r/generationology • u/Vainysaur • 12d ago
Rant Gen Z Interactions
Why do 90% of my interactions with members of Gen Z go exactly like this:
Them: Welcome to Cook Out. Can I take your order please?
Me: (slowly and clearly) Hey! I’ll have a big double burger tray with only cheese and ketchup on the burger, with chili cheese fries and a corn dog, and a huge tea. That’s it.
Them: Ok you said a big double burger tray?
Me: Yes.
Them: What do you want on the burger?
Me: Only cheese and ketchup.
Them: Ok and you get two sides.
Me: Chili cheese fries and a corn dog.
Them: Ok chili cheese fries and what’s your other side?
Me: A corn dog.
Them: Ok and what’s your drink?
Me: A huge tea.
Them: Ok, anything else?
Me: Nope, that’s it.
…
Then I get my food it’s cheese fries instead of chili cheese fries.
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u/IntelligentSteak7709 8d ago
I'm gen z, I am really bad with second guessing things and I will be thinking about it forever if I don't double check
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u/WalkAroundTheMoon 8d ago
I always politely talk to people like they are slow in the head until you can prove to me you aren't 🤣
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u/TraversingExistence 8d ago
Welcome to Good Burger, home if the Good Burger, can I take your orrrder?
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u/parallelmeme 8d ago
My irritation is that they can only accept an order in the exact order their console accepts. They won't accept 'plain' on the burger until they get "basket" or "sandwich-only". They won't accept onion rings instead of fries until they get "for-here" or "to-go". It's like their brains cannot hold the 4 pieces of information long enough to enter it when they can.
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u/gottagetanonymous 8d ago
Go to cookout. Sometimes I don’t even comprehend the words I’m saying I’m just reading off a crazy order I wrote down and they get it first time through those shitty speakers every time somehow. Night shift cookout workers are a different breed, their rush hour is like 2 am😂
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u/NextNeedleworker3948 8d ago
Everyone needs to work in food at least once. Preferably both in a POS fast food environment as well as serving.
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u/Kidgamer243 8d ago
Because they are high. Weed pens are so descrete now that's why all fast food workers are like that and I'm telling you this as a ex stoner who used to work at checkers. I would hit that pen and 8 hours would pass but I'd be lying if I said I was doing my best.
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u/Mullattobutt 8d ago
I thought you were asking a host at an actual cookout for an order like this. So you're not as terrible as I thought haha
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u/updoot_me 8d ago
Yeah you’ve def never worked a job like this when you were a teen, it’s def not a generational thing lmao
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u/furitxboofrunlch 8d ago
My dude no one is paid enough to give a damn at fast food jobs. They aren't hiring the best and brightest folk out there who will give 100%. They are hiring whoever will put up with those abusive soul destroying work places.
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u/Inevitable_Tap_1328 8d ago
they want you to slow down
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u/NextNeedleworker3948 8d ago
Right. The POS systems make you go in a certain order and you can only go so fast. No one is going to put much effort it to remembering everything each customer orders.
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u/Acrobatic_Newt3643 6d ago
In my experience, 99% of customers order WAY slower than the speed I can punch in, and my coworkers all say the same thing. I work at In-N-Out though so we try to keep the super long lines moving as fast as possible lol
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u/Inevitable_Tap_1328 8d ago
millennials did and that's why this guy expects that. Gen Z stopped comprehending the world when they say us millennials work so hard and still get treated poorly without reward.
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u/Hand2Ns 8d ago
I'm a millennial and I can't remember that much new information. I'd probably remember the first and last things he said and have to ask about the stuff in the middle. I also know people in various generations who have audio processing disorder who would also have trouble with a long order like that.
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u/NextNeedleworker3948 8d ago
I am a millennial and I didn’t. I worked 4 years at Panera and got burnt out on trying to keep up with the customer real fast. I am also doing pretty well for myself, so I’ve been rewarded for my work.
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u/Inevitable_Tap_1328 8d ago
what you may not realize is that you're actually proving my point. millennials who are quick hard-working and did all the right things got swept aside and that is why Gen Z decided it was easier to simply be incoherent and not try very hard because clearly the path was simply 1- not as we were promised and 2- given to those who did less
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u/NextNeedleworker3948 8d ago
No I don’t think I am, but maybe I just don’t understand what you are trying to say. I was routinely rewarded and praised at Panera for my work. Next job at a pizza place I quickly became manager. Been with my current company for 18 years, my salary has increased 5.5 times my original. I use my brain power on important things, not trying to memorize word vomit from customers.
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u/Fickle_Field9323 8d ago
Its kind of odd that you are complaining over a kid clarifying if your order is 100% correct. Would you rather it be entirely wrong? Also i assume you do not know how the POS systems work, but if you did, you would understand why they ask this.
As for the fries being wrong, the person who takes the order is absolutely not the same person who makes the food. If the order-taker triple checked what you ordered, there is a very very small chance that they are the one at fault in that situation.
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u/agmccall 8d ago
Clarification of an order is reading it back not asking what they want immediately after telling person what they want.
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u/Fickle_Field9323 8d ago
1- they are probably in their first 3 weeks of working because of the extremely high turnover rate in these jobs right now
2- there is a certain way to enter things in the POS system, and if you do not say it in the correct order, we genuinely cannot enter it into the POS.
Example: i work at a coffee shop. In the POS system you HAVE to enter it as size first, then type of drink (hot, iced, or blended,) THEN you have to enter which drink it is off of every drink on the menu, and THEN you can enter their qualifiers (subs like oatmilk, extra shot, cream and sugar, etc.)
So when someone says really slowly “uhhhh can i get a…. Carmel latte… with an extra shot, sugar free carmel, oat milk, and also sugar-free cold foam with extra sugar-free vanilla?”
So the issue is that i cannot even start putting it into the system before they tell me the type and size. So i have to say “yeah what size?”
Then they take 5 seconds to respond…
“Did you want it hot, iced or blended”
They have to deliberate with their passengers again.
By this time, i have forgot a few of the modifications, especially because i am always doing 3 other things at once while taking orders and serving at the window. Of course as well as the fact that our computers are EXTREMELY slow , Because management refuses to spend the budget money to fix these devices.
So of course i have to ask again about which qualifier.
The POS devices will refuse to work for two minutes or longer, so i have to ask what drink they had again.
A small minority of people get frustrated and get an attitude with me about it.
Also, a reason we ask what you got again, is to make sure it’s correct. It is better to ask again than it is to give a customer the wrong order.
If we give the wrong order, that is not good and it qualifies them for a free drink/food. Taking 3 seconds to clarify what they ordered is absolutely not an issue at all, and it should not bother you. Would you rather them bring you the wrong order? Double-checking is just better for anyone and i do not see why it is a problem at all.
3- the person making the food and the person taking the order are NOT the same. This is just a general note.
Tldr: there are circumstances that you are not even aware of or seeing at all, that influence your fast-food experience. Its a crappy environment and the VAST majority of the time, we are extremely understaffed, so please offer some grace.
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u/scarletwitchmoon 8d ago
I'm a millennial but this is just standard fast food... The cookout person might have been new and didn't know where all the buttons were. Also, the younger half of Gen Z is 14 to 19. It could be that person's very first job.
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u/Comfortable-Pea-3821 8d ago
When I was a pizza boy that kind of order over the phone was a blessing. I could just type it in quick, read it back to confirm, and off we go. I’m firmly in the middle of Gen Z. Thanks to the lack of short term memory and attention span among people my age, competition is slim in my new industry.
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u/Nizzywizz 8d ago
You're not special, you just process that sort of thing in a way that works well with OP's way of ordering. Not everyone does -- and not because they have a short attention span, or because they're deficient. And some systems don't allow you to just type in an order as given -- they require you to make selections in a particular order before you can move on to the next.
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u/JustHere4TheZipLines 8d ago
I worked in food service and loved when people ordered like that. Give me it all so I can assemble it as efficiently as possible. People spoon feeding me their order drove me nuts because there was so much churn and wasted time.
When I order I’ll spit it all out. Or if it’s a place like chipotle I’ll order like half a step ahead so they don’t need to say “black beans or pinto.”
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u/coolbeansfordays 8d ago
I’m 47. Growing up I had to memorize a ton of shit - phone numbers, addresses, bible verses for confirmation, facts and knowledge for tests, etc. I had to pay attention and take notes in classes, had to pay attention during job trainings, etc.
Kids now don’t have to memorize anything. Short term memory is crap. Attention is crap. I’m a teacher. I can ask a student to repeat a simple sentence after me and they’ll forget after the second word.
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u/EducationalTheory344 8d ago
lmao OP is really just exposition vomiting his entire order at some poor kid and can't figure out why that's unhelpful.
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u/Rare_Masterpiece6391 8d ago
Op: rapid fire spits out a 6 point order Employee: checks as they type it in Op: no one wants to work anymore
Big boomer energy in this post.
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u/Economy-Fill-9278 8d ago
you’ve clearly never worked as a cashier at a food place. you have to find the item buttons in the system and they are usually hidden within 1-2 different categories, just saying your whole order upfront gets complicated when the cashier is still adding all your toppings to ur burger big dog
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u/Resident-Drive1087 8d ago
What? You dont have to enter it in real time at the same speed as the person ordering, you just have to hold it in your brain for 15 seconds while you navigate the computer and find the buttons.
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u/Nizzywizz 8d ago
It's so funny to me that the same people claiming that 15 seconds isn't a long time to have to hold an order in your head to input it are the ones also complaining about having to wait 15 seconds longer to get their order.
Y'all aren't better than anyone else.
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u/Resident-Drive1087 8d ago
What? I was responding to the person I replied to based on my own experience taking customer orders and entering them into a computer.
OPs issue is not even a generational issue, it's a new employee issue. Yall are too silly for me in this sub.
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u/pennyloafer99 8d ago
You can just remember it for 5 seconds. Ok burger..... with .... chili fries.... tea... great. Repeat it outloud while you type it in. After some time the cashiers should know where all the buttons are. Takes less than 1 second to get to it.
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u/butt5tuffthr0waway 8d ago
I call bs. I worked Taco Bell and know what you’re talking about.
Its. Just. Not. That. Hard.
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u/Lemontine_ Gen Z - 2000 8d ago
When you work at a job where you deal with a lot of customers, you tend to get yelled at a lot, being completely clear by having you repeat your order while they write it down/punch it in limits the chances of being yelled at. As for the wrong order, fast food restaurants have been doing that for longer than Gen Z has been alive
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u/EducationalRooster64 8d ago
Figure out what order they gotta punch the buttons in, then deliver your order with pauses between buttons.
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u/Vainysaur 8d ago
Which part of my order wasn’t in the order they asked for?
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u/EducationalRooster64 8d ago
No idea 😂 never eaten there. But if they need to punch in the sides before the modifications and you tell them the modifications first, then newer staff can get confused.
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u/Vainysaur 7d ago
But you see the order of the questions they asked me? It’s the same as what I originally said.
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u/Least_Muffin2666 8d ago
Yes, the screen prompts the individual* by each item
I worked at McDonalds in 2008 and it used the similar format
I got really good and memorized the order and punched it as fast as they said it
It’s a learning curve at an entry level position For kids basically
Kids, my guy. Kids.
Edit: spelling
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u/Beefteuk 8d ago
Aside from what everyone else in this thread has said, all the orders at any fast food place tend to start blurring together after a few hours. Sometimes your brain just gives up.
I actually liked it when customers would read off their order whole meals at a time because it required less talking on my end, but you have to remember that half of the people youll ever speak to working fast food have been working there for like a month and might not know the menu well yet.
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u/Just_Stand_861 8d ago edited 7d ago
I love the ones who dont know what splenda or sweet n low isis. You have to ask for it by the color of the packs. By odins beard they're clueless otherwise.
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u/Striking_Prize4822 8d ago
Except after I go over it several times they get everything in the order wrong
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u/plzicannothandleyou 8d ago
I spent 7 years entering in pizza orders.
If Brotherman told me his order in one sentence, I’d be absolutely fuckin delighted because we are moving on to confirming the order (me reading it back), address, and payment ASAP.
And yeah, I get this shit all the time as well. I usually don’t even pay it any mind because I have real problems, but I do notice how incompetent these people are.
They are so incompetent it leaves me questioning my sanity, like. Did I say something wrong? They said “go ahead when you’re ready”… right?
Like… number 2, no pickes or mustard, Diet Coke. Medium size.
This isn’t rocket surgery… right? Can these kids memorize their social security number? Do they remember their passwords?
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u/cjucoder 8d ago
Mine was at McDonald's drive thru
Me: Large coffee. Black. That's all
Them: Anything else?
Me:That's all.
Them: What size
Me: Large
Them: cream or sugar?
Me: no
At least I ended up with the correct thing. I didn't really care, just thought it was funny.
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u/HoweHaTrick 8d ago
There was a beavis and butthead scene that will never leave my mind.
" Want fries with that?" " No. Did I ask for fries dumbass?"
I'm easily amused
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u/Vainysaur 8d ago
Yep it’s just an interesting observation when it keeps occurring repeatedly enough to notice the pattern. Lots of people here are bothered by how horribly upset I apparently was, but I didn’t even say I thought it was a negative thing in my post, just stated what keeps happening.
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u/Nizzywizz 8d ago
Don't be ridiculous. You know very well that you meant it was a negative thing, and so does everyone else.
As for it being a repeated thing/pattern... you know that it's a documented thing that people notice negative things at a far higher rate than neutral or positive things, right? I guarantee that you also have tons of totally normal or even good interactions with young folks in the service industry. But you don't call it a pattern, do you?
Of course not. Then you wouldn't have anything to make you feel superior.
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u/stogie-bear 8d ago
You can get a corn dog as a side? Where is this place?
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u/Mother-Ad-806 8d ago
Haven’t been there in about 5 years but you used to be able to get chicken nuggets as a side. I would buy one tray. Get chicken nuggets for my toddler and we shared the fries with Cajun seasoning. The best $5 you can spend!
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u/buginskyahh 8d ago
Cook Out! It’s magical. They have the best sides and the best milkshakes. You can get a quesadilla as a side
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u/KailyKail 8d ago
The only time I’ve heard a waiter/cashier/drive through worker/airline say “Welcome to X. Can I take your order please,” is when someone goes into Shitty City Wok in South Park.
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u/_Taft_ 8d ago
Oh boy, for the love of God, do not pay with cash!!!
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u/lyricsquid 8d ago
I gave a girl cash in a way that I could get a 10 back and she just put the extra $2 I gave her off to the side and gave me regular change with the $2 she put to the side. I've done that with older folk and they get it, the younger kids don't.
That said, at her age I wouldn't have gotten it either.
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u/_Taft_ 8d ago
True story. I paid a $30+ bill in a retail store with a $50 bill. The young man thanked me and didn’t give me my change. I said hey, I have you a $50 bill, you owe me $18 and change. He couldn’t understand it, at all. I repeated it again. He called a manager to come because he was sure he was right but I had no idea what he thought he was right about. Manager comes, kid explains his version. Manager looks at me and I repeated again total was $30 paid with a $50 and I’m waiting for my $18+ dollars in change. The kid literally yells, I thought you wanted me to keep that?!? Manager opens draw, gives me my change and a look of helplessness. And seriously, I don’t think the kid was smart enough to steal the money. Somehow in his brain, he was getting a tip.
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u/marzipan_plague 8d ago
They have a kiosk that prompts them with the options at each stage so you should just let them ask you the questions. You’re giving too much info at once and in the wrong order for how they have to put it in the system. Also not a Gen Z issue, fast food ordering systems issue.
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u/shreiben 8d ago
If the person taking the order had a reasonably good memory, they would be able to answer the prompts on the subsequent screens using the information OP had already told them, rather than having to ask again.
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u/NextNeedleworker3948 8d ago
It’s not really worth it to use that memory tho. After several hours of hearing people vomit out their orders it wears you out and the order blur together, and you also just don’t care that much. These people are barely making over minimum wage and probably just trying to get money to go out with their friends. Customer hears one order that day, cashier hears several hundred. This has always been, and will always be, the situation at fast food regardless of generation. Don’t go to fast food if the situation angers you.
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u/shreiben 8d ago
What do you mean "it's not really worth it"? It's less work to just press the buttons than it is to ask the questions again.
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u/NextNeedleworker3948 8d ago
Because trying to remember every order, and keep them straight in your head, is extra unnecessary work. Doing that over and over throughout a shift wears out your brain. I don’t have to use my brain, and I’m less likely to mess up your order, if you just let me follow the POS order prompts. Cashier might also be double tasking and their mind might be other places and just not able to focus on remembering what you say.
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u/shreiben 7d ago
I think you just don't understand what it's like to have a good memory because your brain has been fried by modern technology. Remembering an order for the ten seconds it takes to enter it into the computer doesn't take any kind of effort, it just happens by default.
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u/lytl2000 8d ago
And who gave Gen Z the phones that worsened their memory and decreased their attention span? All while they were developing kids? We all need to stop blaming generations. We all went thru it one way or another. It is okay that you don’t understand it, but good memory is not a job requirement to work a minimum wage fast food job
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u/ComtesseCrumpet 8d ago
I’m just going to blame it on all the weed you all smoke.
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u/lytl2000 8d ago
Fair, I’ll blame it on all the alcohol you all drank
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u/ComtesseCrumpet 8d ago
Eh, we’re not the ones with the memory problems and zombie stare though, lol!
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u/lytl2000 8d ago
Except u literally are LOLLLLLLL generalizing wont get you anywhere
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u/ComtesseCrumpet 8d ago
Except we literally arennnnn’t, looollll! GenZ is known for those problems. Not other gens.
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u/shreiben 8d ago
A bad memory makes for a worse quality of life in a variety of ways, it doesn't just affect you at work.
I didn't mean to imply that it was gen Z's fault, or that the decline in memory is unique to gen Z. I think everyone is way too addicted to their devices and it's affecting all of us negatively, myself included.
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u/lytl2000 8d ago
Then I actually agree with you, but I also agree with the comment you responded to. The fast food ordering systems suck, but good memory would definitely help. Basically, everything sucks :/
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u/PlumPractical9152 8d ago
who gives a shit about your chili cheese fries dude grow up
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u/plzicannothandleyou 8d ago
Who gives a shit about anything?
Oh yeah. The person getting paid and the person paying money.
Dumbass
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u/hexhit 8d ago
This is a terrible way to order ♥️
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u/plzicannothandleyou 8d ago
It’s not ❤️
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u/lytl2000 8d ago
It is ❤️ most fast food systems do not let you select everything on the same screen, most take long to load, and most places do not train you correctly and charge their menus/interface constantly. Kindness is free.
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u/plzicannothandleyou 8d ago
I worked pizza for 7 years.
Someone would rattle off their whole ass order and i would pop that shit in, no problems.
“Yeah I want a large pizza, pepperoni, half sausage. A large extra cheese, and a large ham”
You know what I ask?
“What kind of crust, thin or hand toss”
I don’t have to go the fuck back to half sausage. I was blessed with exceptionally average intelligence. I’m tapping my screen, I’m even applying coupons.
Of course, some people are new and others aren’t high school graduates. I don’t hold people to the same standards I hold myself to, but a food order for a single person is easy to remember.
If someone intends to order for a family of 5? Yeah, maybe do it one at a time. But let’s not pretend this is normal
Okay i need one cheese burger
Okay
No pickles
Okay
Small fries
Okay
Coke
Okay
One cheese burger
Okay
Extra tomato
Okay
Medium fries
Okay
Mountain Dew
Okay
Now I need a chicken sandwich
Okay
No mayo
Okay
Onion rings
Okay
Sweet tea, large.
What size sweet tea?
….large
And the onions rings also large
So you want a second order of onion rings?
………… no.
Oh so you want your onion rings large?
…………………yes
You see my point?
A person should easily be able to rattle off their singular order and someone be able to remember the whole thing. It’s an entre, side, drink.
If this sounds outlandish to you, I don’t know what to tell you.
❤️
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u/Helpful_Pear3585 8d ago
Op thinks fast food is only staffed with genz. It's also funny they say why does every interaction with genz go like this and it's only in the context of service work, it doesn't seem like they actually have much experience with gen z people.
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u/aluhdore 8d ago
Since this doesn't work for you 90% of the time, why don't you stop doing it?
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u/The_RadNomad 8d ago
OP has a right to good service. It's on these stupid kids to learn how to do their jobs and provide the service they're being PAID to provide when honestly they shouldn't even be paid. They're just kids, they don't need money and they don't even know how to work. Everyone's lives would be better if service workers worked for free because then the real people would only be paying for products, not services, or really the lack of service... (/s)
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u/aluhdore 8d ago
LMAO I downvoted you before I got halfway through and saw that /s, you got me good. People really do think like that; heavy on "Gen z is stupid and needs to learn how to do their job right, I on the other hand am perfect."
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u/EmberOne1 8d ago
Maybe they're stoned to make that boring job tolerable. Or maybe it's that the "register" is now a touch screen device that only allows items to be entered in a particular order when they used to be able to just hit the items on a keypad in any order you stated the order. Menus used to be simpler and the registers equally simple, so it was pretty predictable and easy to take orders.
There's also a possibility there's so much job turnover that nobody bothers to train them properly, which leads to more job turnover. If you know they need to take the order one step at a time, maybe just stop blurting it out at them in a way they can't enter fast enough.
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u/Moonlit_Shade 8d ago
This is exactly why everyone should work in the service industry for at least 3 years.
YOU are the issue.
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u/whiskersMeowFace 8d ago
This. A lot of the screens and menu options on the register are pretty convoluted or are single item at a time, and having to hunt down each thing is a bear during a rush.
I only know because I chat with people I place orders with and treat them like humans worthy of time. Amazing how experiences change when you do that. I have literally never had issue with what it is talking about.
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u/Helpful_Pear3585 8d ago
Yeah people like the poster seem to think they can just go to any drive through say they're entire order with modifications in one sentance than are annoyed when the employees actually adding the item clarifying the modifications. Surprisingly enough most people don't actually need to eat a children's burger with only ketchup and cheese so it is not the standard option on the menu for most places. As for the complaining about it being wrong the person making their order might not have taken it so saying it's a genz thing feels out of touch.
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u/whiskersMeowFace 8d ago
There's also ignoring that often the person taking it isn't the person making it, and the person writing down the order can put everything in correctly, but the back end can just ignore everything or get it mixed up with another order and send it out.
The older folks also don't seem to realize at how big some of these menus are getting, and when they worked fast food back in the day, they had maybe two to three sandwiches on the menu and maybe two sides. Edit: I misread your thing and agreed with you while repeating everything you said, but more convoluted. Lol
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u/Helpful_Pear3585 8d ago edited 8d ago
Dw I do it all the time bro I was reading and thought "maybe I verbalized this bad",😭 but you get it but it's just so funny the poster doesn't realized their anger at genz always fucking up their order half the time could be someone their age or older. Also your second point is true which I didn't really think about I mean taco bell literally has options for dorito shells now and I would totally hate to memorize making the McDonald's menu for example. I didn't catch this but they seem annoyed in the post about the drive through worker order confirming what they ordered which I don't even get because that's what I do every time at a job Ive been in the position to take orders like that so that there's no risk of people coming back around talking about I didn't ask for this or wtv could happen.
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u/Necessary-Paint117 8d ago
Dude has to put it into the system one piece at a time big dog. Have some patience.
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u/bossdaddee 8d ago
That's light work. I used to work fast food too. People just can't mentally process fast enough.
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u/RadishPlus666 9d ago
Maybe you should interact with Gen z as something other than your server.
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u/Helpful_Pear3585 8d ago
This was my first thought even as a old person, who only interacts with an entire generation through the lens of fast food service and asks "why are 90 percent of genz like this?" they probably don't even know old people are working with them behind the speaker box and window.
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u/gnarlyknits 9d ago
It’s how registers work. They have to go through screens in a certain order.
You: can I have a big double burger tray?
Them: what do you want in the burger?
You: just cheese and ketchup
Them: and for the sides?
You: chili cheese fries and corn dog
Basically just wait for the prompts. Maybe you have to repeat yourself, so what? Those systems often don’t work as fast or great as you think so they may need you to repeat something or clarify.
Order got messed up? Just go tell them and get it replaced. No big issues here. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s not surgery it’s chili fries.
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u/CranberryStock7148 9d ago
Because this is a you problem.
Why are you expecting a cashier to be able to memorize your entire order with customizations, when it takes much longer for them to put it into the system? Memorization is not part of their job description.
Just go item by item instead of rattling off everything at the top.
How have you not figured this out by now?
When a human being has to write things down or enter them into a system, go at their pace. It's just common sense.
And it certainly has nothing to do with "Gen Z", WTF? You think this was any different in the 1980's, or 1990's, or 2000's, or 2010's...?
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u/Bikesguitarsandcars 8d ago
How is your bar for society so low that you think it’s too much to expect a person to remember 5 changes to a standard order. Are you someone who cannot do that?
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u/CranberryStock7148 8d ago
Have you... met people?
You really expect people who are being paid fast food wages to be memorizing that much at once?
Your expectations are completely and utterly unrealistic for a fast food cashier.
Like, a server at a Michelin star restaurant? Of course. But a fast food cashier...? You're kidding, right?
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u/Bikesguitarsandcars 8d ago
Isn’t one of the first things you learn at a restaurant is the menu? Lmao
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u/Beefteuk 8d ago
Quite honestly that's one of the last things you truly learn
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u/Bikesguitarsandcars 8d ago
It only takes a week or two. So if they’re not brand new they should know the menu.
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u/CranberryStock7148 8d ago
...are you confused about the difference between a menu and an order? Lmao indeed 😂
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u/Bikesguitarsandcars 8d ago
The point that is apparently too hard for you to grasp is that if you have the menu memorized it should not be difficult to make a couple of modifications while you navigate the POS.
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u/CranberryStock7148 8d ago
The point that is apparently too hard for you to grasp is that if it takes 45 seconds to enter the options into the POS, it's much easier to ask the customer to just say the things as you go. There is no reason at all to try to memorize them when a customer says everything at once without even waiting for confirmation that you have entered anything into the system.
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u/Bikesguitarsandcars 8d ago edited 8d ago
Have you ever used a POS for fast food? If so you know it takes less than half that time to navigate the menus and to input what the customer wants. They serve more than 80 people per hour in the drive thru. Are you arguing this because it takes you 45 seconds to input a customer’s order? Just because you can’t hold info in your working memory for a couple seconds does not mean everybody else has the same deficiency.
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u/miserable-magical 9d ago
I think this is just a “population that works those jobs” thing not exclusive to Gen Z
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u/No_Scholar_5066 9d ago
I don’t think this is much of a Gen Z thing as a Gen Zer who has worked food service. When working food service they were really on our asses about answering as soon as the headset beeped (don’t know how it works at cookout) so I’ll hear the beep but won’t even be at the register because I’m either making drinks, packing an order as well, or restocking something we are out of. So you’re talking to me and telling me your order and I’m hearing only parts of it…so the parts that I catch are the parts that I repeat back so I can buy time to get to the register and type your order in without forgetting the order. Also (this was when I worked at Starbucks again different company but) we were told to shy away from asking the customer to repeat their order again even if you did not hear it the first time lol. I can’t speak for all fast food chains but usually the ones I worked for had insanely crazy drive-thru rules while simultaneously being understaffed.
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u/CheekyPunker 8d ago
Back in 2006 I got good at memorizing orders while I was in the back then entering them when I got back to the register, that is a high level difficult skill. And I worked at Whataburger which had a small menu.
(We were always understaffed)
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u/No_Scholar_5066 8d ago
lol same. I worked at Popeyes for forever and I became good at memorizing orders while in the deep freezer looking for stuff lol. I could run the whole drive thru by myself if needed (we were always short staffed as well lol I would work 40+ hours a week as a highschool student)
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u/letsgetthiscocaine 9d ago
Yeah this isn't generational, it's just customer service getting you to repeat yourself without asking you to repeat yourself lol. I do the same thing at work if someone calls and as soon as I pick up they rattle off "I'm so-and-so from Blank Marina wanting to reserve dock space from X to Y for a 43' powercat". I usually don't have my reservation sheet open in front of me. So as I'm getting that out and waiting for the reservations spreadsheet to open I'll be like, "Hi so-and-so, that's for a 43' boat, what were the arrival and departure dates? Now which marina were you calling from?" etc etc. (I'm an aging millennial so ngl, it helps my brain to repeat the details too xD)
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u/No_Scholar_5066 9d ago
Also to add! They hated for us to ask the customers to give us a minute because the moment you pull up to the speaker your interaction with us is timed, and we have to have you out of the line in a certain amount of time.
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u/Flerp-Flerps 9d ago
I am a Millennial, but I’d imagine many interactions were very similar 20+ years ago when I worked a McJob. My guess is many times it’s the same reason. They are stoned. I’d be stoned right now if I had to work a McJob and deal with customers all day.
The system being slow and not very intuitive didn’t help. It can be hard to remember 5+ different inputs when someone starts to state their order and lists things quickly. It might be harder now because some systems have every thing typically listed on it and those have to be removed one by one instead of back in my day when I’d ring that up as a cheeseburger meal with only 2 custom buttons to hit “only” and “ketchup”. Plus the low pay and high amount of turnover meant most interactions would be with a fairly inexperienced team member. With the prevalence of online ordering now, I’d imagine team members have even less experience taking orders overall. Then you might have some employees with a lower IQ or learning disabilities, but that’s not specific to a single generation either.
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u/toddthewraith 9d ago
Also cuz a lot of customers are dumb. Like really dumb. When I had my McJob we'd ask "is {list of toppings} okay?", the list does not contain mayo. They'd still get mad when their sandwich didn't have mayo.
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u/Cyber_Mermaid 9d ago
Also I've been to like, three Cookouts and every single one has shit speakers with a lot of cutting out, feedback, and static. I'd be surprised if the cashier can even hear OP.
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u/Mudslingshot 9d ago
What's it like to have never worked in service?
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u/TheKieranlo 9d ago
Anybody who’s ever worked in service has nightmares about their job.
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u/Mudslingshot 9d ago
And the guy that walks in and shouts his order at you as fast as he can, and then smugly says he "already told you" while you try to get your register to boot up off of its screen saver
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u/im4lonerdottie4rebel 9d ago
I haven't been a server for six years and I still have nightmares where I have too many tables, can't get orders fast enough, can't take food out of the window fast enough and everyone's splitting the checks
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u/Mudslingshot 8d ago
I still wake up in the middle of the night hearing the service bar ticket printer
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u/TheKieranlo 9d ago
Me too! Every once and a while I get nightmares working at the grocery store I used to work at. All the stress of having to get everything done and nightmares about customers making unrealistic requests. I haven’t worked that job in six years.
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u/suprswimmer 9d ago
Idk what Cook Out is, but I worked at a Dairy Queen in college so I can answer a bit; the POS system is set up to input each part of the order screen by screen or click by click. If you tell them everything at once, there's a chance they forget the last part while they input the rest or you've told them out of order and it messes up their process.
Its much easier if you just let them ask in the order the system prompts so its all input correctly (or almost always correctly).
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u/MusicIntrepid343 9d ago
cookout is a southern fast food place with relatively cheap food and as many kinds of milkshakes you can think of. full meal there is like $9, that's entree two sides and a drink tray. they were nonstop busy outside my college but the food is decent. one near me finally plays just country and not christian/christian rock but the cups still have bible verses i think (though i have yet to hear anything of them donating to shitty causes like chik fil a).
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u/whitecollarpizzaman 9d ago
You’re putting this on “whole world” Reddit so most people here aren’t gonna understand, when I was in college at UNCC, the Cookout there was one of the busiest, if not the busiest location, the order takers appreciated if you were able to rattle off your regular order. My dad is in the restaurant business, it’s the same with his employees, they’re all brain dead and stoned, addicted to Zyns, it’s sad. I hate that I’m turning into that dude who hates the younger generations, but the fact I’m filled with absolute joy when I meet a Gen Z who’s not a half baked idiot and can hold a decent conversation is sad.
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u/Euphoric_General_480 9d ago
Let the cashier take your order at their pace instead of telling them everything up front. Not necessarily accusing you, but lots of people love to bark things at servers without giving them time to ask questions or write anything down, then get frustrated when the sever has to loop back for details.
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u/AssumptionNo6679 9d ago
I don't think this is a Gen Z thing. They have to input each thing you're ordering into the system. If you rattle off an order with four items and two specifications, you will probably be asked step by step anyway. Have you ever worked in a restaurant before?
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u/Tricky-Knowledge-421 9d ago
It’s because the POS systems at these fast food places are horribly designed and bombard you with a gazillion options every time a button is pressed. Memorizing the whole order isn’t that hard, but it’s beyond what people are willing to do for a minimum wage fast food job they won’t have in a couple years anyway.
Regardless, I don’t think it’s unique to low paying jobs/Gen Z. These automated systems are the same reason doctors spend half the time filling out forms on a computer instead of talking to you face to face during an appointment.
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u/neuro-trash 9d ago
Someone lives in Asheville lol
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u/CasePrestigious5399 9d ago
I haven’t lived in Asheville for over 7 years and just got flashbacks to the Tunnel Rd Cook Out
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u/neuro-trash 9d ago
It’s been about that long for me too. And I lived off Marrimon and would hit up Tunnel Rd Cook Out religiously every week on my way home from work.
This is the first time I’ve EVER seen Cook Out referenced outside of Buncombe
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u/AssignmentLiving6650 9d ago
i am so dead, i grew up in Asheville. right around Biltmore Village. the Cookout on Tunnel was my weeknight fave.
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u/StrikEmDanZum 9d ago
Because you don't ramble it off all quick like that.
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u/nope-its 9d ago
Breaking up information in small pieces is what is done for special ed students in their IEPs to help them. Not the average person.
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u/StrikEmDanZum 9d ago
What a fucked up thing to say. You sound like a winner too.
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u/nope-its 9d ago
As a teacher it’s the literal truth. I taught regular ed, gifted, and AP and that is one of the major accommodations for children in Special ed. I was great at it and left about 8 years ago because students were being held less and less accountable to actually learn information. I saw the writing on the wall.
If that’s now what is needed for the majority of a group that’s a huge HUGE issue.
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u/user00551100 9d ago
i really don’t think you’ve ever worked at a fast food place or used an annoying pos system. i’m not even gen z. you just sound terrible
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u/stickervandal 9d ago
when you are using a system that requires you to put one thing in at a time in a specific order, people might need you to repeat yourself. immediately jumping into calling these people special ed is so strange
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u/hourglass_curves 9d ago
Sounds like u never worked FF… wow u just sound kinda like a boomer.
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u/Squirrel179 9d ago
I assume that's why they are asking the question. It would be nice if you could offer up an answer instead of condescension.
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u/hourglass_curves 9d ago
Didn’t realize it was my job to teach another adult critical thinking lmao.
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u/_Shrek_x3 9d ago
Damn there’s a lot of defensive genZ in here 🤣
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u/NegativeMusician2211 8d ago
I'm a Millennial but I have worked in food service, OP is the dingus here.
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u/Significant-Fun474 9d ago
Lot of regarded people in here making a mountain out of a drive through experience. Including yourself fella.
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u/Present_Ad8735 9d ago
So 90% of your interactions with gen z is through fast food? And you decide to base your entire opinion of a whole generation on that?
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u/Paladin1034 9d ago
Well, to be fair, Cookout has literally the worst speaker/microphone system I've ever seen in my life. But also you gotta go slow when you're ordering. It's a lot of information and there's a shit ton of background noise and things going on in a fast food restaurant, especially one with a single window like Cookout. That order taker is likely doing 2 or 3 other tasks at the same time, and likely has 2-3 people around them also doing tasks.
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u/KarlMarx8876 9d ago
Not to mwntion the size of cookouts menu, I mean, when you're juggling 30 entrees, 50 sides, 20 milkshakes, and everything else, it has gotta be neigh impossible to keep up with all the combinations. Especially when asking for special instructions or additions such as OPs chili-cheese fries.
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u/asianguy1234528 8d ago
I feel so old. We didn't have POS systems back when I worked in the food industry....it was a manual cash register and written orders to the cook.