McDonald's — Restaurant in Tucson

Let me set the stage: a desolate parking lot, a weary grandparent, and the siren call of "fast food" that turned out to be anything but. Thirty minutes. Thirty soul-crushing, mind-numbing minutes for some fries and nuggets. At the 20-minute mark, I was clutching the steering wheel, tears streaming down my face. By minute 25, the baby had gone full Shakespearean tragedy—wailing, flailing, inconsolable. And at minute 30, I was out of the car, fist pumping like I was reenacting Dog Day Afternoon, chanting "Attica! Attica!" like a lunatic. People may or may not have joined in—hard to say through the blur of my despair.

The audacity! I had paid $35 for this circus of incompetence. Thirty-five bucks for fries (17 ingredients strong, because clearly, simplicity is dead) and some lukewarm nuggets. You had one job, McDonald's, and it wasn’t splitting the atom. Just hand over the damn fries. I get it—minimum wage jobs are tough. Been there, done that. I worked those jobs, hustled, and climbed my way up. But here's the kicker: if you’re getting paid almost as much as someone answering life-or-death 911 calls, maybe, just maybe, you should be able to sling fries without turning it into a slow-motion disaster.

See, here’s the problem: when you overpay for mediocrity, you get complacency. Hustle dies. Ambition flatlines. Why aspire when the status quo pays the rent? It’s a microcosm of our failing social structure, and I got to experience it firsthand in the form of a 30-minute French fry hostage situation.

In the end, I suppose it’s my karmic retribution for feeding the kids junk food. Lesson learned: life is too short to cry in a drive-thru while cradling a receipt for overpriced regret. If you’re reading this, consider it a cautionary tale. Don’t do what I did. Don’t be me. Don’t let...

In general, this store does a decent job for me. I do like to go inside and order in person, especially when drive-through is busy since I don't like maneuvering my big truck through. Today, I was paying with cash, so had to go to the counter. "Crew Trainer Aubrey" collected my payment. Now, full disclosure, my change was only 2 pennies. But Ms. Aubrey didn't ask me if I wanted it, or more correctly assume that of course the customer wants (and is entitled to!) their change. She closed the drawer without giving me change, told me my food would be ready in a minute, and walked away. Since it was only 2c, I collected my meal and left, but thinking about it... Is this what you teach new employees, Ms. Crew Trainer? How to short customers? How to make assumptions about other people's money? I'm willing to be charitable and say it wasn't intentional, she was distracted and forgot she hadn't given change, but as someone who has worked retail and money handling since before you were born, please let me share this lesson... don't mess up the money. The last thing you need is to give your store a reputation for shorting or stealing customer's money. I'll continue to shop here, but probably won't let things go again. That kind of mistake is not a good look...

Maybe I'm expecting too much from society, but I can't understand why it is that a simple order is seemingly always wrong. I'm not ordering a special hamburger made a specific way - I just ask for a regular double cheeseburger. I'm not ordering a huge order with complex conditions - again, I just want a double cheeseburger. So how is it that McDonald's is always capable of messing up a standard, simple order for a single sandwich? Aside from having to deal with the incompetence of the average McDonald's employee, I'm am getting really turned off by the cost of eating at McDonald's. $7 for a burger, fries, and a drink? I scarf it down in under two minutes, feel completely unsatisfied, and still as hungry as when I walked in the door. Also, this is supposed to be fast food, but it takes up to 15 minutes for my food and, inevitably, my order is wrong. So then I have to wait another 15, 20 minutes while they're scratching their heads trying to figure out how to remedy the situation. Naturally, they don't offer a free apple pie or a free McFlurry or a refund or even an apology. Nope. Instead, all I get is to wait around, scratching my head wondering why I continue to punish myself by going...