Anyone can have a bad day. I certainly have. And I’ve done my time in fast food. Several years of my life in fact spent at Dominoes Pizza, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, as a driver, cook, waiter, shift manager and assistant manager.
So please keep that in mind when you read the following:
Gilmer deserves better. Better fast food management, and better fast food employees. That’s it.
My kiddo loves mysteriously shaped fried chicken nuggies from a certain begolden arched national chain that shall remain nameless. I waited around 40 minutes today in the drive through (and then in front of the store where they tell you to pull up when they know it’s taking too long) so he could have some nuggies after I dragged him along with me on some errands.
I can’t fathom why it should have ever taken this long to get them. And when they did bring them, they forgot our drinks. At least they gave us napkins this time, they usually don’t.
If this was the first … or second.. or fifth… time I wouldn’t even bother writing about it. But it’s endemic here in Gilmer. I’ve lived here for over 15 years ans it’s more common to have an order wrong than right. I only continue to give this place money because my kid likes it.
The Pittsburg McDonalds runs like a frikkin’ dream. I love going there on my way to Bob Sandlin or when passing through for some other reason. I wish whoever runs that location would take over …um… more locations.
I’m not planning on writing any more posts like this one. That’s not the purpose of this site. However, one perusing the posts here may notice the lack of any national chains being mentioned with rare exception. That’s simply because 1) Most of them are on the main drag and get plenty of business whether they deserve it or not and 2) Most of them are quite simply terrible in terms of management and service. Or at best, good service is sporadic for many.
And it’s absolutely not fair to throw every single chain restaurant in Gilmer Texas in the same bucket. There are some that have improved greatly over the years, for example – one in particular after getting a brand new building (this is me still trying to keep specific names out of it). So to you who do actually give half a care while at your job – thank you. I see you. I appreciate you.
I’ll leave you with one more quick story. A few weeks ago, my wife and son and I pulled up to a certain purveyor of fried foods. It was later in the day, so I drove to the door where a young man was taking a smoke break, I drove close to see the hours on the door, more than an hour until closing. Perfect! Plenty of time. So we park, and get out. By the time we get to the door, smoke break time was apparently over and he had not only gone inside, but locked the door.
Over an hour before close on a week day. There were no chairs on tables, it wasn’t minutes before closing time, and in fact there was at least one other family inside eating. But no. Not us. They decided it was closing time for us.
I have not been back since. I was very happy when they opened this place. I used to go to Gladewater to get this chain’s food. Guess what! I do again.
Unless you work as a taste tester at an ice cream factory – here’s a news flash – no one loves their job. But dude – if it pays the bills, be grateful, and do a good job. If you hate it – do what I did, learn something else in your free time. If you want it bad enough, you’ll make the time. But don’t take it out on the rest of us, that does no one any good.
Once more I say to the slackers: Gilmer deserves better. To those who are trying, thank you.
