A few weeks ago I went to a Burger King in an unfamiliar suburb of Chicago. The woman in charge was severely understaffed—it was just herself and a new hire. She was absolutely overwhelmed… I was actually concerned for her wellbeing, as she seemed on the verge of exhaustion.
A few weeks ago I went to a Burger King in an unfamiliar suburb of Chicago. The woman in charge was severely understaffed—it was just herself and a new hire. She was absolutely overwhelmed… I was actually concerned for her wellbeing, as she seemed on the verge of exhaustion.
The drive-thru line was about 8 cars deep, and some friends and I were the only ones inside the building. She kept apologizing to us and rushing back and forth between the drive-thru window and the food preparation area, trying desperately to keep up with the orders.
After about 15 minutes of standing there, the new employee came up to the register and took my friend Gustav’s order. Gustav waited another 10 minutes for his food, while the rest of us were still standing there waiting to place our orders.
At this point, I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Why not just go somewhere else?” But as I mentioned, we were in an unfamiliar area, and this was the only place we knew of to eat for four hungry people. So about 10 minutes after Gustav got his food, the woman finally had a moment to take our orders.
She was visibly stressed, her forehead glistening with sweat, and understandably irritable. This whole time she had been running back and forth picking up all the slack left by the inexperienced new hire, essentially running the restaurant on her own. She made a few mistakes with the next two credit card payments, and even momentarily forgot that I had already paid, accusing me of not paying only moments after giving me change from the $20 I had handed her.
After all was said and done, our “fast food” experience took a little over an hour. Needless to say, we weren’t exactly thrilled with the service. During that hour we spent there, three separate drive-thru orders were incorrect, and two of those customers were quite rude about it, which only added to the manager’s stress.
Gustav and I stepped outside to have a cigarette before getting back on the road. By this time, there was no one in the store and no one in the drive-thru line—a brief moment of calm after the storm. The woman, whose name tag read “Cindy,” came outside in tears to have a cigarette break of her own. At that point, my heart went out to her.
I felt so bad for her situation that I had to do something. I walked up to her and said, “Cindy? I’m sorry that you have to be in this position right now. I can’t imagine how stressful it is for you to be doing this all on your own. And although this wasn’t the quickest I’ve ever received my food, it is certainly the hardest anyone has ever worked for it, and I truly appreciate that.”
The smile that spread across her face told me that I had just made her night, and all the chaos that had just happened inside was momentarily forgotten. I walked back to the car and we left.
Being able to provide that small moment of relief for her gave me such a good feeling. It made me realize how powerful a few kind words can be when someone is having a difficult day. We’re often quick to complain when service isn’t perfect, but rarely do we consider the human beings behind that service and what they might be going through.
Since that night, I’ve made more of an effort to acknowledge people working in difficult situations. Whether it’s a simple “thank you” or taking a moment to recognize their efforts, these small gestures can make a significant difference in someone’s day. It costs nothing to be kind, but the impact can be immeasurable—both for the recipient and, somewhat surprisingly, for yourself.
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