Nightmares From The Drive-Thru

By Mathew Kissack

One afternoon at one of Hoopeston’s more frequently visited eateries known as McDonald’s, a regular and her son pull into a particularly busy drive-thru. Little did that poor girl working the window know the hell she was about to endure. Last month a student of Hoopeston Area High, Mary Jane Watson, also employed by McDonald’s had this to say about her first nightmare in the drive-through.

It all began on a Sunday around lunchtime and Mary was currently working an 11-7 shift. Out of nowhere a rush occurred and caught the already understaffed restaurant off guard. After a few orders had been completed, in a matter of seconds the screen became full once again but with only one order this time and by god, it was a large one. After the obscenely large order was completed the workers asked the women to pull to the next window, Mary’s window.

Mary tells me, "I handed the woman all her food and drinks and just as I’m about to tell her have a good day she stops me and pulls out her small fries sleeve". Apparently, the fries shifted in the bag causing them to spill to the bottom. The woman says to Mary, "are these seriously my fries?” as she holds the now empty fry sleeve up to Mary’s face. As Mary begins to apologize and explain, the woman grabs a handful of fries from the bag and proceeds to throw them all in Mary’s face. And just as quick as the throw the lady sped out of the drive-through and onto the highway. Mary Jane was left standing there embarrassed, confused, and infuriated.

At the time of writing this Mary informed me that there have been more strange occurrences with this same customer and her son. On many occasions, they pulled through the drive-through and it wasn’t even her driving, the son was at the wheel (who I’ve also been informed at the time of writing this isn’t old enough to drive) still ordering large portions of food in quite the same rude tone as his mother. McDonald’s hasn’t taken any action and still continues to serve these nightmares that come through the drive-through.

1. Watson, M. (January 2020). Personal interview [Personal interview].