So I was craving another sodium-enriched baguette sandwich from Burger King today. Already had the Smoky BBQ, wanted to try the namesake, Santa Fe Fire-Grilled…as I pull into BK’s parking lot, I can see the drive-thru is packed, at least a 10 min wait. Having a crappy radio and barely any CDs in the car, I decide to hoof it and go inside to get it to-go….

The fella at counter takes my order, ‘A #9’, I say. Well, it seems BK’s registers are not programmed well as this guy has trouble finding the right key combination to unlock the fast-food fortress (and I’ve had this problem the last 3 times I’ve gone to a BK). Not a problem, not his fault. But as I watch the leading-edge, single-line display facing me, showing the items he punches up, I thought I saw something with ‘BCN’ or ‘BG’, but couldn’t tell cuz he was working it like Beethoven.

So he punches up the amount, gives change, then hands the receipt to me; with it being lunchtime I decide to not stand at the counter while checking what the receipt says. Sure enough, he had punched up a Bacon Double Cheeseburger! Now I’m no health nut, but at the same time going from a chicken baguette to a Bacon Double is too far of a stretch for me to suck it up. So I step over to the pick-up counter, and try to grab the attention of one of the fast-food couriers jetting back and forth. Finally I grab one and tell her what I wanted, it’s the same price as what I paid, so ‘can you just switch it out’?

Uh-oh, I should have known what with all the problems they have punching up combo orders, this was gonna be a big deal. The girl I grabbed, had to grab her manager (you could pick her out by the NFL-licensed headset she’s wearing). After a few moments, she asks ‘Was it the tall guy or the small guy (who took your order)?’. Um, I knew trouble was coming. For me that was, cuz one checkout guy was about 5’9′, the other 5’9 1/2′ after much inspection. So I single out the tall guy, and she sends the first girl over to replace him, and delegates him to counter duty.

Damn, ruined this guy’s day over an innocent mistake! So of course now he’s bringing out the orders, so we’re face-to-face. But I was able to explain to him, ‘Hey, I wasn’t trying to call you out, no big deal, all I asked was for her to swap it out.’ He was nice enough about it, albeit with a ‘what the hell’ grin on his face. And the funny thing was the first thing out of his mouth is ‘What’d you order, I don’t even remember waiting on you’? Pretty funny…

But at least it’s nice to know the managers at BK don’t like a squeaky wheel in their well-tuned lunch machine….