Here's a strange subject

[Rantsylvania 6-5000]

I guess this could become a debate, so I'll put it here.

Picture this: You and a friend want to go to a drive-thru restaurant, but you each want food from a different place. So your friend drives through the first place, then as you're pulling up to the window of the second place, your friend says, "Cover up that bag, I don't want them to see it."

I'm curious about what others think of this, because this has happened with my mom and me before. I didn't think anyone would care that we had stuff from another restaurant, after all, we're buying stuff there too. Plus, it's in our car, it's not like we're bringing it inside and eating it there.

I guess this is just an etiquette issue, but really, the person at the window makes the same money whether we do all our business there, or at their competiton. I somehow doubt they'd be offended.

[HYHYBT]

Unless this friend knows something odd about the specific person working the window that day, no, it doesn't matter. (After all, fast food employees like to eat elsewhere too!)

[Peppergirl]

LOL - that's actually kinda sweet, in a naive sort of way.

I'm sure the employees don't care. They're just around to collect their paycheck and do their jobs.

[McDreidel09]

As a fast food worker, I can tell you that if it is just going through Drive Thru, we really don't care. In fact, we are hardly paying attention to what is in your car, unless it is something unusual or a cute animal.

[guywithashovel]

I think it's nice that someone would be that considerate, but I don't think most drive-thru workers would care to see another restaurant's bag in the car, if they would even notice at all. After all, I'm sure most of them eat at other places. Besides, most of them are just teenagers or college students earning some extra spending money. Now, when I was in high school, a few of my friends thought it would be hilarious to go to one fast food restaurant, get our food to go, and then take it in to another fast food place and eat it in their dining area. We never did that, though.

This reminds me of customers I used to get back at Wal-Mart who thought it was cute to talk about K-Mart or Target in front of me or ask me where our blue light specials were. They just never understood that us wage slaves didn't give two shits about where they shopped. In fact, most of us went to K-Mart, Target, and other competing stores when we went away to towns and cities that had those stores.

[suchislife2]

honestly why would it matter? I've done it before. There is a place that has a few fast food places side by side. Hubby and I might feel like different things so we'll go through two drive throughs. Sometimes I've been/he's been munching on the food already while I/he payed for the other type.

They don't care. Why does it matter to them? But it is cute to think of them.

As for EATING in another place with different food. That's just rude. I have done it before BUT always made sure that either a person I was with was actually planning to buy something there, or I got something there i.e. a coffee/cake and so on so that I was still paying to eat there. Just sometimes I feel like chips and not a subway sandwich

[Boozy]

LOL - that's actually kinda sweet, in a naive sort of way.

That's exactly what I thought.

Your friend is an absolute sweetheart for worrying about someone else's feelings like that. But I think he's worrying about nothing.

I've had long conversations about wine with my customers who will often recommend to me a product we don't carry, or tell me about an import they really enjoyed. It doesn't bother me. It's not feasible to expect 100% brand loyalty.

[Exaspera]

Cynical me is sorry but your friend worries too much about what other people think of him, and that he really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. I seriously doubt that the drive-through person possibly even remembers what he looks like, much less what he has in his car.

[jackfaire]

I used to be like that actually back when I thought people cared. My mom would want to get me the food I wanted but then go to where she wanted to order a meal for herself and have us eat our food there.

I refused to do that I always insisted we just eat where she wanted because I felt rude bringing in food from another restaurant.

I think for me the reason I did this is because until I was 7 we lived in a small town where we knew all of the owners of the various places and so we had a personal relationship with them.

I always liked being able to walk into a place and know the people working by name and face and such. To me it was a respect thing.

That being said it really depends on the type of area you live in. The larger the area like a city where you never really know the people making your food yeah they aren't really going to care.

If it's a place that your friend frequents and he knows the people working there really well he might be feeling like he is being disrespectful to them that you stopped somewhere else first.

[aurelemsrealm]

The only restaurant experience I have is a year and a half working at a local Wendy's. I primarily worked the front registers and tended the dining room, but helped drive-thru as needed. When I handed out orders at the window, I never paid much attention to what was inside customers' cars. I figured it was none of my business, and I was too busy working to worry about it. My big concern was just getting through the rushes so that I could get back to doing what I had to do in the dining room since I was usually the only one cleaning it.

Occasionally, people would come in with food from other places. That never bothered me as long as they were courteous enough to clean up after themselves when they were done. The only time it would irk me was when people left their messes behind, or it was close to closing time. Of course, I loathed anyone who left a mess for me, or wanted to dine-in close to closing time. Otherwise, I didn't see it as any of my concern. I just quietly went about my chores, and let my mind wander until someone needed something from me.

As a customer, I figure it shouldn't matter to anyone else what is in my car, or how I spend my money. I worked for what I have, and will make my own decisions. I treat the staff any place I visit the way I want to be treated, and try to keep my orders as simple to fulfill as possible. In short, I try to be the kind of customer I would want, but also expect the same level of service that I would deliver at work.

[Bloodsoul]

"Is.. is that from Burger King?" *holds up Chicken McNugget* "Away, fiend! The Power of Ronald compels you!"

[HYHYBT]

Hmm... "Behold the power of cheeseburgers! Robble robble robble."

[lordlundar]

It actually stems from sit down restaurant's policy to ban any outside food or drink from the premises. The idea is that if brought food from somewhere else, you won't be buying as much from them. Sound policy, and standalone fast food places have adopted it themselves, though usually only if you're staying.

Food court locations and drive-throughs on the other hand, because they are impossible to enforce (food court locations have no authority outside their shop and cars are considered the driver's private property in this case) have no policy regarding it. Doubled with the fact that most of the staff are there to work in so far as to collect a paycheck, and there's no way it's going to be stopped.

[Boozy]

Food courts are often the only places for mall staff to eat, depending on which shop they work in.

I briefly worked in a mall, and my store was too small to have a break room. So I ate lunch in the food court. I wasn't suicidal enough to eat mall food every day, so I brown-bagged it. There's not much a mall can do about that, apart from offering a large break room for all it's employees.

[infinitemonkies]

When I worked at a pizza hut, we had an informal and off the books deal with the burger king across town.
Once or twice a month, we'd send over a couple of pizzas for their staff, and they'd send back a dozen or so various burgers for our staff.