A Review of Public Etiquette In A Drive-Thru

As most of you know, I am addicted to Diet Coke. Ergo, I spend a lot of time in McDonald’s drive-thrus. Frankly, it appalls me how people behave there. So, here is a review of public etiquette in a drive-thru. Kindly enjoy my sarcasm.

Drive-thrus have become a staple in our society. They are great for short lunch breaks. You don’t have to get out of your car; you can use an app so the food is ready when you arrive. Plus, you can eat in your vehicle while rocking out to your favorite tunes. What’s not to like? I am so glad you asked!

Public Etiquette Has Vanished

Drive-thrus tend to reveal our lack of public etiquette. To expedite orders, many fast-food chains have dual drive-thru lanes. Hmm, an interesting concept. Are you familiar? It has not been my experience that this is a good thing.

For example, seven cars were ahead of me today in the drive-thru line at my favorite McDonald’s. All vehicles were lined up to the inside order lane. The outside lane was wide open. What do you think I did? I drove right up to the outside lane, of course. One driver (from the inside lane) opened his window and told me I had a lot of nerve. He also used an inappropriate moniker when referring to me.

Should I have been as ignorant as everyone else and waited in a long line? I think not. I was aware of my surroundings and exercised a choice that every other driver chose not to. Not my problem. Perhaps these other drivers will know what to do next time. So that you know, I refrained from responding to the comment from the inside-lane driver. Quite proud of myself for that.

Another Public Etiquette Pet Peeve

Why do people not pull forward far enough to allow you access to the drive-thru speaker? Do you look in your rearview mirror to see if the car behind you is close enough? Am I weird because I do? For me, that is being polite. This is especially true in a dual drive-thru where vehicles must merge to get to the pay window.

Likewise, do you check if the car behind you can access the pay window? Many times the car in front of me has plenty of room in front of them; however, they do not pull forward. When you are short on time, this can significantly impact your day.

Lest you think I am crazy, multiple articles are accessible via Google Search on drive-thru etiquette. Alas, I was not the first one to think of this as a blog topic. Such a blow to my ego. Here is quite an interesting piece from the employee’s perspective. https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromRetail/comments/190bhz/drive_thru_ordering_etiquette/. My personal favorite is the woman who cruised up and clearly stated, “I’ll have my usual” into the speaker. The employee had no idea who she was or what she wanted and had to take her order at the pay window.

Please click the link and read the article. The contrast between how crazy I see the drive-thru from the outside perspective to how nutty the employees’ view of all of us is hysterical. There are two sides to every story.

My Nine Personal Recommendations

• Pick your lane
• Know what you want to order
• Clearly state your order at the speaker
• Allow the vehicle merge to happen properly
• Make sure you have room in your cup holder
• Have your credit card or money ready
• Be courteous to the cashier
• Pull up close to the next window
• Take your food and enjoy!

This is indeed not rocket science. I sincerely hope I have not ruined drive-thrus for you. Hopefully, you will notice that they are much better after everyone has read this post. Who knows, perhaps I am changing the world! Let’s hope so.

Do you have any interesting drive-thru stories? Kindly share them in a comment below. Thanks for reading this silliness until the end. If you had a chuckle, my work is done here. Long live McDonald’s Diet Coke!