h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Fast Food Etiquette - A797538
Author: Lucrecia - U199253

Any other fast food employees have ideas? I'd be glad to hear them!

-Lucrecia

Quick Question: How does one create different types of effects like bold, italics, different headings, etc?

-Lucrecia

I'm just off to work and I'll read your entry when I get back and give you feedback.

As for effects, this is done by putting your entry in GuideML. If you search on it, you'll find how to do it. If it looks like too much hard work, you can put headers as you would on an old fashioned typewriter.

Thanks!

I hope you enjoy it!

-Lucrecia

I've read through it now and I think it's an interesting subject and well presented.

One thing you will need to do if you want it to go in the Edited Guide is to put it in the third person, eg 'Employees have to put up with ...' rather than 'We have to put up with ...' etc. A bit of a pity really, as it reads well as it is, but then rules is rules, as they say.

There are a couple of places where it might benefit by being more universal, eg $20 (you could put 'large denomination notes, eg $20 or £20).

In a couple of places there are phrases which mean less this side of the Atlantic, eg 'hit on', although it is becoming more understood. We would normally say 'chat up'. It's a minor point, however.

nice entry, just a few niggles:




5. If the restaurant has a self-service drink station, please tell you what size you need. (ie: "I'll have a medium drink." Not "I'll have a drink." or "I'll take a Pepsi.")


i think there is a typo in here somewhere, because it doesnt actually make sense.


6. Please don't pay for small orders with bills over a $20. We are required to clear all such denominations with the manager-in-charge, which will cause your order and the orders behind it to be delayed.


this isnt actually true in all countries. i have never seen an emloyee do this even when a tourist pays with a £50 note..... and i thinks tahts abour a hundred dollars.



8. Please don't leave your ticket on the counter after you pick up your order.


similarly we dont have tickets here in anu fast food place i've been in

9. If you have small children, please pick up after them. You don't have to make the place spotless after you leave, but at least manage any large messes.

i actually object to this one on grounds that i've seen adults make way more mess than kiddies.....an extra sentance or a bit of a re-write would be nice. perhaps: If you have small children, please pick up after them. .....as one point, followed by one about not making a mess.



11. Don't waste condiments or napkins; they are expensive. (Example: a case of mild sauce at Taco Bell costs more than a case of meat.) If you actually need a lot of sauce, by all means, take it. That is what it's there for. But if you are throwing a lot of it away, that is simply wasteful. (I've seen people throwing away upwards of 50 packets of sauce when they've only ordered one item.) Also, a restaurant can temporarily run out of an item.

12. Please use the trash bins placed out for you in the dining room. Don't leave your trays and food wrappers out on the tables.

this is great but as you've probably experienced, there are times when the bins are full and the staff are too busy to take care of them. a little advice as to what to do if you cant get near or they are full would be appreciated



14. Also, don't hit on the help. Invitations to a hotel room or requests for a phone number are awkward to deal with. Don't put an employee through it.

i agree with the earlier point about the slang in this bit....something along the lines of ''flirting with the staff' might be clearer



3. Orders of $15 or more should come inside to order. The drive-thru is for people in a hurry, and large orders slow everyone down. Put yourself in the shoes of the person behind you. If all you wanted was one small drink and you were delayed 10 minutes because the person in front of you ordered 20 sandwiches and 15 orders of fries, would you be frustrated?

i understand the thing about 20 sandwiches, but if you can get that for $15 then i'm moving to the states. I though $15 was about 7-8 pounds sterling. that gets you nearly two meals in the uk, given that they are about £4.00 each at least.




all in all a very good and polished entry. if you like the sub ed will be able to put it in guide ML for you, but you mights as well have a go if you have time.

most of my niggles are all based on the fact that it's not ALWAYS the same, you could probably get round them all with a note at the beginning mentioning something to the effect that fast food restaruants have differences but as a general rule where the following occur then it is polite too..........



a question i'd like to ask because i have seen it here is:

people in wheelchairs or requiring crutches and sticks to walk.
the burger**** here has very heavy doors and the order point is up a flight of stairs so not many people bother, but MC***** is all on one level so if you can force your chair through the door then your ok. but what is the policy on helping people get food to their table if they cant get it there themselves? are employees *allowed* to help out? just curious.

good work


are there any entries you could link this too, something on shop work or public services etc?


FABT

Hey folks! Thanks for all of the useful tips!

Quick notes:

At McDonalds, a regular hamburger in the US is under $1. So you could fit quite a few into that $15 dollars... But that # was just a round one that I thought of to illustrate a large order. Also, I rarely see an order for an un-round #, like 18 whatevers.

And yes, employees are allowed to help out and often do. It is policy at my particular restaurant that if a customer is dealing with lots of kids or having trouble walking or in a wheelchair or whatever, we can and *should* offer assistance. Unfortunatly, while this usually is greeted with a thanks, sometimes we've gotten "dirty looks" from people who'd rather manage on their own, which is understandable, but sometimes rude.

Also, if an employee isn't clearing large bills, it might be because he or she isn't doing their job, not because it isn't policy that they should... Or maybe not. I can't say.

I'll go through and do another edit. Also, I'm trying to figure out how to add links to other articles but I can't seem to get them to work. It always says that I have an error in the Guide ML!

Help?

-Lucrecia

First a comment:
"try to manage the eating of your small children as much as possible."

mmm. . .small children. . .mmm.
I think that they taste like chicken. Sorry reads a little funny.


About links here is the trick:
h2g2 link
This is the underscored part
the ******is the article #, e.g. yours is 797538, A indicates it's an Article.

web link
This is the underscored bit
Notice, that's a link to this page, but any will do, include the http:// and the "", as those are common omissions.

Also, be careful with web links. Read the Guidelines for acceptable pages. Advertising isn't allowed. Basically, since this article is not about fast food restaurants, I wold hesitate to include like McD, TacoBs or BKs pages.

Friar

congratulation on putting it in guide ML. well done. it is much clearer to read now.

the point about the drinks despenser still doesnt make sense for me....can anyone else understand it?


the rest of the tweeks you've done are great. well done.

FABT

I'm trying to say that if we don't make the drinks for you, then when you order, you should only ask for the size, not the type of drink you want. I think I'm gonna omit that one, anyway. It's not that big a deal, just an annoyance.

EX: "I want... Um.... I, uh.... I think I'll take........... a Dr. Pepper."

Me: "What size?"

Customer: "Large"

Then I just push the "large drink" button and all of that thinking out loud was unnecessicary.

Thanks for the tips about the links, etc! I'm just learning how to do this ML stuff for the first time here on H2G2, so I'll probably be adding links, references, etc. as I go and learn how to.

-Lucrecia

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Great job! Congrats!

Friar

Thanks fellas!!!

-L.