My Wendy's Drive Thru Experience
(Published July 12th, 2022)
So I was in line at the drive-through at Wendy’s. It was a long line. I just got out of jujitsu class and I needed some dinner on the way home because the wife and kids went out to eat while I was at class.
Anyway, the guy in front of me pulls up to the ordering station, has a little exchange with whoever’s on the other end of the speaker there, and then revs the engine, pulls out of line and drives off like a bat out of hell.
Apparently he wasn’t too happy.
I’ve been on the other end of that working in customer service. When something like that happens, when a customer gets royally ticked off at you, sometimes it's your own fault. But sometimes it’s due to something that’s outside of your control.
And when it is something out of your control, a lot of times you just have to brace for impact, customer after customer, because it’s one of those things that’s going to affect just about every customer that you have to deal with that day.
Having been there and done that, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. You know, the golden rule and all.
So I pull forward to have my order taken, and with a big smile on my face I say, “Hi how are you doing today?”
The voice of the girl on the other end sounds really weary. She pauses and says, “I’d be better if my drinks had carbonation.”
Oh man, can you imagine? Having to take orders in a fast food line where 99% of the folks that go through there all want sodas?
And given the entitled society that we live in today, everybody’s going to get really ticked off if they can’t have what they want when they want it, especially after sitting in a long line at a drive-through where they’re expecting their fast food right away without having to wait.
I completely get where this girl is coming from. So I say, “Oh man that’s rough! That’s OK though. I don’t need carbonation in my drinks.”
And I can tell from the voice on the other end that I’d instantly set her at ease.
When you’re having a rough day and you’ve got stuff going on like that, it’s nice to know that someone understands.
So I order my meal with a bottle of water instead and I wish her a nice day. I think she appreciated that.
What does all this have to do with Jiu-Jitsu you ask?
Well I think folks who do Jiu-Jitsu are just a little bit more relaxed. Especially right after a Jiu-Jitsu class.. Little things like not having carbonation for my soda don’t really stress us out as much right after a good class.
Maybe it’s because it’s nothing compared to having a big sweaty guy on top of you in side control.
Maybe it’s because you just vented all of your pent up frustration on the mats and you’ve got none left to give the poor girl behind the speaker.
I’m sure that’s part of it.
But I think another part of it is that it’s easier to treat people with respect when you feel respected yourself.
If you feel like nobody respects you, if you feel like you’re constantly eating $h!+ from people who don’t respect you all day long, then it’s really tough not to take it out on the poor drive-through girl who’s really just a figurehead for the organization that ran out of carbonation for their sodas.
If you’re getting walked all over all day long it’s really hard not to lash out at others given the chance.
But when you belong to a group of folks who all respect each other for their toughness and skill, when you feel like a respected member of a tribe like that, it’s a whole lot easier to be respectful to others.
When you feel respected you’re not as easily offended. You can let things go. You don’t get ticked off by stupid things that people say and do in public, or on social media. It’s just not as big a deal.
People say you’ve got to give respect in order to get respect.
But I think that’s missing part of the equation. I think it’s really tough to give genuine respect to people until you yourself feel respected. And that only works if you feel respected by people that you yourself respect.
Respect isn’t something that’s given. It’s earned.
It’s earned by demonstrating qualities like toughness and skill.
If you want to be respected go out there and pick up a new skill. Pick something hard, something that’s difficult mentally and/or physically.
Find a group of people working on that same skill. Hang out with them and practice. They are your tribe.
Don’t be a wuss and quit when it gets hard, or when you realize it's going to take a lot longer to learn than you thought it would.
Stick with it, get good at it, and kick ass.
That’s how you earn respect. It starts with your tribe. And once you’ve earned the respect of your tribe, it bleeds over to every other aspect of your life.
You’ll feel more confident in everything else that you do.
And I think you’ll find it’s a whole lot easier to take it in stride and treat people with respect even when people are saying and doing stupid things in your vicinity…
or on social media…
or on the news…
or when Wendy’s runs out of carbonation for their beverages.
With that said, I’m gonna go eat some Wendy’s!
Take care, and I hope to see you on the mats!
- Mike