Back in early ’91 when I was still just dating my husband, I used to go to the McDonald’s where he worked to hang out. I’d order some fries or a Big Mac with no meat and sit and read, and when he had a few minutes I’d chat with him, and when he went on break to eat, we’d sit and talk. This particular evening, my friend Star was with me and we were talking about whatever mundane things came to mind as we munched on fries, when suddenly a loud voice breaks over the usual chatter of the restaurant.
We glanced up to see a man and his companion at the counter. He was a sort of pudgy, balding guy who didn’t look that impressive, yet he clearly felt that he was superior to everyone present as he berated the person behind the counter over some detail of his order. The woman with him was silent. Star and I exchanged looks and went back to our conversation.
Mr. Loudness apparently had ordered something special order, and was not happy that such things were not instantly ready. He stormed past our table to find a booth about 10 feet away, bellowing about the “stupid fucking McDonald’s people” and how he had to wait for his order.
Now, I knew all the employees there and while there were a few unsharpened tacks, most of them were just college kids doing a job. The restaurant was across the street from the University of Arizona campus. I looked over at the counter and saw the employee who was clearly irritated at the abuse collecting the guy’s order on a tray to bring it over to him. Despite the fairly busy nature of that particular McDonald’s, the guy had to wait maybe 2 whole minutes for his meal. He continued to bitch about the employees, in a very loud voice, as he ate. People all around kept looking up to see what his deal was.
Being the not very subtle person that I am, I turned around in my seat and stared at him, with a look of “what planet are you from” on my face. He saw this, and hollered “Do you have a PROBLEM??” at me. I looked at Star and back at him. “Yeah, I was just wondering the same thing about you actually,” I said… or something like that. At this point, his anger had a new focus. He started cussing me out, still at full volume. I was amazed that someone could be this worked up over something as minor as a 2 minute delay on a special ordered meal at McDonalds… Star and I started to laugh at the guy, and talk about what a freak he was (which he could no doubt hear).
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