french toast 101

My friend Kara posted this on her blog recently. I love her quick wit and composure in these types of situations.

So You Think You Know French Toast Sticks?
I work for a company that sells hamburgers. Granted, I work in the training and development department at the corporate headquarters, but even so part of my onboarding process is to work three days in one of our restaurants. That's a pretty cool idea, except when it's not.

Today was my third of three days, and since I spent 6 years working in Food Service at Six Flags Great Adventure, the manager let me run the front area while she did orders in the back office. At lunch time this conversation went down:

Drive-Thru Guy: Kara, the guest wants to speak to you.
Me: Okay. Hi ma'am, how may I help you?
Psycho Lady (driving a BMW SUV): Your employee is treating me very rudely and not giving me what I want. I'm the customer and customers are always right.

Me: I'm sorry for that. What can I do to make this right? How can I help you?
PLDBMWSUV: I want a bag of French Toast sticks with my order.
Me to Drive-Thru Guy: Let's get these for her...
PLDBMWSUV: Don't talk to him! You're only to talk to me right now! Erase him from the conversation!
Me: Ma'am, I'm trying to help you here. I want you to be happy. So you would like another order of French Toast sticks.
PLDBMWSUV: No, I want a bag of them!
Me: Okay. I can sell you an order of them.
PLDBMWSUV: Could you be any ruder to me? I said I want a bag of them, so you should give me a bag of them!

And this is where it gets golden:

PLDBMWSUV: Are you educated enough to understand what F-R-E-N-C-H TOAST STICKS are?
Me: I have a masters degree, so I'm pretty sure I understand what French Toast sticks are.

Am I educated enough to discuss in intricacies of lightly sugared crispy pieces of battered bread? Seriously?

I finally asked her if she wanted two or four sticks, to which she replied, "Two." We made them for her, and when we walked outside to give them to her she'd vanished.

After 32 years on this Earth, many of which contained some time in some type of customer-oriented positions (Bath & Body Works, bartending at a pub in England, Six Flags, etc.), I now have an addendum to "The Customer is Always Right:"

Yes, the customer is always right; but being right does NOT give you the right to be a bully or belligerent to employees.

"Educated enough!" To understand effing French Toast sticks! Dear God...