My first job was with Wendy's. I worked there for a year, and while it wasn't a fun job, it was a nice place to work.

Anyway, Wendy's offered a 10% discount to senior citizens (50+). The catch was, they had to ask for it - not an unreasonable request. It makes sense, because there are tons of problems that would arise if you asked "Would you like a Senior Citizen Discount?"

The people who knew to ask would just say "Senior Discount" as if it were simply another item on their tab. It was easy to input, too. Just hit '1' '0' 'Percent Discount' 'Enter'.

Of course, you'd get the elderly people who have nothing better to do than complain to everyone in sight at their own mistakes. They'd come to the register, place their order, receive their order, and sit down to eat. About halfway through the meal, they'll come up to the counter with their receipt in their hand.

"Where's my discount?"

I know what they're talking about, because this is a constant battle, but to avoid any confusion or offense, I ask "I'm sorry, what discount?" to which they respond "My Senior discount!" I then kindly explain to them that it's Wendy's POLICY that the customer (or "Guest" as Wendy's likes to call them) is responsible for requesting the discount. From here, one of three things happen:

• The customer says "Ah, I wasn't aware of that. Thank you, young man!" to which I reply with a smile, and a nice "You're welcome!"
• The customer says "ASK?! You want us to ask for a Goddamn discount we're supposed to get automatically? All of your OTHER cashiers give us the discount automatically!" (They don't).
• The customer flies into a fury, and demands to speak to the manager. Of course, I turn to the crew (if they're not busy) with a mock smile, and say "Can you please fetch Sal/Donna/Brian?" The manager comes to the register, and explains the policy exactly like I did. Then, the customer either walks away in a huff, or demands their discount. The manager will then take the receipt, and ring up their discount.


Noder's Note: I didn't go get the manager myself not because I'm lazy, but because the front register operator isn't supposed to leave the front line.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.