and one of the ambulance drivers moved the guy's car out of the drive-thru lane. Our manager called to check on him later that evening and we found out that he'd had a massive heart attack and probably died almost instantly. I was the last person to hear the dude's voice. His last words were spent ordering a double cheeseburger with no pickles. Pretty scary!
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4. Cut Your Nails!
I was working the second drive-thru window at McDonald's. An order came up on the screen for three large unsweet teas. One of the girls I was working with said, "It's the teddy bear guy! Don't let him touch you!" I was confused, but didn't think much of it until the driver came up to the window. It was an old man in a big, navy blue van.
He smelled like he hadn't showered in days. I greeted him and handed him the tea. He reached out with his hand and I nearly gagged at the sight of his long, yellow fingernails. I took special care to not touch him at all. After I handed out the third tea, I turned around to tend to another order, when the same girl said, "Look now!"
I turned around as he drove away, and I saw a giant teddy bear in his back seat. It was honestly one of the most bizarre and terrifying things to happen to me in my life.
5. The Late Night Crew Always Sticks Together
Long ago, in a faraway land, I worked for Taco Bell on weekends. I was working the drive-thru window at 2 AM. Some guys with severe munchies order about $30 worth of food. After I give them the total, one of the guys tells the other that it would be funny to throw his drink into the employee’s face at the window. I was furious—but what happened next was amazing.
I waited until I got the money, gave them their food and change, but not the drinks. When they asked for the drinks, a few guys in our crew went to the window and suggested they didn’t need the drinks, because they would hate if one of them had a drink accidentally thrown in his face. The looks on their faces when they realized the whole crew heard them on the headsets and speakers in the kitchen were priceless.
They left without drinks. It’s nice when your coworkers have your back.
6. Not a Great Thing to Overhear
I worked at a McDonald’s in a rough part of town back when I was a teenager. We had uniformed cops in the lobby after about 6ish. One night, two guys ordered but couldn’t pull up because the line was a bit long. They didn't realize that I could still hear them—and their chilling conversation made my stomach drop. They were debating whether or not to rob me. I walked up front, got one of the officers, explained the situation, and he followed me back to the window.
When the guy handed me a credit card, I asked for ID, then handed the ID to the officer, who stepped clearly into their view and copied down the license info into a notebook. He had a short chat with the guys through the window and told them to get lost. I handed them back the cards and canceled their order. The officer took statements from the other people on the headset and went back to sipping his coffee.
7. That’s Way Harsh
I heard a couple break-up. I asked to take their order, she couldn’t make up her mind, he said to give them a moment, which lead to him just absolutely kicking off about her inability to make any kind of choice in their relationship, let alone good choices apparently, and ended with him saying, “We’ll get the food, I’ll take you home and that’s it, I’m freakin’ done.”
When they came to the window she was full-on sobbing, like those ugly-gasp-choking cries. The dude just paid and kept on going.
8. Alternative Definitions to “Horny”
Not a drive-through worker, but I have a story. One time I pulled up behind a large SUV at a drive-through. The SUV was rocking back and forth and there were these weird moaning sounds coming from the back. My friend and I just glanced at each other but didn't say anything. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. Then this grotesque, horned face appears in the back window, looks at us coldly, and says "Baaaaaahh!" The SUV was full of goats.
9. Every Meal Comes to an End, After All
Thankfully, I did not have to truly see this extra passenger. We had a funeral home close to our store, and their less sociable “prep people” would come through our drive-thru regularly in the large van we ALL knew transported the bodies. A handful of times, she brought the actual freaking hearse through but swore the casket in the back was empty.
You could see she adored the attention and questions and it was genuinely uncomfortable to talk with her. Only thing I can say I'm grateful for is that she didn't park in one of the carhop stalls—just a general vibe of "Nah, I don't need a reminder of where this patty melt is going to land me."
10. Eating for Two
A lady in labor, in the driver's seat, by herself, ordering food. She was literally having contractions and doing the weird breathing thing that women are supposed to do to help with the pain. She said she was on the way to the hospital, but she wanted to get a burger, fries, and a soda before she went. There wasn't even anyone with her, that lady drove herself to the hospital while having contractions and chowing down on a dang burger.
11. Revenge is a Dish Best Served Hot
A relative of mine was working the drive-thru at a certain McRestaurant in the early 80s, it was the morning shift, and there had been a few sightings over the summer of "the flasher,” a man who would expose himself from his convertible in the drive-thru. The girl at the first window all but ran to the bin behind the counter and told the girls working that the flasher was in the drive-thru.
She said that he had handed her a bunch of change and that she had to count it, and could see it the entire time. His pants were around his ankles and he just stared at her. So, said relative on the second window handed the bags out the window to the flasher, who told him she forgot the coffee. It was all a lie, and she was actually just enacting her plan for revenge. She went and grabbed the pot that was still brewing and poured a cup of the hottest, opting for no mercy.
She pretended to trip as she leaned out, saying "Here... whoops!" The scalding black coffee landed directly on the exposed groin, the flasher screamed and floored the gas, almost taking out the exit-sign by the driveway, and ran a red light through an empty intersection…off into the sunrise, never to be seen again.
12. Elephant In The “Room”
I was working at a Tim Hortons in Newfoundland when I was 15. A guy came up to the speaker box, ordered his coffee, and then I heard a weird noise that sounded like an elephant. When he approached the window, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Lo and behold, there was in fact a baby elephant in the back of his pick-up...at the drive-thru...on an island in Canada.
I was so confused, but I just couldn't bring up the elephant in the room—or in pick-up, I guess.
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13. A Big Splash
I worked at a McDonald's in my sophomore year of high school. Some lady went through the drive-thru at about 1 AM and someone accidentally gave her Diet Coke instead of regular. In her rage, she threw the drink back through the window—but that wasn’t what it made it memorable. It was where the drink landed. The drink splashed right into the hot frying oil and it began to sizzle and splatter—and then, it splashed all over one of our co-workers.
The lady drove away pretty fast, but the manager got her license plate number off the cameras. She was sued for that incident.
14. Right Back Atcha
I have a McDonald's story. I was out in the car park taking care of bins when a big, bulky family car that had just been through the drive-thru started circling and revving profusely. It caught my attention because it wasn't like it was a sports car. I didn't get why he was revving. I soon found out it was because his kid had gotten the wrong topping on his ice cream.
The man yelled through the window at me when I got back inside. His kid also threw the ice cream at me, ruining my uniform. I was pretty ticked off, so I picked it back up and threw it back at the car. As it was sailing its creamy way toward the car again, it suddenly dawned on me that this guy might get out and get me fired, so I froze. Luckily, it landed on the roof cream side down and the guy hadn't noticed!
So he drove off in his car wearing a little waffle hat. I wish I'd been there to see his face later on. I quit about a week later when an angry customer smeared her excrement on the walls of the washroom.
15. Having Too Much Fun
I once had a group of college students pull into the drive-thru at two in the morning, singing "My Heart Will Go On" (quite well, actually). After they sang the final line, they abruptly accelerated over a concrete slab and into a parked car. The best part? It was my manager's car.
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16. Early Morning Karen
I once worked at Dunkin Donuts for a few months. Once, we had a lovely woman pull up at the drive-thru 20 minutes before it opened. Naturally, my co-worker and I ignored her while we hurried to set up because without the headset on, we had no idea she was even there. And there was no way I was putting that thing on a minute earlier than I had to.
Eventually, she pulled up to the window with an evil-looking face. We gestured to tell her "Sorry, we're not open yet," but apparently, she took it personally. She then started banging on the glass. When we opened the window to explain that we couldn't serve her yet, she began cursing and squeezed her fat self out of the car.
She leaned into the window spewing off insults. We just stared in awe. I think we told her the authorities were coming or something and she left.
17. Time To Get A Bigger Car
I had a customer come through with a giant grandfather clock in the back seat. The thing was so huge it was sticking out the side window, which just so happened to be on the left side of the car. This meant that the dude couldn't get close enough to the window to reach his food and had to step out. He didn’t stop cursing until he drove off.
18. Man’s Best Friend
When I worked at McDonalds, this guy would come through the drive-thru every couple of days and his dog would always be seated beside him in the passenger seat. The guy would order breakfast for himself, and a piece of bacon for his dog. After we’d seen him several times and come to know him and his pooch better, we’d give him some bacon and sausage in a separate box for his dog.
This was only when the store manager wasn’t around though, as she would have flipped out. The dog came to know our drive thru quite well. We’d hand the food to the guy and he would take the small box with the bacon and sausage and hold it out to his canine friend. The dog would then give the box a gentle sniff before carefully taking the box in his mouth, moving back to the passenger seat and nudging the box open to enjoy his feast.
19. Still Not Clean
I worked at a McDonald's in high school over 20 years ago and I still remember this one man. He pulled up and I nearly puked. He smelled of what I can only describe as rotting garbage, body odor and possibly a dead animal. That smell haunts me to this day. There was also trash piled high in the car and the dashboard was covered in old hamburger wrappers.
I felt so bad for the guy. He handed me money from his coat pocket and it was wet, soggy cash. He dug out the change from his center console and there was a gritty substance on the coins. Now, I've handled deer guts and the like, but never in my life have I ever wanted to scrub my hands with boiling water, bleach and steel wool.
20. Act Natural
This is the perfect chance to talk about the high grandma I had during an overnight at McDonald’s in Canada. It was just a normal late night and we were completely dead at 2:30 am in the morning. There were no cars, so me and a co-worker were just cleaning our stations. Then from the hedges beside our restaurant, we just see lights shine through and hear cracking.
That’s when we see a car burst through the hedges. The car turns into the corner at our drive-thru, does a U turn and we think that it’s coming to our window. Nope. Instead, it drives around the back of our McDonald’s to go into the drive-thru the proper way. The driver orders a bottle of water like nothing unusual happened and then just carries on normally.
No one believed us until we got a manager to pull up the security footage. It was poor footage and barely showed the entire thing but you could still see the car enter, which was all you really needed. It then pulls up a few seconds later. I’ve been there a year and have been working the drive-thru since I started and this is still the funniest thing I’ve seen.
It’s either that or the guys who came through with cardboard and bike wheels and tried to order their food in a makeshift foot car.
21. Payback is a Five-Letter Curse Word
A woman pulled up in the drive-thru talking on her phone. I asked what she would like, she told me she needed a minute while continuing her phone conversation. A minute later I asked if she was ready. She yelled no and then went back to her conversation, saying something along the lines of “OMG this witch at the drive-thru won’t stop rushing me.”
It was the lunch rush and there was a lot to do inside so I started helping the other team members and ignored her. A long 30 seconds later, she was FINALLY ready to order—so I got my revenge. I made her wait a full three minutes before actually taking her order. Waste my time and call me names, and I’ll waste yours, lady! P.S. We can hear everything you say the second you pull up.
22. A Great Comeback
This guy came up to the speaker and uttered, “I’m hungry and horny.” To which I replied, “Well, we can help with the first, you are on your own for the second one.” He took it in stride and was still laughing when he got to the window.
23. Strange Scenes at Starbucks
I work at a Starbucks drive-thru. One time an older woman and a girl maybe early 20s drove up to the box. The woman started ordering liked normal—then she started screaming. We could hear a commotion and then saw the younger girl slapping the bejeesus out of the woman. Then the woman started to drive forward while screaming. Then the girl gets out and had crutches and a broken leg just started hobbling away.
I still have no idea what that was about.
24. Some People Need to be Called Out
I work at a local burger/ice cream place. During the summer, we’d occasionally get pretty backed up in drive-thru, due to pretty much everything being made to order. So I take this lady’s order, but she has to sit there for a while since the line was so backed up. About seven or so minutes after she orders, she (very loudly) says, “What the heck could be taking so long?! It’s a fast food place!”
She had no idea we could hear her. So, without much thought I turned my mic back on to apologize for the wait. I could feel her embarrassment from the window. I didn’t really realize that I called her out like that until my co-worker said something.
25. The Fantasy of Every Fast Food Worker
I was working at McDonald’s while in high school. I’ve since served as a combat medic and can safely say that the drive-thru was still the worst time in life. Anyway, this one woman comes up to the speaker and, before I acknowledge her, is screaming the most vile profanities imaginable at, what I can only assume, is her children in the same car.
I greet her and her tone immediately shifts to pleasant. She gets up to the window and does the same thing, screaming profanities and then super pleasant during our interaction. Until, of course, she realizes that we didn’t give her enough straws. As I was 16 and didn’t really care about the job, I said “Ma’am, I’m 16. I have plenty of time to grow out of working at McDonald’s. This [gesturing towards her] is probably going to last a lifetime.”
The manager had to give her some free french fries to calm her down and make her go away.
26. Dozing Off
I had a man and woman come through and order. They got to the window and he fell asleep within the 60 seconds that he was sitting there. The lady woke him up and he paid. Then, before we could hand his food out to him, we noticed his truck started to roll. I got to the window in time to see the truck scraping the side of the building. He then woke up, got onto the highway, and floored it—but the story didn’t end there.
He came back 30 minutes later and ordered something completely different. He didn't know that he had been to our KFC already. The manager called the authorities and we kept him in the drive-thru until they got there.
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27. Spoke Too Soon
I worked at a Starbucks throughout high school. One time, a couple came through in a big pickup truck. I asked them how their day was, and the female responded with: "I was just released from the hospital." I replied, "Good to hear you are all better!" She then proceeded to tell me that she was in a car accident and was paralyzed from the waist down.
My jaw hit the floor and I was speechless. I handed them their drinks, wished them off, and watched as the wheelchair sped off in the back of the truck. I'll never forget that encounter. That made me feel like a piece of garbage.
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28. Gotta Catch 'Em All
I worked at McDonald's for almost two years. The strangest incident would have to be the kid who attempted to pay me in Pokémon cards by explaining how much each was worth on eBay. When I explained to him that his cards could not be used as currency, he became upset and accused me of being a "dirty Yu-Gi-Oh fan." He eventually drove off, leaving me confused with both his cards and his food.
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29. Spare Pickles
A couple of years ago, I worked at a drive-thru and this guy came around to pay. When he got there, he said, "Did I say I wanted extra pickles on that? Because I want extra pickles on that." I informed him that his burger was already made and ready to go, but I offered to have a new one fixed up with a satisfactory amount of pickles. The man paused, then had a look of realization.
He looked up and said, "Don't worry about it! Now that I think about it, I think I might have some extra ones right here." The guy then proceeded to open up his glove compartment and pull out a giant jar of sliced pickles. It was weird.
30. Free Therapy
I was once working at the drive-thru and this lady came up to the speaker, I greeted her and told her to order whenever she was ready. She said that she wasn't going to order anything and that she just needed someone to talk to. The customer is always right, so I talked with her about how my day was going. Then, she hit me with a huge curveball. She told me she had an incurable, infectious disease.
I was dumbstruck. The lady probably just got diagnosed and the only person she could talk to about it was me, the drive-thru guy. I talked to her for a few more minutes, and then she said that she had better go. I never saw her face or even her car.
31. Dumpster On Wheels
I was working at a drive-thru one time when a car pulled up and it was completely filled with trash. And when I say filled, I mean legitimately up to the ceiling in the back seat and up to shoulder height in the passenger seat, from top to bottom, it was disgusting. I was so stunned I nearly forgot to give them their food.
32. Buy And Sell
This older woman pulled up at around 9-10 PM, close to closing time. She had a baby teacup chihuahua in her hand that was wearing a sash and a tilted pink plastic tiara. She talked a bit of nonsense, then after I found her order in the system, I went to grab her card/cash, but instead, she held out the dog. Like, just held it out there.
It looked like she was about to drop it so I grabbed it. After holding it for a few moments, completely flabbergasted, she explained she’s selling them for fifty bucks a pup. Trying to be polite, I lied and said I’d have to talk to my parents about it, gave her the dog, had her pay for her order, and sent her on her way.
It was the weirdest encounter, to this day, next to some lady that asked me to find someone to help her move. I ended up doing that myself with my dad’s help. She was a complete hot mess with problems out the wazoo.
33. It Looked Open
Two young girls in their 20’s pulled up to the drive-thru one morning. As I handed out the food, the passenger turned her head as if to barf out the window, but her plan went so, so wrong. She didn't realize that the window was rolled up so the puke just oozed down the glass. I made sure to give them plenty of napkins to try and be helpful. Later, I found their puke filled napkins all around the parking lot.
So, I got the luxury of picking those up as well. Treat your service people nicely folks, they put up with quite a bit.
34. Poultry Purse
I once complimented a woman on her purse that was in the exact shape of a chicken. It was made of colored rubber and was a really unique item. She then proceeds to tell me to hold on, gets out of the car and grabs an identical chicken purse. She gives it to me and proceeds to say that she has been “waiting for the right person to give this to.” It was used and quite old.
35. Secret Ingredient
There was this woman that would come through and get a hot chocolate every day. Her name was Mary. Mary was an older gal in her 70’s, drove an early 90’s Lincoln, usually had some old tunes playing, and weighed 60lbs, if that. She was always so happy and so nice. I always gave her drinks for free because it was always such a treat to see her and she was just so nice.
One other feature I remember is she always rocked suspenders and a random colored fedora every day. I think she reminded me of Ms. Frizzle after she retired. One day, she comes through and orders her usual. I said, “Mary, why are you always in such a good mood? What’s your secret?” She smiles and waves me closer. I lean out the drive-thru window.
Then she says something that makes my jaw drop. She quietly says, “Really, really good drugs.” She winks at me, turns her radio up, and cruises out of the parking lot. Mary is my hero.
36. So, Is That One of the Secret Herbs and Spices?
A KFC in the town over had someone selling weed through the drive-thru. His customers would ask for “extra biscuits” with their order, and he would put the weed in the bag—but then he made a fatal mistake. A soccer mom one day went through, had about five kids with her. She orders extra biscuits for them. Suffice to say, that guy was fired pretty quickly. It made the evening news too.
37. The Time Before All-Day Breakfast Were Wild
I used to work at McDonald’s. We finish serving breakfast at 10:30, guy pulls up at 10:40 and says “I’ll have a sausage and egg McMuffin.” I apologize and say that we’re not serving breakfast anymore. There’s silence for around 10 seconds...then I hear him say “Freakin’ HECK!” fairly loudly and drives out of the drive-thru at around 30 mph (way too fast).
He nearly clipped someone’s side mirror as he came past.
38. Slipping Through My Fingers
I used to work at Tim Hortons. When I had to work on the window, I would barely ever look to see it if it was busy. I'm 6'2'' tall, so for me to look out of the window, I basically have to double over since the opening was so low. I still cringe when I think about what this led to for one customer. This one day, I was really distracted when I took the customer's money. I didn't look properly and when I handed the coffee out the window, I let go when I felt a hand grab the cup.
Immediately I heard an "Oh no!" so I looked out the window and the guy had nubs for fingers. He was waving his hand back and forth trying to get control of the cup enough to bring it in his car. I apologized profusely and he left after a couple of minutes.
39. Get A Room
I was working at the drive-thru at Starbucks and I got these trashy people. I could tell they were trashy because of how much extra Caramel Drizzle they wanted on their Vanilla Beans. When the car pulled up, the girl, who was in the passenger seat, was basically doing indecent stuff to her driver boyfriend. They had zero care in the world. They were so casual about it as if it was totally normal.
To this day, I don't think I fully understand what happened that night. Thinking back, I wish I had repeated back to them, "Two venti Vanilla Beans with extra cream?"
40. Careful What You Wish For
When I was in high school, I worked at a burger joint. At first, they'd always put me on the fryer, and that really sucked. The guy who supervised me was Joe. Joe was pretty much a jerk, and he was always yelling at me for something. Anyway, one day, they took me off the fryer and put me on the window. I started my shift, and things were going well.
Then, near the end of the night, this one guy rolled back around the drive-thru. I opened the window and he looks me dead in the eye, saying: "My tots aren't freaking done you stupid piece of garbage." He then THREW THE BAG at me. Guess who was on the fryer? JOE. So, we cooked the guy some more tots and Joe somehow blamed the mix-up on me.
I worked there for like five more months after that. I did not have much fun. Good shakes though.
41. A Fair Trade?
One early Saturday morning in high school, my buddy and I were blazing really hard. We were absolutely gonzo, and we were challenging ourselves to block the munchies. Every time one of us got an urge to eat, we would force ourselves to keep going. Long story short: we were toasted. We ended up caving around 2 am and our friend drove us to the nearest Burger King.
We went through the drive-thru and it was totally dead; not a soul or car in the area. We ordered a ton of food, and when we pulled up to the cashier window, the cashier was this older, 50-year-old dude who seemed to be the only one in the entire restaurant. I can’t believe what he said next. He looks right at us and asks with total sincerity: "You kids got the good stuff?"
My friend and I both busted out laughing, vehemently denying it, naturally. But the man persisted and asked three more times. Eventually, we caved and said yeah. He then proposed a trade—as much free food as we wanted for some of our "good stuff." We obviously agreed. We met him around back near the dumpsters and made the trade.
When he still bothered us for more after we had already given him some, we sprinted back to the car and peeled out. We looked back and the dude was chasing us down the road on foot. Wild.
42. The Human Tables
When I was working the drive-thru at Popeyes, we would always get this one couple that made us brace ourselves. Sure, we had plenty of regulars, but every employee knew of the Human Tables. It would always be the four of them: the dad, the mom, the sister, and the brother, and they always rolled up to the window with AT least three big bags of food from other fast food places. Not bags of trash, but bags of uneaten food.
We would call them the Human Tables because they all had their seats all the way back and would use their stomachs as tables. The smell was pretty horrid as well. Didn't seem like they were doing too good a job of disposing of their trash from three meals a day of fast food.
43. You Got Coned
I worked at McDonald's for two years and the strangest thing that happened was when a bunch of teenage boys came through the drive-thru in a minivan and ordered an ice cream cone. When they pulled up to my window (it was night, so we were down to one window), a guy who was laying on the top of the minivan grabbed the cone by the ice cream and they drove off.
They proceeded to come back through the drive-thru to ask if one of them had left a wallet inside.
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44. Drive-By Throw Up
We had an old lady who would come nearly every night, about 15 minutes from closing, and order the same thing—a small chocolate ice cream cone. For small orders like that, we would take the order, make the order and hand it to the customer from the first window. She would get her cone and drive very slowly around the building. Normal enough, right? Oh, strap in.
She would then stop at the outlet of the drive-thru for about one minute and finish the ice cream. Then, she would open her door, lean way out and, straining against her seatbelt, stick her finger down her throat and puke the ice cream right back up in our driveway. So, part of our daily closing activities was to go wash the mess up with a hose.
45. Why Didn’t The Chicken Cross The Road?
I was working at a McDonald's drive-thru in a small town in Michigan when this truck came through, paid, and then pulled forward to get its meal. Then out of nowhere, a chicken jumped out of the back of the truck. I yelled for the next car in line to stop, but she looked confused. That's when things went from weird to horrific. She ended up running over the chicken.
It wasn’t dead but it was a wreck. She looked at me and we were both in tears. Then she said she had to and I said "no". She ignored me, put the truck in reverse and backed over the chicken again. I was in disbelief and couldn’t believe what I saw, so another employee had to get a shovel and scoop up the chicken from the drive-thru lane.
46. Special Cover
I worked at Domino's and one crazy lady used a hand crocheted blanket to keep her pizzas warm. She kept the blanket in the front seat and draped it over the boxes every single. I crochet, so I know how much work went into that blanket, and she used it exclusively to keep her pizza warm for the drive home. It fit over the boxes perfectly. That lady was a real one.
47. Don’t Know If You Don’t Ask
Once while working at Taco Bell in a small country town, at around 1 AM, a beat-up pickup truck came through. Now, his order wasn’t strange, however, his teeth were horrible. He ordered something we didn't have ready yet and after I gave him his change he struck up a conversation with me. That was normal enough, but then everything changed.
I told him his food was almost done. He leaned in real close to the window, gestured for me to come forward and whispered in my ear "Do you have any drugs on you? I have cash." I was too shocked to even reply to that, so I just pulled away and handed him his bag and he thankfully left. Then, as he drove off, I saw that there was a whole alligator chilling in the back of his truck.
48. The One Where Chandler And Joey Go To A Drive-Thru
This one time, I was helping these two teen boys when I heard a strange noise from the back seat. “That’s the duck,” one of them told me, followed by a honk from the back. “And that’s the goose.” It’s worth noting that they had just left a football game and came straight to the drive-thru, so lord only knows where the duck and goose were before that.
49. It's Just A Prank—Hopefully
My brother was taking the drive-thru order and there was lots of muffled talking, as though it were a group of people trying to decide what to order, along with some shushing. That’s not unusual, but what happened next sure was. The car pulls around to the window when out of nowhere, the trunk pops open and a guy jumps out.
He immediately takes off running, and the four guys in the car jump out after him, tackle him in the street, throw him back in the trunk and speed off.
50. Revenge is a Dish Best Served Steaming Hot
I used to work the grill at McDonald’s. Once, this guy came through and said, “I want two double cheeseburgers and I want ‘em hot, $@#%!” I don’t like him swearing at my drive-thru partner, so I make those doubles and throw them in the queuing oven. A queuing oven is like a billion-watt microwave—you normally put a burger in for like three seconds, and I put these in for 10 seconds, then hot-potatoed them into the bag and gave them to the person at the drive-thru.
I listen over the headset and hearing him opening the bag, followed by “OW THAT’S HOT $&@#%!!” So satisfying, it still makes me smile 25 years later.
51. That’s Some Questionable Parenting
There were two homeless people fighting in the parking lot. Some guy rolled up to the speaker with two kids in the back, and I couldn't believe what I heard him say: “Do you guys want to watch them fight?...Ok, I’ll go through and get the food you guys stay here.” I was watching on the security camera as this man lets out two kids, around six and eight years old, so they could stand by the dumpster and watch two drunk guys beat the heck out of each other with bricks.
52. The Monster Mobile
I work at McDonald’s. One day, a woman came through with her family in the car and ordered one of the hamburgers with extra onion. She got up to my window—I was the server—and asked whether we'd put extra onion on it. I told her we had—which was correct—but she proceeded to check the burger and decide there wasn't enough onion.
We asked her to park up and we'd run her out a fresh burger with extra onion. I took the burger out myself. Still not enough onion, how much onion does this woman want?! I take it back inside and watch the guy in the kitchen PILE onion onto this burger. She accepts it this time. It's fine, there's enough onion. She hands the burger to her young kid in the back of the car.
A few minutes later, she runs up to my drive thru window begging for some plastic bags—we don't have any—because her son's thrown up in her car. It took all my willpower not to ask if it was the bloody onions!
53. It Takes More Than Skin To Phase Me
Chick Fil A. A butt naked—except a hat and sandals—middle-aged long-haired guy pulls through in a jeep with all the doors and top taken off. We still served him. No one was comfortable looking at him except for me. I was the window person. I didn't make an expression and acted like it was nothing to me and his goofy smile faded pretty quick after the less than enthusiastic "my pleasure.”
Everyone thought I was God. I guess I failed to mention this happened in the middle of the lunch rush... and that made it even funnier. So yes, this was in the MIDDLE OF LUNCH RUSH. We would often do well over 100 cars and sometimes could hit 200 in the window of 11 am to 1 pm.
54. Someone Is Getting A Happy Meal
Finally, a chance to tell this story! When I was 16, I worked midnights at McDonald’s in the summer, and since it was the summer, a great many drunks came through my drive-thru. Once, at about 2 am, which we called the bar rush because all the bars would let out and an unbelievable amount of people would stop by on their way home, a car full of drunk 20-somethings pulls up.
The guy I'm interacting with, the driver, has a jacket on his lap... and underneath that is a girl who I can safely assume was making him quite happy. I stared open-mouthed for a few seconds before taking his money and giving him his food. McDonald’s drive-thru after dark is a strange and terrifying place, my friends...
55. Cinnamon Fiend
My first real job in high school was at a very loosely-managed Taco Bell where one of the supervisors had been fired recently. While I was working the overnight shift, he came through the drive-thru, pointed a pistol at me, and robbed me of all of my Cinnamon Twists. He took the whole pan of Cinnamon Twists right through his car window. We later cooked a new batch and didn't even call the authorities. The night shift is weird.
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56. Monkey Business
I saw a customer with a pet monkey. A pet monkey in the drive-thru of a North Texas McDonald's. That's not even the weird part, either. When I asked the woman if it was real, her reply was startling. "It's a robot," she said. She then drove up to the next window while my mind was all kinds of messed up.
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57. Banana Gone Wild
I was a manager at Little Caesar's in high school and I had to work on Halloween, which turns out to be one of our busiest days. After a long day, we were getting ready to start closing, so my coworker and I went out for a short break beforehand. That's when an officer's car pulled up. I thought the officer was going to order something, but then he got out and came over to us.
He asked us if we had seen a banana running around the shopping center. Confused, my co-worker and I said no, and he proceeded to tell us that some guy was running around dressed as a banana and flashing people. He told us if we saw him that we should rough 'em up a little bit before calling it in because apparently, he was targeting kids.
58. It's The Little Things
Some old guy asked me while I was handing him his coffee if I had stuck my finger in it. I was like, "...No sir, it's hot coffee. I'd get burned," thinking he thought I was messing with his coffee. He just replied by saying, "What a shame, I was hoping it would be sweet like you."
59. The Prophet
I worked at McDonald's for a year in high school. One Sunday, at about noon, this woman came through the drive-thru, ordered her food, and pulled up to the window to pay. She fumbled around with her change for about a minute, and as she finally handed me the money, she started talking about how she was "poor in money but rich in the Lord, Jesus Christ."
She asked me if I went to church often and I said yes (I lied because I didn't want to trigger her). As I went to hand her the receipt, she grabbed my hand, looked into my eyes, and said: "Jesus loves you, and he's coming to see you soon. He'll be here any day now." She then drove off to the next window while I just stood there, dumbfounded.
60. Well, That's Awkward
I work at McDonald's and was manning the drive-thru one night. An older couple came by and ordered a Happy Meal; I assumed it was for a kid. They pulled up to the window and I told them their total. The man in the passenger seat then asked me what toys we had, and I responded with, "Uh, Pokémon toys." He said he wanted Spider-Man toys and I explained that we discontinued them. His reaction was seriously disturbing.
He then went on to say, "What if I show you my wife's rack for a Spider-Man toy?" Shocked, I just said, "That doesn't help your case in getting a toy since we have none." It was really freaking weird. There was no kid in the backseat...
61. Good Cop, Bad Cop, Funny Cop
I worked the drive-thru at Arby's and once a DEA agent came through in his squad car. When he pulled up to the window, I handed him his food and he thanked me, then turned around to the holding area and screamed, "shut up before I break your nose!” I was mortified, until he turned back to me, laughed and said "just kidding, there's nobody back there,” then drove off.
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62. Ask For Forgiveness Not Permission
While I was at work, I once saw a baby goat, curled up on the passenger's side in the front seat. Apparently the woman's friend was giving away one and she knew if she asked her husband to take his truck to pick it up he'd have refused. She was confident he'd give in once he saw the little guy, who was outrageously cute, just not if he had to go and get it and think it over.
According to her, "he's tired of me bringing animals home." I gave her a free bag of fries and still to this day wonder how that whole ordeal ended up turning out. Do you just drive home and tell your husband, "Honey, don't get mad, but wait until you see what I brought home.” Then the husband replies, "Wait, is that a goat in the car?”
63. Gross Expense
There was a very large woman—no judgement—who would come through covered in sweat, I assume because it was summer and she didn't have A/C in her car. She stored her money in her bra, so when she went to pay you'd have to watch her pull soaking wet cash out from between her breasts and accept it from her without flinching.
64. Caught Off Guard
On Christmas Eve, this guy comes through and I'm taking his money when he asks if I want to see his stump. I wasn't really thinking and said sure. Big. Mistake. The guy opens his car door and reveals that his left leg was amputated from the knee down. Again, without thinking, I asked him if he was OK. He said he was, and then mentioned that he needed to be careful when getting out because he has fallen on his face before.
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65. Yikes, That’s Awkward
A girl was in the middle of ordering when her boyfriend called her to break up with her and confess he had been cheating on her (her car put the call through the speakers). I couldn’t comp her order, but I did tell the person at the other window to give her a free ice cream of her choosing. I’m surprised she didn’t just pull out of line.
66. Not That’s What I Call Fast Food
I worked at Burger King in high school. One time I had a couple come through who ordered some food, as well as two of the largest size drinks you can get: one milkshake and one soda. They roll up to the window and we take care of the monetary transaction. I always passed drinks out first because they were always ready first.
So, I put both of these gargantuan beverages in one of those flimsy cardboard-ish drink carriers (in opposite corners, diagonally from one another to maximize stability), and start to pass it slowly to the driver. I get it out my window and partially into his where he receives the hand-off and I let go of it entirely.
I withdrew my arm into the window, and just as the driver gets the drinks all the way into his vehicle, he slams the accelerator and then immediately slams the brakes. The drinks took flight and went straight into the upper corner of the windshield on the passenger side where they exploded all over everything in the front of the car. I mean EVERYTHING. The car remained stopped for about five seconds, then rolled sheepishly out of the drive-thru lane without the food that was ordered.
67. A Man With A Meat Mission
I need to tell this story. A dude pretended to be a car and bought all the chicken KFC had left. It’s late, it’s been a day, everyone else is finally passed out. The choices are alcohol or fast food. I opted for KFC, cause if you’re gonna go unhealthy you ought to really go unhealthy. Plus, the Colonel puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes you crave it fortnightly.
So, as I drive up to the drive-thru, I see an SUV at the window, and a super large dude standing leaning against the wall just behind it. Thing is it was raining hard, and the dude was wearing a neon green shirt, and my eyes suck when I’m at my best, and I ain’t even near that right now. So, I actually thought he was a motorcycle, or dude on a motorcycle, or a human-motorcycle-hybrid.
I place my order and drive up and realize, yep, it’s just a dude, standing right by the sign that actually says something about only cars being able to use the drive-thru. Guy in the SUV grabs his bag and drives away. Big dude steps slowly from the wall, feet make crazy splashes in the puddles and I’m reminded of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park.
And then I immediately felt terrible for thinking like that. Here is this poor hungry jerk who needed what he needed bad enough that he chose to walk in the pouring rain while lightning rang out around him and thunder lit up the sky, only to arrive and find that counter service inside was already closed for the night.
So dude is talking using his hands like an Italian on-speed with the girl working the window, and I’m sure she is referring to the sign or their policy of why it’s not called a walk through or how it’s legal liability if they serve people and they get hurt or whatever other stiff they told me when I was a stupid teenager and my friends and I tried to pull the on-foot trick ourselves.
Except, suddenly dude pulls a double thumbs up and is smiles ear to ear. Then he turns back and thumbs-ups me too! I just smile, I don’t know what he was looking for exactly. I guessed he was just happy. Then, a few minutes later they hand him over three large buckets of chicken. He cradles his arm across his belly, then stacks each bucket side-by-side supported by his gut.
Then dude waddles off toward the fence behind the back of the place and disappears in the wooded area. I pull up and the girl tells me, “Sorry sir, that guys just ordered all the chicken we had left...I gave it to him ‘cause it looked like he needed it... what something else?” I was tempted to ask her to give me all the fries they had left in a garbage bag.
Instead, I just took an apple pie.
68. Goodbye From The Other Side
I've been dying to tell this story. There was a couple that ordered one order of zucchini. Their car was old, and a bit run down. They had a bunch of stuff in the back seat. It was obvious that they lived in the car. When they pulled up to the window the guy looked straight forward when he talks and handed me the money.
He looked very shaggy and his face was dirty, as was hers. From his profile, I could still see that he had scabbing along the length of his nose and his right eyebrow—the side away from me. We were chit-chatting, and I can’t remember the conversation, but I made them laugh and I guess that made him comfortable and he relaxes.
He stops being so rigid and he turns his face...his right eye is completely frosted over and diseased. It was purple and white. He had no eyelid and no skin on a large area around his eye. It's obvious that some infection or disease ate it away. It was raw flesh, all red and white with pus. The area was surrounded by severe scabbing.
I just stayed calm because I didn't want to make him feel bad and acted as if I didn’t see it. I felt so bad for them. I figured that it started off small and probably due to lack of money medical care was impossible and now it had spread.
69. There's A Time And Place...
One night when I was working, a man came through in his bathrobe. I didn't really think too much about it. When I was getting the man his sauces, I kept hearing moans coming from the car. Apparently, the man was on the phone with an adult hotline and he had the call hooked up through his car, so it was really loud. I handed him his food while a woman was talking dirty to him.
The scariest part was he seemed so relaxed. He acted like it was a very normal thing to do.
70. Mission Failed
My friend was trying to impress a girl. He planned to go through my drive-thru to score some free food. I wasn't working the window but I knew he was coming up since I heard him on the speaker. I walked up to hand the drive-thru worker the food for the car in front of him when, all of a sudden, the customer got rear-ended by my buddy.
So much for impressing his girl.
71. Caught Slipping
My first job was at a Taco Bell in high school. I worked at the drive-thru and I didn't care how the tacos came out. One guy rolled up and took 10 to 15 minutes to order, giving me a nice break. He finally decided on some insane number of tacos and bean burritos. He pulled up and I found out why—this guy was definitely under the influence of something.
He handed me a wad of cash that turned out to be way more than enough, so I only took what was needed and handed him back his change. That's when I made a gruesome realization. I noticed that his private parts were hanging out of his pants. As I handed him his change, I told him: "Chicken's out of the barn, check yourself before you wreck yourself, bro." Then, he replied, "I didn't order chicken...".
Realizing it didn't process, I told him flat out: "Your little guy is hanging out of your pants, tuck it back in, bub." He let out a slow laugh, then looked down and said, "Oops!" He scrambled to tuck his third leg back into his britches and I handed him his four sacks of diarrhea-waiting-to-happen. That's about it really.
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72. Not-So-Smooth Sailing
I was working at a McDonald's drive-thru one day. I was at the end window, helping to take orders. This guy tried to use the drive-thru whilst he was towing a rather large boat. He made his order at the speaker and got about another three meters in before all I heard was horrible, horrible screeching and scraping sounds. He had taken about half of the paint off one side of the boat on the brick wall.
I laughed. A lot.
73. They’re Not All Like This
I used to work at McDonald’s back in the day. I was training a new girl and told her to hand the man at the window his drink. The window opens, and I notice the adult man driving is wearing a bib. Weird, but to each their own. As the new girl reaches out her hand to pass the man his drink, he just starts vomiting on himself, violently, so there was splatter.
The new girl stood there in shock, so I grabbed her and pulled her back. The window automatically closed and the man eventually drove away. Another weird instance is when I was handing a man a small chocolate shake, I kid you not, a small monkey wearing a diaper hopped up on the man’s seat, reached out and took the shake from me.
The worst part was none of my co-workers believed me because I was the only one who saw the monkey.
74. Drinking On The Job
My first "work for someone else" job was in high school at a burger place with a red headed namesake. I'm a people person and could count change back, so onto the register I went. It was a late night on a Saturday in 1980 something and there was a really loud, happy group at the drive-thru window. They made their order clearly, but boisterous and a bit over the top loud.
No problem we can’t deal with, and we get the order together. They pull up, roll the window down and it's a guy, his buddies and a keg, leaning from the back seat onto a board, with the tap in the middle of the drivers bench seat! The driver paid, got most of his food and asked for an extra cup with a lid. We were supposed to charge for it but I didn’t.
The driver fills the cup from the keg, puts the lid on, pops the straw in and hands it back to me through the window! I look at my co-workers and no one has seen any of this. I dump my shift soda in the trash and the newly acquired beverage filled cup in its place. I pounded that beverage in about 45 seconds, through a straw.
Guess who shows back up at the window? In a quiet voice, the driver said we forgot something on his order. I had to lean out and he asked if I needed him to get rid of the evidence! Sorry sir, here is your beverage, and out goes the proof of my stupid choice!
75. Hungry Like The Wolf
I had a regular who would come through and he had a full wolf in the back of his truck. Not like a dog that was wolf-like, but a full blown, fresh out of the wild, wolf. She was really sweet though. She apparently had a brain condition where she didn't really know she was a wolf, so he found her, took her in and took care of her.
I think about her regularly. We would feed her plain Timbits. That was hands down the best part of working at Tim Horton's in high school.
76. Manager's Got Your Back
I used to be a drive-thru bank teller and this woman dropped a hundred dollar bill from her withdrawal envelope inside her car. She accused me of stealing. And while I rechecked my drawer, she called me a racial slur and accused me of coming to the States for the sole purpose to steal from Americans, all the while thinking the microphone was off. My manager overheard the whole interaction.
Well, by the time the woman came into the bank screaming, her younger son came running after her because he found the bill underneath the driver’s seat. My manager closed her bank account and told her to not come back.
77. Money Doesn’t Grow On Those Kinds Of Trees
Back when I worked in the drive-thru at the local Chic-fil-A, a guy orders and pulls around to the window. When he goes to pay for his meal, he hands me a crisp $50 bill. Maybe a little too crisp... I look at it closely and sure enough, the number of fibers embedded in the paper were too sparse and the paper was too course. I take a test marker too it, and sure enough, it's a fake.
I look over at the guy and tell him, "You do realize you could go to jail for handing me this fake bill, right?" He replied with genuine shock stating that he had, "traded them with a pal. I got 50 $20 bills for 20 $50 bills." He then shows me his little stash on the seat next to him. After a few more minutes trying to convince him it was fake, I told him to buzz off and handed the fake to my manager.
In a rage, he said he was going to go across the street to the credit union/bank and prove they were real. I thought it was a bad attempt and trying to play coy. To my surprise, I look up several minutes later to see the guy being dragged out of the bank in cuffs. This guy must have been all sorts of stupid.
78. Baby On Board, I Hope
A man pulls up with I assume his college-aged daughter in the front seat, and I assume his wife in the back seat, with a pacifier, bib, and pajamas, crying her eyes out. I was so freaking confused. He asked for extra napkins for the "baby in the back." I had no idea what was happening, but I just went along with it. Handed the guy the napkins, he says thanks because she makes a big mess when she eats and drives off.
Still super confused, I just continued on with my day. Six months later, I'm at a family reunion and my cousins are talking about some huge international scavenger hunt they participated in and show me the list of items and "Go through a drive-thru with an adult dressed as a baby in the back" is one of the items to complete.
It all came together but man I was confused when it was happening because I genuinely didn't see the daughter filming which I assume she was because it said you need video proof. I've looked for the video with me in it but can't seem to find it.
79. Performance Art
I overheard my brother and his friend Joey plotting some huge prank once. They were giggling like little girls. They made their way to In-N-Out (the drive-thru lines are always super long) and came back about an hour later to tell me the story. My brother Seth had Joey wait in the trunk of his car while their other friend Nick was in the passenger seat. A little before they ordered, Seth called Joey's cell phone to tell him that the trunk is open.
So Joey made it look like he pushed the trunk open. He jumped out, looked around with a bewildered expression, and ran away. But here's the thing—he was only wearing boxers. Nick screamed through the open window, "DUDE HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Seth then pulled a U-turn out of the drive-thru right before they're supposed to order and picked Joey up about a block away.
I wish I could have been there because apparently, the expressions on the bystanders' faces were priceless.
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80. Fast-Food Romance
My dad asked my mother out in a McDonald's drive-thru. She had dated his best friend for a year or two (so they knew each other) and she was finally single. She overheard him telling his friend in the car that he was going to ask her out. When they pulled up at the window, she looked at him and said: "I get off work at 9." He was waiting in the parking lot for her when she got off work.
They've been married for 27 years!
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81. Instant Job Offer
I was working at Taco Bell late one night and I was fairly new to the job. A car rolled up and these three girls and one guy in the car started talking to me real casual-like. I'm a really quiet, introverted kind of person, but I tried to be friendly and make conversation with them. Somehow they got on the topic of adult films and asked me if I wanted to star in one.
I just told them I had a girlfriend and quickly shut the window. I was still a teenager and they were maybe around 30. It freaked me out at the time. I think I made someone else give them their food.
82. The Pony People
While working at DQ, a minivan came by. I got their money and when I turned to give them their drinks, I swore I saw a pony. I told myself I was crazy, but when I handed them their food, two ponies had pushed their heads forward to stare at me. Turns out, the couple had taken their ponies to the vet. They said it was easier that way than by trailer. For a split second, I thought I had lost my mind.
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83. It's Air Bud!
I was working the window at my Starbucks and this clueless blonde with a lap dog pulled up. While she was ignoring me while yapping on her cell, her demon dog made a flying leap of faith right through my window. I caught the little rascal before it hit the tile floor. Then, I immediately pushed it back through the window and dropped it in her lap. She didn't even seem to notice.
84. Impatient Lovers
I worked at McDonald's when I was younger. It was late one night and a young couple came through the drive-thru to order some food. Their food wasn't ready, so we pulled them into a parking spot while their chicken cooked. They were parked for only five to ten minutes, but I finally walked out to their car to bring them their food, the back window rolled down—and I saw something I’ll never forget.
The girl was straddling him in the back seat. Without shame, they didn't stop and the guy just said, "What do you expect, we got bored of waiting." I didn't know what to say, so I just gave them their food and walked back in. They were there for a few more minutes and then pulled away!
85. Watch Your Mouth
This happened when I was 17 years old and a shift supervisor. It was a Sunday and three people hadn’t shown up for their shift so we were slammed. I was cleaning trays, washing dishes, and taking orders in the back at the same time, nonstop, for three hours. Then, my manager came back and said he needed me to push a van that had broken down at the window.
My immediate thought was, “What kind of person takes such terrible care of their van?” I started walking to the front door and looked out the drive-thru window. I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a young lady in full habit attire with five other very elderly women, also in full habit attire. I had never seen a nun in person before or since. They looked at me and smiled.
One of them said, “Sorry about this!” and without missing a beat I replied, “No problem ladies, we’ll take care of it.” So me and one other guy pushed the van out of the way and helped the tow truck guy when he came. The nuns thanked us, blessed us, and rode off. I then looked at my coworker and asked “Did you swear when you heard their car broke down?”
“Yup.” “Me too. We’re going to the bad place aren’t we?” “Yup!”
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86. Opposite Of Star Struck
One time, I saw One Direction come through after they performed a show in Belfast. We were the only McDonalds open at that time of night in the area. One of them—don't ask me their name, I don't care—stuck his head through the seats from the back and said, "Mate, please don't tell anyone we're here, we just wanna eat and leave."
My response was, "Yeah, no problem. Who are you?" He sheepishly put his head back where it belonged. I found out who they were when one of the girls on shift started running around the place telling anyone who would listen that she had just given food to x, y and z from One Direction, and waving around a receipt they had signed for her.
87. Here We Go Again
One time I was with my mom when she went through a drive-thru. The car stalled at the window and wouldn't start. I looked at her and said, "so, wait for the food and then push?" She said yes. They came to the window with our order, we got everything situated, then I hopped out and started pushing the car. It didn’t help that it was a big boat of an Oldsmobile.
I had to push it in a way that made it look like I was sitting on the back bumper. The looks on the faces of the people in the window as I passed by were pretty darn funny. We ended up going inside the restaurant to wait for someone to pick us up. An employee who was working the drive-thru graciously told us we could wait there as long as we needed to.
They were even so kind as to get us cups for the soda fountain. They checked on us more than once and we were only there for maybe half an hour. I grew up in a family that often didn't have a vehicle, and when we did have one, it usually left us stranded on a regular basis. It was a frustrating inconvenience on a regular basis.
Thankfully, the folks working in the restaurant were so nice and felt so bad for us. We were just happy to have a ride on the way and a building to wait in.
88. When Kindness Backfires
On the Fourth of July, my then-girlfriend and I were at the drive-thru at McDonald's, and the guy working the window expressed his disappointment that he wasn't able to see the city fireworks. We felt bad for him, so we gave him a few boxes of sparklers we had so he could light them up after work. The guy was ecstatic, and his nearby coworkers were happy as well. They all planned to burn the sparklers with him.
Suddenly, the manager came over, pushed through the workers, and in a forced voice of politeness, he asked us what was going on. When we told him we felt bad for his workers and that we gave them some fireworks, he said, "Uh-huh" in a tone suggesting we were full of it. He then proceeded to yell at his crew like they were a bunch of little kids who had gotten into a stranger's van for a promise of candy later.
I don't know how long we sat there, but the entire time, the manager tore them all a new one. It wasn't like he said anything coherent; he just kept swearing with nothing to be picked out as to why this had set him off. We finally drove off after a minute or two, and both of us were quite convinced our attempt to be nice was getting them all fired. We never saw any of that crew again when we went back, so maybe they were let go.
89. An Easy Swap
This was years ago, but after a night out, a buddy and I decided to grab some late-night food from Jack in the Box. He ordered for all of us and, for some reason, right at the end, he told the cashier he didn't have any cash and that he could trade bottles for tacos. I thought the drive-thru guy was going to tell us to get lost, but instead, the weirdest thing happened.
He didn't say anything for about thirty seconds, then he piped up and said, "Make it three bottles for six tacos..." We pulled up, handed the man his three bottles, got our nasty tacos, and drove off.
90. From Zero To 100
Oh boy, do I have a doozy. One time, about 15 minutes before close, we had a guy drive up and ask for 30 Mama Burgers. I cringed at the amount of extra work that was just given, but whatever—we were still open, so we had to do it. I asked him if he wanted cheese on the burgers and his response was "I don't freaking care."
My supervisor, the only other dude up at the front with me, decided that now would be a good time to run and help the back-staff with making burgers, leaving me all alone to deal with what was surely about to be a very angry individual. But what actually happened is not what I expected at all. I took the guy's money and tried to hide around the milkshake machine out of sight.
When I peeked over to check on him, I was shocked—he started BEATING THE HECK out of his own car. I'm not kidding. He was throwing punches to his windshield as hard as he could. Then, I heard him start throwing stuff out of his window and onto the ground. Obviously, I wasn't close enough to see what it was he was throwing out, but after he got his food and drove off, we looked outside to see that it was car parts that he had smashed.
There were parts of the handle on his shifter, the vents, a volume knob, and various other bits and pieces all over the road. I get so confused just thinking about it. The dude had to have been on something. That is the only way I can reconcile car-smashing and buying 30 hamburgers in one short period of time.
Piqsels
91. Karma Strikes
When I was in high school, I worked at Chick-Fil-A. A week or so before Thanksgiving, I was working with one of my closest friends, Cassie. This guy came through and ordered a small chocolate shake with no whipped cream, no cherry. Cassie was working the window that night, so the guy pulled up and she did the whole, "Hey there, you had a chocolate shake, no toppings? Your total is $2.98."
The guy confirmed and gave her his credit card. She swiped it, grabbed a straw, his receipt, and the shake, then went over to hand him all of these things. When she leaned out of the window, she noticed he had his "member" out of his pants. He was also creepily smiling at her. Fortunately, Cassie reacted pretty quickly and got the plate number. Our manager on duty called the authorities.
But it doesn't end there! The next week, officers found the guy and confirmed his identity with Cassie. So, of course, they were going to go to his house and charge him. Hilariously enough, they chose to do it on Thanksgiving. They got to his house and he had a wife and kids, and apparently, it came as a shock because he "goes to church every week."
Even BETTER—Cassie was a few months shy of 18 at the time, so he ended up getting charged with exposing himself to a minor (or something along those lines). Enjoy the registry, perv!
92. Redneck To The Rescue
An old redneck, probably tipsy, pulled up in a pick-up truck at 1 am and ordered about four steak items at Taco Bell. We had the worst manager working that night, so of course, we were out of steak, and he didn't tell me this until I'd already cashed the old redneck out. He was kind of mad, but I offered him a refund with the manager's approval.
The manager came over and started screaming at me, saying stuff like "Are you stupid? You can't give him back his money" and the redneck completely hulked out. He launched himself through the window, screaming: "Don't talk to young girls that way! You are a jerk who makes young girls cry to feel better about your tiny pee-pee." I was trying to shut the window on him but I couldn't.
The manager actually took a couple of punches and got fired later on in the week because he took like $500 from the company.
Flickr
93. Nosy Nelly No More
Many years ago, as a 16-year-old girl, I worked the drive-thru at McDonalds. A white van with black curtains on the windows pulled up and two men in uniform paid for their order. I could see that it was marked as a prison van from our local penitentiary. The line was stalled up ahead and not moving, so during the wait, I was casually peeking behind the driver to see who or what may be onboard.
Suddenly, a prisoner in the back moves the black curtain aside and proceeds to shake his head from side-to-side, screaming & wagging his tongue and just genuinely acting crazy, all while in cuffs. It scared me so bad I nearly jumped out of my skin! The guard who was driving could not stop laughing, and I could hear the roaring laughter of the whole van.
They pulled forward and got their fries, and I learned my lesson to never be so nosy again!
94. Asserting Dominance
I started working at a coffee house and I had some guy come through the drive-thru and order a small iced coffee. No big deal; I got the drink and his total. The guy paid for it and everything. But when I handed the drink out to him and told him to have a good day, he proceeded to throw the coffee at me. This all happened in slow motion and I managed to catch it without it spilling everywhere.
The guy sat there with the dumbest look on his face I've ever seen. He sped off but I managed to get his plate number.
Shutterstock
95. Anything For Chicken Strips
When I was working my first job at Dairy Queen, I had the "pleasure" of encountering a special sort of stupid. I was in this lovely part of the country that is nicknamed "Tornado Alley" for a reason that completely escapes me, but it may have something to do with these funny-shaped, spinning clouds that like to tip over trailer parks.
Anyway, we had a huge storm pop up on an otherwise lovely day during which there hadn't been a cloud in the sky. Frankly, it caught the local forecasters by surprise too—they were calling for a sunny weekend. So I was at work and the wind picked up so fiercely that we had people come into our store just to get off the road. The wind was blowing hard enough that it was pushing cars around.
The weather radio chimed in that a funnel cloud was spotted at the intersection of two highways in the town, maybe two miles from our store, and that's when we heard the sirens start sounding. We all took shelter in the cemented-into-the-foundation walk-in cooler. While inside, we continued to hear the sirens blaring, and the wind was blowing so hard that the building was shaking. That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, those of us with headsets heard a ding sound: "Yeah, I'd like to order one of your chicken strip baskets and a large strawberry dipped cone... Hello? Hello??" What followed was a somewhat surreal argument that I, wearing a headset, got to witness as my manager tried to urge the guy to come inside and take shelter.
The guy then argued back with her, asking why nobody would take his order...Sure buddy, screw the forming tornado, you need your chicken ASAP. We got lucky and the funnel never touched down, but there was some pretty bad wind damage all along that part of town by the time the storm was done, not to mention a lot of hail damage.
Still, the thing about that storm I will remember most is the idiot who decided to risk life and limb for some chicken and ice cream...
96. Little Man Vs. Burger
I was a manager at BK for a few years. It was a terrible job but it definitely had its moments. One of the strangest was when a guy pulled up to the drive-thru and wanted to know if he could have "extra patties" on his Whopper. I told him, "Yes, certainly you may have more patties. How many?" He retorted, "Eight please, with cheese, bacon, and lots of ketchup."
I remember it cost around $28 and I had to tape two burger wraps together to wrap it up. It was heavy and greasy. So he pulled up and he was maybe 140 lbs.; a skinny dude. He looked at the burger, then asked me while smiling: "Wanna watch me eat?" That was the hardest "No" I've ever said because I was not about to throw up seeing the little fella devour this huge Whopper.
Afterward, I pondered his reasoning behind such a request. Fresh out of prison?
Wikimedia.Commons
97. How To Stop, Drop And Roll But With A Car
I was 17 and working the evening drive-thru shift. A young female who was a first time driver pulled up to the window with her car engine on fire and asked me in a frantic voice, "What do I do? What do I do?" I told her to pull away from the building and put the car in the parking lot and get away from it. I had to run out with a fire extinguisher and put out the fire myself. Insane.
98. Mystery Man
I worked in McDonald's before I went to university. There was this one man who came through the drive-thru—he was in his late 30s and was clearly a farmer from the look of his vehicle and his dog in the back. He was always pretty quiet, but I remember a couple of times that he tried to make nice small talk. When I worked on New Year's, he asked me how things were and said I should be out having fun my age.
I remember thinking he always seemed really lonely or sad when he drove through since he'd always try to carry a conversation with me. I felt bad having to be quick with him because he just seemed like he wanted someone to talk to. Long story short, he drove through one day and asked if my last name was what he thought it was. After a sideways glance from my manager, I said it was.
He looked really sad and took his hat off. Then he said something that shocked me to my core. He told me that he was my dad. My biological mother didn't know who my dad was, so it was possible. My manager let me go on break to speak with him. He then explained that he slept with my mother around the time that she got pregnant, and he was only 16. He was really apologetic and also seemed ashamed of what he did.
He told me he was sorry he didn't seek me out. He was from a town about an hour's drive away, so that was a part of it. And no one ever showed up to tell him he was a dad or anything. I told him I was happy with my life, but I still gave him my number and told him to give me a ring sometime. So yeah, that's how I met my dad. My biological dad, I should say.
After a few years when I heard from my biological mother again, she agreed that he was who she thought the father was. We went out for coffee three or four times, but we didn't have much to talk about. He and I never really maintained contact—the last time we spoke, he told me he'd been diagnosed with MS. He had a couple of sons, but I was his only daughter and he said that he was grateful we had met.
99. Watch Out Where You Put a Ring On It
High school. I'm dating a guy who is out of high school. I worked at a Dairy Queen. A girl from my school comes through the drive-thru. As I'm handing her the order, I see that the very distinct ring I gave my boyfriend is on her finger. I have to admit: it took me a minute because I was confused about how she could have this ring. I finally snapped to and asked her, "Did Bob give you that ring?"
She said yes and how did I know? "Because I gave it to him. He's my boyfriend." She immediately took it off, gave it to me and left. A few minutes later my "boyfriend" comes flying in the door and starts yelling at me for "getting him in trouble." Yeah, I know how to pick 'em. As he continues to yell at me, I'm just staring at him with all the anger that's in me.
A friend of his (Mike) happened to be sitting in the dining room and Mike comes up the counter and whispers something to Bob. They both go outside. Bob comes back in and sheepishly says, "Mike said if I didn't apologize to you, he'd beat my butt." I have to admit having Bob's friend, Mike, who I barely knew, stand up for me was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
And yes, Mike and I started dating. He was a really nice guy.
100. Karen Versus Carl Jr.
My mom is a Karen. She thinks the world is supposed to cater to her and that everyone else is wrong. Once, we went to Carl's Jr. and she ordered four burgers for the four of us. What she did next made me so angry—she pulled one burger out of the bag while the guy was getting our drinks and hid it. She complained that he forgot a burger, pulling out the remaining three in the bag one by one and counting them in front of him.
He keep swearing up and down that he put them all in the bag, but she threatened him, saying, "If you don't get me another burger, I will call your manager." I was stunned speechless, but it happened so fast. She got a free burger and laughed as we drove off. I just stared at her and she opened it up to eat it on the drive home. She ate her actual burger like the fifth one never existed.
I can't even explain how she is when she's in the hospital. She treats it like a luxury stay in a hotel.
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