Hey all! A few months ago I made a post called Anecdotes From A Chick-fil-A Employee (I’m not sure why the picture is all wonky-shaped but oh well) and considering it’s been several months, I figured we were due for another light-hearted post.

So I’ve been working at my Chick-fil-A for around eight months now. A lot happens in those months, working with people who insist that we sell a St. Patrick’s Day milkshake (and she knows it, she said), people who tell me they want eight cups of ice in the drive-thru, and DoorDashers who arrive to pick up thirty-six milkshakes.

There’s a TV right above the window where we hand out the food in the drive-thru and this is where we display out ‘picture of the week’ with photos sent to a team lead who chooses a team member (or several) to spotlight. That’s important.

One of my work besties (those are a thing) who I’ll call Harrison was talking with one of the regulars. (If you want to know his order, it’s a kid’s meal with a small Diet Coke and ice cream cup instead of the toy, and no sauce.)

Harrison decides that, since we’re not busy and he’s on register anyways, he might as well engage in conversation with said regular, right?

An hour later, me and another girl have printed off ‘Peach Topping’ stickers from the back and put them on his back as he’s yapping his head off. The poor guy had no idea (and neither did the regular) until one of the team leaders ripped them off his sweatshirt and said, “Who did this to you” *looks at the sticker* “Peach Topping?” The team lead knew who did it (he gave us permission to print off the stickers) and Mr. Peach Topping was the joke of the night.

Anyways—guess who made it onto picture of the week? (Courtesy of yours truly.)

A few weeks later, I had the amazing chance to prove how bilingual I am.

We were taking orders on the headset through the speakers, and this lady pulls up and starts ordering. I’m like, “Slow down, twin, I need to type this all in” but then I realize, “She’s speaking Spanish.” And typically that’s fine, we have non-English speakers come in all the time and get along fine, but still—give me a second.

Well, she continues to order and I tell her, “ONE SECOND PLEASE” and demand for someone who speaks Spanish to take her order.

One of the girls in the back of house is bilingual and begins taking the order in Spanish.

Long moment of silence. I’m listening on the headset and everyone’s watching, waiting for my reaction. Finally, a new voice begins talking from the customer’s car.

“Um…I don’t speak Spanish?”

My jaw drops and I stare at everyone watching. They ask what’s wrong and I cry, “THEY DON’T SPEAK SPANISH.”

Turns out, it was one of our other regulars (that’s what happens when you live in a small town) who is Indian. And the thing is, I know his name! Whenever I see his car I immediately pull up the mobile order for *you don’t get to know his name*. However, it wasn’t under his name, it was under his wife’s name and she’s the one who had been speaking.

Still, I felt horrible and the rest of the night (and every now and then) people kept saying, “Hey Willow, they’re speaking Spanish” or “Remember when you said they spoke Spanish but it was our regular customer you don’t care enough to remember?”

It’s fine.

But aside from that embarrassing time, I’ve got some short little anecdotes about some…characters. One time I was (once again) taking orders through the speakers and this truck pulls up and immediately yells into the speaker.

“‘SCUSE ME?!”

I ask him what he would like and he yells, “I WANT THE FRENCH TATERS.”

I can’t believe that I get to live in a small town where there are people who a) have literal southern accents that sound fake and b) people who are serious when they say things like this.

Luckily, I haven’t had another incident where someone took thirty minutes in the bathroom while we were cleaning the bathroom, so thank you Jesus.

One of my good friends, Payton, there did have a young mom ask Payton to hold her baby while she got her change. Payton was like, “I don’t think I can do that,” and the mom said, “It’s fine, I trust you,” and Payton had to refuse.

I would have been over here like, “GIVE ME THE BABY” so maybe it’s best that I didn’t take her order…

Funny stories aside, it’s been a great experience working here. Do I complain about the environment and rude customers a lot? Maybe, but do I genuinely enjoy the kind customers and fun experiences? Absolutely!

I also get to see my friends from church all the time which is great. Actually, funny story: so I was bringing over the food to a table where my youth pastor, youth leader, and one of the interns were sitting. We’re chatting and then I go back to the register and this twenty-something year old guy comes in and he looks super familiar. He either went to my church (likely possibility) or I’ve just seen him around a lot due to our small town-ness (also a very likely possibility). And the whole interaction is great, he’s really nice and friendly and doesn’t avoid eye-contact at all. He goes and sits down with my friends and I’m like “Okay, this guy goes to my church, then,” and I bring his food over to him.

As I’m walking away, he turns and says, “Hey, we’re all with a church called Soma and I was wondering if you’d want to come check it out sometime.”

The intern, Hardy, is banging his head on the wall beside him, dying laughing and my youth pastor is laughing as well and I’m like, “Ahh thank you so much! I actually go to Soma,” and my youth pastor yells, “YEAH, WILLOW’S ONE OF US!”

But in all honesty, if I hadn’t gone to my church before this invitation, I probably would have visited! His genuine invitation was very encouraging and I’m glad to know that there are people drawing in strangers with the love of God that radiates off of them.

And on that note, I’m going to close this post with this: working at Chick-fil-A has been a chance for me to grow in my faith, and to make it a space where I can share my faith. This is included inviting coworkers to church and youth group, sharing my testimony, praying for others, and hopefully becoming that person who others feel as if they can trust.

Despite the not-so-great encounters, I’m grateful for the opportunities the Lord has given me.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!
~Willow