GRUMPY GRAMPS – TALKING APPLEBEE’S & MCDONALDS

By William of CrossDove Writers

Recently on a local Facebook page entitled ‘Public Right to Know’, an individual posted a nasty response to a trip to our local Applebee’s, and in return others piled on with disconcerting views of one of the few full-service restaurants our community has.

While some tried their best to attest to quality visits or to help others understand it is not always that way, some folks were just hell bent on ripping Applebee’s to shreds.

Having been in the food service business (both fast serve and full service), I had those days when all seemed to go wrong and get presented out of sorts, while most days everything and anything will and can run like a well-oiled machine, right down to the customer service.

Ironically, while I do not get to Applebee’s that often, and when I do it is because I am having a meal with a family member, I did happen to have been to our local Applebee’s three times in the past 60-days and each time I found everything to be pretty much satisfactory.

Granted, not everything will be perfect such as my steamed broccoli with cheese on my last visit (undercooked and unseasoned), I did find each of the three trips solid with customer service – right down to the politeness the people showed. No arrogance, no ignoring us, no flippant attitudes as had been described in the scathing review on Facebook.

One thing I can say – for 40-plus years I have promoted the idea that EVERYONE should spend at least six to nine months in the food service industry, with some of that time working out front with the people, the customers.

I say that because for one, you will find out whether you are truly a people person or not, plus you may then find out how rude and arrogant the treatment is from the other side of the fence, the customer side. I figure many would possible even see themselves like looking in a mirror.

Remember the phrase – the customer is always right. In my years of food service, I honestly felt that with few exceptions the real problem we had, almost always came from the arrogant and selfish attitude of the customer – though we never let them know that.

If you have employees looking like they are loafing, most times it could be that they just got done with being hammered with a full house of people looking for a quick turn around on their food and due to that these employees were possibly overdue for a break.

Do I condone the attitudes of the Applebee’s staff this writer on Facebook conveyed? Hell no, and if it happened in my house heads would have rolled. But then again, would I have found out because most people that bitch and whine about service and food when eating out, also never bothered to request a moment with the people that counted the most – the management team!! And according to one response on that Facebook posting, a management team member stepped up and proved the point.

Now – let’s talk about McDonald’s!!

Currently McDonald’s has a huge push on a special where they are putting two slices of bacon on their Big Mac sandwiches and adding a thinly layered cover of cheese with bacon bits over a medium order of fries.

Yes, I stepped out one evening and did give both items a try. Brought them home and once I got over finding the special order of no pickles and onions on my Big Mac to have been a failure, I dug in and over ate with the combination of bacon added goodies.

My thoughts – what a waste of my money!!

You pay an extra $1.30 to add bacon to the Big Mac and you pay an additional $1.40 to have them add some poor tasting cheese and so-so cooked bacon bits to the fries. WHY??

By the time I was halfway done with both items, I already had concluded that I could have saved money just ordering the Big Mac and medium fries to go, brought them home and added my own, home cooked bacon and choice of cheese to them for less than the extra $2.70 plus tax it cost me to have them do it.

My conclusion – it’s just a gimmick to help get people back into the stores when McDonald’s knows that their high calorie, high sodium, unhealthy menu items are making people run the other way for a better way to eat.

My conclusion – add the bacon but cut the price to maybe just $.50 to $.75 more.

My conclusion – as much as the Big Mac and Fries tasted good, my body, my mind and my health all realized immediately that even the gimmick that got me in to try it was a poor choice of the day, week and month.

For now, when you do go out to eat – remember these people do their best and just because you are not having to cook or wait on the people you’re with, don’t be arrogant and selfish – try being polite, understanding and grateful for the fact the people waiting and cooking for you are doing it!!

With that – hugs, prayers, blessings and happy thoughts from Grumpy Gramps.

(Copyright@2019, CrossDove Writers – no part of this posting may be printed, copied or used without written permission by CrossDove Writers and Grumpy Gramps.)