on my way into work this morning, i stopped into mcdonald’s for my morning soda (read: caffeine) fix. there was a very loud man in line, quite volatile and irate. usually, loud men in line at mcdonald’s in my neck of the woods are homeless, insane, or both – but he was an exception.

he began spouting off about how customer service isn’t what it used to be, whatever happened to the customer is always right, and when did McDonald’s employees become superior to him? he was snapping at anyone with a uniform on that would listen; he was quite upset. i thought someone had stolen his wallet. or his child.

i was intrigued: how could anything at mcdonald’s make one that discombobulated?

i soon learned this rant stemmed from mcdonald’s policy not to accept $100 bills (or at least not at this location). seriously? he sent his blood pressure into no man’s land for that?

now, anyone who has spent any length of time with me is well aware of my pet peeve when it comes to poor customer service. i abhor bad service. you don’t get a better-than-average tip from me simply because you managed not to get my order wrong. when I call your customer service department, I expect to be treated with respect and expect resolution. if you tell me it’s going to be 45 minutes for my order to be delivered, and 90 minutes later there is no food, there had better be an apology and at the very least a discount if you want my business again. i have stopped going to restaurants, stores, nail salons, etc. for a
less-than-pleasant encounter. life is just too short to deal with that
crap.

but, this is all within reason. i do not expect a fast food restaurant to change a $100 for my $1.29 order. on what planet is that reasonable? talk about setting yourself up for disappointment.

it boggles my mind to think about what might have happened if they gave him decaf instead of caf – or, perish the thought, gave him two creams instead of 3. that is probably grounds for stoning. does he have a similar perspective on all aspects of his life? what about the people in his life – are his expectations this unreasonable when it comes to those relationships?

does he have a significant other who meets his expectations? or are there two very unhappy people in his household? does he have children? are his expectations reasonable where they are concerned? do they measure up?

dude – lighten up.

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