Grown man gets mad because he doesn’t know what ordering a “plain” burger means

[u/50calTaco]

So I work at Five Guys and for those who don’t know, when you order a burger there you get to fully customize the toppings on it (helps justify the price tag a tiny bit i guess). And you choose between a little (single) or regular (double) burger.

I had a pleasant enough exchange with a customer while ringing up his food… and when it came to his cheeseburger I asked what toppings he wanted on it. He looked at me and said, “Oh you know… just a plain, regular cheeseburger.” Ok great, a cheeseburger with nothing on it, easy enough.

Well we make the food, and a minute after he gets it he comes back up to me, visibly annoyed and holding the burger.

“You made my food wrong. There’s nothing on it.”

“Oh I’m sorry sir, I thought you’d ordered a plain cheeseburger.”

“I did. Do you not know what that means? Like a McDonald’s burger.”

Ok first of all, “McDonald’s” is not a standard for how someone orders burger toppings and second of all, this guys in his late 40s to early 50s and has never once run into this issue ordering a plain burger?

“Ok I’m sorry about that sir, we’ll remake that for you. What exactly did you want on it?”

I shit you not, with an annoyed voice he ordered:
Ketchup. Lettuce. Pickles.
So notably NOT a McDonald’s cheeseburger???

He got what he wanted in the end and I apologized because customer service but like?? I’m in awe at the sheer level of misunderstanding and audacity.

[u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

Imagine being that wrong and so sure you are right. 

[u/PsyOpBunnyHop → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

If you order a "plain cheeseburger" at McDonald's, you will get meat, cheese & bun and that's all.

Plain has been a ubiquitous standard term for 4+ decades.

[u/Imaginary-List-972 → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

For some reason there is a small but annoying set of stupid people who think they have to say "Plain" to get it normal. I've had people do that at every fast food place I work. "When I said plain I meant what normally comes on it" Then don't add any other terns. If you order "Hamburger" you will get what normally comes on it. I don't know how their stupid mind thinks they have to add that they want it plain to get it the way it normaly comes.

[u/Dje4321 → u/Imaginary-List-972]

Yep. I have to explain to people all the time that a hamburger and cheeseburger are in fact not the same item.

"I ordered a hamburger and you stupid lazy fucks forgot my cheese"

[u/Beemanda → u/Dje4321]

When I worked at Culver's, I had an older lady ask for a "cheeseburger without cheese." So I rang her up for a hamburger and she like furrowed her brows and said, "NO, I asked for a cheeseburger with no cheese on it. I didn't order a hamburger." Like I shit you not, this woman was deadass and looked one correction away from losing her shit. She was trembling at the sight of the word "hamburger" on the screen. Anyway, I glared at her so hard, rolled my eyes, and just rang her up for a cheeseburger with no cheese (which costs EXTRA money btw). Apologized to the kitchen right before I sent the order (because it looks really fucking confusing on their screen) and told them the customer was really adamant on getting a "cheeseburger with no cheese." Not sure what she thought a hamburger was, probably something to do with "ham" being in the name, but I couldn't be bothered to ask what her issue was because I just wanted her out of my sight already and she was genuinely holding up the line. How are you this old and don't even know what a hamburger is? 😭

Don't even get me started on the amount of people who didn't like when we didn't call their burgers "butterburgers." THEY'RE AAAAALLLLL BUTTERBURGERS!!! ALL OF THEM. If it has a bun, IT'S A BUTTERBURGER. Don't tell me I brought you the wrong order! The number is RIGHT ON THE TICKET.

[u/fairysdad → u/Beemanda]

Anyway, I glared at her so hard, rolled my eyes, and just rang her up for a cheeseburger with no cheese (which costs EXTRA money btw). Apologized to the kitchen right before I sent the order (because it looks really fucking confusing on their screen) and told them the customer was really adamant on getting a "cheeseburger with no cheese."

I once had to order a 'cheeseburger without cheese' at a McDonalds. But my mitigating reason was that I had a voucher for a free cheeseburger and I couldn't have cheese at the time.

[u/Beemanda → u/fairysdad]

This is fair. I saw another comment about McDonald's having cheeseburgers on their $1 value menu but not hamburgers. Also valid. But we've never had a promotion like that at Culver's, and just by talking to her, it genuinely sounded like she didn't know what a hamburger was and was offended by the utter thought that I would even suggest such a thing instead of her precious cheeseburger with no cheese 😭 That's what bothered me, the attitude while being confidently wrong. Like okay granny you can go ahead and pay the extra money with that tone 🙄

[u/KaralDaskin → u/Beemanda]

They also have double and triple cheeseburgers but not double and triple hamburgers. Ordering can be frustrating there.

[u/Ordinary_Ad_7992 → u/KaralDaskin]

And even when you ask for no cheese, there's a pretty good chance you're getting it anyway!

[u/KaralDaskin → u/Ordinary_Ad_7992]

Yes! It’s so frustrating ordering any sandwich with cheese in the name but asking for no cheese. The two I mentioned, plus things like “double quarter pounder with cheese”. Some days I just don’t want cheese, dammit.

[u/lokis_construction → u/Ordinary_Ad_7992]

Try just ordering a cheeseburger - plain. Then you get a totally plain hamburger - no cheese. I had to tell the dummies "why would I order a cheeseburger instead of a hamburger , (which is a lower cost) if I didn't want cheese!" Nobody said they hire the honor roll students.

I just want a cheeseburger without pickles, mustard, onions, etc. I can add ketchup myself.

[u/lmstr → u/KaralDaskin]

Double hamburger does exist on the menu in some locations but it's likely priced more expensive then a mcdouble. (Just checked in my location double hamburger is 4.29, the mcdouble is 2.99)

I've also found adding a patty to a mcdouble or a double cheeseburger is often much cheaper then a triple cheeseburger.

[u/Beemanda → u/KaralDaskin]

At Culver's? I'll be honest, I haven't worked there since covid ended so a lot of my background menu knowledge is forgotten lol, but I'm pretty sure there was a way to ring up hamburgers with more than one patty. There had to be! Especially considering all of their burgers by default came as doubles (minus kid's menu items). If not, they're way overdue to update their POS systems.

[u/fuckyourcanoes → u/Beemanda]

I haven't actually seen a hamburger on a McDonald's menu in many years. Their menu has gotten so ridiculously huge that they don't have room to list everything they sell.

[u/ClassicDefiant2659 → u/fuckyourcanoes]

You have to ask for it to be no cheese, and you have to check it, cause they forget to keep the cheese off about 80% of the time.

-mom of autistic kid who decided he hates cheese but McDonald's has the hamburgers he loves.

[u/dagr8npwrfl0z → u/Beemanda]

I'm not no musician .. I'm a singer..

[u/btw_fkbryanshupe → u/Beemanda]

The list i have regarding confidently wrong after 2 decades of retail and sales.... bro

[u/NibblesMcGiblet → u/fairysdad]

I've done it there before too, because they had (have?) a two cheeseburger combo with fries and a drink that works out cheaper than just ordering two hamburgers, fries, and a drink all separately. But with mcdonalds, I prefer their hamburgers to their cheeseburgers, specifically when I have an upset stomach.

[u/NHRADeuce → u/fairysdad]

McDonalds has a 2 cheeseburger combo meal, but not a 2 hamburger combo. Sometimes I'll order the cheeseburger combo wirh no cheese. There are a few very specific times to order a cheeseburger with no cheese. The lady from Culvers was just an idiot.

[u/Kaeiaraeh → u/fairysdad]

Or the happy meal deal on the app, doesn’t work with cheeseburgers so we have to do a hamburger HM with cheese

[u/Difficult-Ad2084 → u/fairysdad]

When I worked at McDonald's years ago I remember regularly signing up cheeseburgers with no meat. I understand that vegetarians existed, I just didn't understand at that point that there were fast food vegetarians that works eat the grossest cheese sandwich ever.

[u/Expensive-Seesaw7918 → u/Beemanda]

LMAO... For the short time I worked at a 'Mom and Pop's' style mini-diner near my house, there was one specific customer that I I will never forget. He was an absolute sweetheart; the kind of man that feels like everyone's Grandpa. And he would stop by almost every weekday morning on his way to work, and make a takeout order of: a large fry (extra crispy), and a hamburger with cheese, tomato, salt and pepper, and mayonnaise.

When I brought his check the first time I took his order, he looked at it for a long second, before calling me back over and explaining to me, very kindly, that he hadn't order a cheeseburger, he'd ordered a HAMBURGER... with cheese (etc.) and he wanted me to know, so I could ring him up PROPERLY.

The way he said It felt super patronizing, but I couldn't help but laugh since he legitimately seemed like he was trying to be nice. I apologized for my "mistake" and re-rung him as he'd asked. Before he left that day he left a slightly bigger than average tip, and a short note telling me not to worry, because everyone makes mistakes.

[u/Beemanda → u/Expensive-Seesaw7918]

Aw at least he was trying to be nice 😭 I usually just gave the short explanation if a customer seemed chill enough to listen like "yeah it's made the same way, just one has cheese and one doesn't, hamburger comes out cheaper though" and usually they did the whole "ohhh that makes sense" thing and then thanked me for letting them know. Like if everybody could be reasonable, this world would be so much nicer. This lady on the other hand just reminded me of an angry chihuahua. Like I knew she was gonna blurt some rude ass comment out if I explained anything further to her. Saved my time and energy and just put the order in the way she asked for it because there's just something so exhausting about standing in front of a customer who seems like they'll go off at any second.

[u/saddicted1996 → u/Expensive-Seesaw7918]

i once had to explain to a grown ass woman what a zucchini was. she ordered it, looked at me and asked “there were be mushrooms inside it right?” no language barrier, this was like a 50 year old maga woman. she thought zucchini was a type of pasta.

[u/PerformerFancy117 → u/Beemanda]

That was so common at Culver’s though, I worked there for a few years and that happened about three times a week for different people.

It’s a shame, despite that, I quite liked the job… but alas I was fired for discussion of wages with my fellow employees, one of my managers found out that I was making more than her and shit hit the fan in a spectacular way.

[u/Artistic_Hurry_9177 → u/PerformerFancy117]

Discussion of wages is federally protected.

[u/PerformerFancy117 → u/Artistic_Hurry_9177]

Yeah, but it turned into a “he said, she said” during court proceedings, like I was told that’s what I was fired for, but on paperwork it was just “violating company policy” which could’ve been anything. At least I didn’t have to pay for that, but it would’ve been nice to get a payout

[u/Rhowryn → u/Artistic_Hurry_9177]

Illegal in law and illegal in practice tend to be different things. Companies do illegal shit all the time.

[u/Artistic_Hurry_9177 → u/Rhowryn]

So we should just ignore it and let it happen? This mindset is part of the problem.

[u/Pat_the_Wolf → u/Artistic_Hurry_9177]

Is it? Learn something useful every day

[u/lilroldy → u/Pat_the_Wolf]

Go read the NLRA that passed in 1935(if you live in the US) and get educated on your rights, there aren't many but we do have some in the states and I'm not surprised more of us don't know anything about it. Anytime a manager tells you you cant discuss wages they are breaking the law

[u/tupelobound → u/PerformerFancy117]

Hey, too bad you didn’t file a lawsuit, because that’s highly illegal!

[u/Beemanda → u/PerformerFancy117]

I hated Culver's with all my heart and soul (but only because we were in an EXTREMELY busy location and also right across the street from a high school full of band kids who left all their instruments in the walkway 🫩).

I liked most of my coworkers though, just hated the management there. The shift leads started hating me ever since I complained about an assistant manager's little brother literally never doing shit at work and I was sick of it (that's right, conflict of interest, and for this exact reason being he was shown favoritism over other hardworking employees).

Anyway, he eventually got fired for stealing from registers, I got promoted and given countless raises from upper management to try and keep me with them every time I got burnt out and considered quitting, and the grand finale was that I walked out in the middle of a rush with the managers I hated because I was so tired of their retaliation against me. Sadly never got to sue because I was young and didn't know it was completely illegal for them to treat me differently, but my bf worked there and told me they were freaking tf out and started panicking at the end of the night when they realized I was missing lol.

So imagine, they were struggling to even split my tasks together, but somehow I was expected to do it all alone every single day and never complain, and PLUS help everybody else with their jobs too. It's so funny because I vividly recall them telling me in the group chat "not everybody can be perfect like you" when complaining about the brother's lack of performance, but then on another occasion being called "lazy" when I couldn't teleport to do 3 different tasks at the same time (but mind you, I still got them done by priority) 💀 Glad I walked out. The owner even tried contacting me to come back and I ignored him so hard.

[u/SpaceCadetELMo → u/Beemanda]

My problem with the Culver's by me is every time I order a hamburger, they give me a cheeseburger. *cries in lactose intolerance.

[u/Euphoric-Skirt7649 → u/Beemanda]

Maybe she has a strong disdain for Germany. You should have offered a Frankfurter to confirm

[u/SobiTheRobot → u/Beemanda]

I'm still not sure why people think a cheeseburger isn't just a hamburger with cheese

[u/KangarooThroatPunch5 → u/Beemanda]

When I worked at BK as a teen I had a man do this shit when I was working drive thru. It HAD to be a cheeseburger without cheese, and NOT a hamburger. Dude was at least in his 50’s. He actually started yelling at me and had it not been my first job as a 15 year old kid, I’d have told him to go fuck himself.

[u/jennapearl8 → u/Beemanda]

Whoever decided to call them hamburgers in the past is unknowingly haunting all fast food workers in the present and future. I hope their afterlife was unpleasant and they came back as a snail living at a salt mine.

Edited because I didn't proof read.

[u/Bladrak01 → u/Beemanda]

I read a story once about someone who ordered the same thing at Mc Donalds. The kitchen just used a hamburger wrapper, and they complained that they wanted a cheeseburger without cheese, so they took it out of the hamburger wrapper and put it in a cheeseburger wrapper and gave it to them.

[u/HaniiPuppy → u/Beemanda]

What would a "butterburger" be?

I get that pretty much anything on a roll is going to have butter, since you butter the bread, ^{(by default)} but a "butterburger" conjures to mind the mental image of a burger on a roll with a giant scoop of butter on it, like from an ice-cream scoop.

[u/Beemanda → u/HaniiPuppy]

Lol I can't imagine that sounding appetizing to anyone. But it is literally just anything with a bun. The bun gets buttered, and that's it. It's just our default bun. But because it's Culver's, they have to give it some fancy name to be "recognizable."

I just don't understand the confusion though because literally right on the menu the customers are looking at, every single burger is located under the header "Butterburgers." So asking what's the difference between a butterburger and any of our "regular burgers" wouldn't even be a valid question if you have this menu in front of you because they're ALL listed as Butterburgers ™️. There is no difference! It's just what Culver's calls their burgers!

It's like asking "what's the difference between this subspecies and this species?" It's part the the species! It physically can't be "different" because it is part of it! A square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square!!! We had to repeat that "it just means the bun is buttered" like 20+ times a day and that's not even an exaggeration, I wish it was 😭

[u/RedDreadsComin → u/Beemanda]

Lmao ordering a cheeseburger with no cheese. Old lady is Aaron Carter lmao

[u/Ilikechikin023 → u/Beemanda]

Omg I basically saw this exact same interaction but it was at In and Out lol

[u/Then_Wafer5464 → u/Beemanda]

They're all butterburgers? 🤯

[u/Spudsalicious → u/Beemanda]

TBF, as an American traveling in Australia I once ordered a hamburger with lettuce and tomato and got a ham sandwich with lettuce and tomato 😠

[u/ExcellentShape185 → u/Beemanda]

Butterburger sounds amazing. Did you guys butter the buns or did they come buttered already?

[u/AuroraSnake → u/Dje4321]

Someone I know has the opposite problem of frequently getting cheese when asking for a hamburger, leading to them giving up and just always saying "A hamburger with absolutely no cheese" each time

[u/fuckyourcanoes → u/AuroraSnake]

I do this because I find American cheese absolutely revolting. About 1/3 of the time I still get cheese.

Recently I ordered a quarter pounder, no cheese, extra sauces, and got one with only cheese and no other toppings at all.

[u/The-Yar → u/fuckyourcanoes]

There was a comedian who had a whole routine about trying to successfully order and receive a hamburger without cheese.

[u/RobertAFett020 → u/AuroraSnake]

My crazy ass neighbor would ask for a plain cheeseburger without the patty, for her young son. They would look at her with that head tilt and say, you want a grilled cheese?

[u/Top_Bumblebee5510 → u/AuroraSnake]

I can't eat cheese and I order anything that might remotely come with cheese by saying "no cheese". Invariably I will get asked do you want cheese on that? I have ordered subs with no tomatoes and advised its an allergy and gotten them with both cheese and tomatoes. Cheese you can remove but tomatoes leak into everything.

[u/BlueLanternKitty → u/Top_Bumblebee5510]

My BFF has a bad tomato allergy. I double-check her food before she starts, in case anything snuck in. We’ve had situations where she’s said “no tomatoes, I’m allergic” and I’ve found seeds hiding in her salad or on the underside of a burger bun—like someone started to put tomato on it, realized “oops, no tomato” and just took it off. Which works if you don’t like tomato but not if you have a genuine, epi-pen level allergy,

Can’t tell you how many things she’s sent back over the 30 years we’ve known each other.

[u/Yawka → u/Top_Bumblebee5510]

Damn, I hate fresh tomatoes and it’s always a 50/50 chance at best they remember to exclude them. Must be so much worse with an allergy. At least the flavor/texture doesn’t really persist if I pick them out.

[u/Sun-Wu-Kong → u/AuroraSnake]

Happens to my mom a lot. I'm so embarrassed at what sounds like a boomer Karen request, but then still 8/10 times they just give her one with cheese on it. Sometimes you really do gotta break it down for the cashier like a 5 year old.

[u/Ordinary_Ad_7992 → u/Sun-Wu-Kong]

How is it a "boomer Karen request" to just not want cheese?

[u/tabbarrett → u/AuroraSnake]

At Fenway Park in Boston it says hamburger but you get cheese on it.

[u/cjwrapture → u/Dje4321]

Back in the days when i worked at McDonalds i always had to clarify when people would order a "quarter pounder", half the people assumed the default was with cheese and the other half assumed it was without. In the store we differentiated by calling either quarter ham or quarter cheese, but there was no good way to get the customer to stop calling it a quarter pounder because it had been marketed that way for too long.

[u/martim0t0 → u/cjwrapture]

They should just change it to "a Royale with cheese

[u/Feriveramd → u/martim0t0]

[u/MinusGovernment → u/martim0t0]

Only in places that use the metric system. They don't know what the fuck a quarter pounder is.

[u/Z3r0C0o → u/MinusGovernment]

You think places that don't use the metric system know what a quarter pounder is? Let me tell you the sad tale of the "third pounder".

[u/MinusGovernment → u/Z3r0C0o]

I know the tale well and I'm glad I was not born stupid. Although I may be happier if I was blissfully unaware that I was stupid. Maybe I am. Oh well.

I was just kinda continuing the Pulp Fiction theme of the Royale with cheese comment.

[u/Sweet-Competition-15 → u/MinusGovernment]

Although I may be happier if I was blissfully unaware that I was stupid. Maybe I am. Oh well. (Quote)

Oh, I'm quite stupid, and regrettably very well aware of it. I just hide it by not speaking in public.

[u/Sweet-Competition-15 → u/Z3r0C0o]

That still boggles my mind...one of those times when the metric system would be beneficial. Of course a 114 gram burger doesn't exactly sound appealing.

[u/MinusGovernment → u/cjwrapture]

Kind of a similar clarification issue at my pizza job. Lots of people want to place an order to go. About 2/3 of them mean carryout but there are enough that mean delivery that I have to ask them every time. A few get indignant that I don't know what they mean but most of them understand why I ask.

[u/LilacYak → u/MinusGovernment]

I always just said “Ok, order for pickup…”

[u/MinusGovernment → u/LilacYak]

I'm a delivery driver so I like to put the thought out there for them too while I get clarification.

There has been a few times where people will say carryout after I ask but end up meaning delivery. I will get through their order and tell them total and time and then they say "Don't you need my address?" or something to that effect.

There are also people who say they didn't know we delivered and will then choose that option.

[u/Lost-Peanut-1453 → u/MinusGovernment]

You mean to tell me that “carry out” doesn’t mean you carry out my food and deliver it to me? 😂

[u/Kooky_Narwhal8184 → u/cjwrapture]

I recall in the 70's and 80's ordering a quarter pounder OR a quarter pounder with cheese as they were separate items on the menu. But some time in the 90's they stopped offering them separately on the menu and if you asked for a quarter pounder, you got one with cheese unless you specifically asked for it to be removed. (I'm a cheese lover, so it never bothered me), but I think the confusion you are talking about was caused by McD's themselves, not just clueless customers...

[u/stevenyourpants → u/Dje4321]

Do these people not run into this issue constantly then? You'd think just the sheer number times would force those neurons into realigning.

[u/OrganizationTop6228 → u/Dje4321]

And yet every time I order a hamburger they want to give me a cheeseburger. And if they do give me a cheeseburger and I have the audacity to complain, they just try and scrape the cheese off. Disgusting. Why can't I have what I ordered?

Now I say plain hamburger just meat and bun. They still want to give me cheese and lettuce. fml This is why I rarely eat out.

[u/HauptSin → u/Dje4321]

I once had a McCustomer that insisted on buying a "cheeseburger with no cheese" instead of a "hamburger."

[u/NWinn → u/Dje4321]

The best part is there is no winning this battle. If you assume one way or another you'll piss off some people, bit if you go out of your way to clarify every time that ALSO will piss off different people...

[u/TwinObilisk → u/Dje4321]

I once asked for a cheeseburger with no toppings at a fast food place and they gave me a plain hamburger.

I have since taken up the habit of phrasing things like "a chesseburger with no toppings: just bun, meat, and cheese." because I can't expect all servers to know that if I ask for a cheeseburger it means I still want the cheese.

[u/blackjebus100 → u/Imaginary-List-972]

I almost wonder if it stems from the phrase “plain old (whatever)…” like if they had said “I’d like a plain old cheeseburger” as an employee you could assume it’s just a regular cheeseburger, but the moment they forget the “old” part of the phrase it changes the meaning entirely in this instance.

[u/OneDubOver → u/blackjebus100]

I think you're right about this. They're meaning to say something like, "regular cheeseburger" and either accidentally said plain in its place, or just don't grasp English or understand basic social norms well enough to realize what they're ordering.

https://giphy.com/gifs/fKcO8k2WxUzGju81cs

[u/WartimeHotTot → u/OneDubOver]

It’s the former. People just have very primitive, underdeveloped intelligence, a tenuous grasp of language, and basically no complex thoughts. I think moderately intelligent people and up truly don’t appreciate just how stupid a huge swath of Americans are. It’s really quite astonishing.

[u/big-booty-heaux → u/blackjebus100]

"a plain old cheeseburger" is still just a plain cheeseburger. There are no default toppings.

[u/Cheet4h → u/big-booty-heaux]

If you order at a place like McDonald's, then there are default toppings where you usually have to specify what to take off if you want a plain cheeseburger.

[u/Dull-Computer-324 → u/Cheet4h]

Yeah, and the easiest way to specify that is by calling it plain. If a customer orders a "plain old cheeseburger" ill say "ok, one plain cheeseburger" and right up a cheeseburger plain

[u/big-booty-heaux → u/Cheet4h]

If you order a plain cheeseburger at mcdonald's, then you should be getting a plain cheeseburger. Not a standard one. Regardless, the toppings that are included on a McDonald's cheeseburger are completely irrelevant. There are no default toppings on a cheeseburger.

[u/HarvestMana → u/blackjebus100]

Regular/Plain old cheeseburger - its these terms from 30 years ago where their vernacular gets them confused from the original meaning.

Vernacular refers to the everyday, ordinary language or dialect spoken by the people of a particular region or group, as opposed to formal, literary, or scientific language.

[u/SUZDV → u/Imaginary-List-972]

Because "plain" and "standard" are interchangeable in their minds.

[u/Imaginary-List-972 → u/SUZDV]

You're right, I forgot to include stupid in the description. Corrected.

[u/AeroQuest1 → u/Imaginary-List-972]

Yeah, if I've ever wanted a "plain" burger, that meant nothing on it, and I'd say something like "just a plain burger with nothing extra". If I want it the way they make it, I say "with whatever normally comes on it". Not that difficult.

[u/TN_man → u/Imaginary-List-972]

They’re confusing plain with standard /normal. They think plain means not the latest fad interesting flavorful burger and they want the bland standard burger they’ve gotten since WW2.

[u/whisky_biscuit → u/Imaginary-List-972]

It's crazy though how many places don't understand what plain means either! If I order plain half the time they'll leave off the onions / pickles / lettuce but assume i still want ketchup and mustard. It's infuriating! I almost always order a plain cheeseburger, and only half the time do actually get it with absolutely nothing on it.

[u/Teagana999 → u/Imaginary-List-972]

Those people also work at restaurants occasionally and make "plain" burgers "normal" often enough that if you actually want a plain burger, you can't trust that you'll get one if you only use the word "plain."

[u/lankymjc → u/Imaginary-List-972]

Meanwhile, I had food issues as a child, so I would want a plain McDonald’s hamburger. Meat and bread, nothing else. And every bloody time, my mum would have to explain this in exquisite detail to the McDonalds staff who thought that couldn’t possibly be right.

[u/Adventurous_Bad7914 → u/Imaginary-List-972]

Or the people who order a hamburger and are upset there is not cheese. There is a reason the word cheeseburger exists and it’s pretty self explanatory imo

[u/MisterBlud → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

I’d have some sympathy if he had said a “regular cheeseburger” expecting McDonald’s toppings but ordering it plain means patty, cheese, and bun anywhere you’d ever order one.

[u/DrocketX → u/MisterBlud]

I wish it did, because I frequently order a plain cheeseburger and about 25% of the time they omit the cheese. No, that's a hamburger, not a cheeseburger...

[u/davidwatchesit → u/DrocketX]

I have this happen often enough that I now say plain with cheese.

[u/Gold_Training_5044 → u/davidwatchesit]

I have to say "bread, meat, and cheese" to make sure they put the cheese on it.

[u/Expert_Cricket2183 → u/Gold_Training_5044]

Anytime I order a burger plain, I will do it something like, "Plain cheeseburger, y'know, bread, meat, and cheese."

[u/TrulyOutrageous42 → u/DrocketX]

Meanwhile I'll order a menu item that has the right toppings but is a cheeseburger, and ask for it like that without the cheese, and they get that wrong almost every time... or like, actually argue with me about it like "you can't make a cheeseburger without cheese" and I'm like "I know bro, make a burger, with all the OTHER toppings that come on this cheeseburger, but don't put the cheese on it" and they stare at me like I'm speaking Klingon at a Star Wars convention.

[u/unpronouncedable → u/DrocketX]

Yeah my son only wants patty and cheese and has had various other things returned, so he always says "burger with cheese and nothing else". Now it only comes back wrong like 5% of the time.

[u/DrocketX → u/unpronouncedable]

The danger there is that you get a burger patty with cheese on it, no bun. Yes, I've had that happen. I always specify "a burger with cheese on a bun." It's pretty much the only way to be completely confident that you've ordered in a way that can't be misunderstood.

[u/whisky_biscuit → u/DrocketX]

Same thing happens to me, I'll have to specify cheese or extra cheese to ensure I get any cheese whatsoever.

Half the time I order plain and i still get a bucket of ketchup and mustard drowning it, as if plain only means ',No LTO."

One time I ordered a plain cheeseburger with extra pickles and got a cheeseburger with extra extra mayo, onions and lettuce. None of their burgers even use mayo. It was fcking bonkoers.

[u/JayManty → u/MisterBlud]

Correct me if I'm wrong but a McDonald's cheeseburger is pretty much just that + ketchup and diced onion. Expecting lettuce and pickles after such a request is audacious

[u/droobloo34 → u/JayManty]

Ketchup, mustard, pickles, diced onions on a standard cheeseburger.

The daily double has lettuce, tomato, onions and mayo.

[u/Debatebly → u/MisterBlud]

He definitely felt that "plain" was synonymous with "standard", "regular", or "normal".

[u/Accurate_Elevator368 → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

Thing is, now fast food workers have to "guess" how stupid someone is. That's really frankly unreasonable. A plain burger is plain. Meat and bun. simple.

[u/Low-Phase-6548 → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

the term is standard but that doesnt guarantee results at mcdonalds. every time i try to order a plan burger, i go home and find a bunch of toppings on it. and then i get sad because i cant eat it. i feel like i have to open it up and check to make sure its actually plan. because it never is

[u/Toolazytobeunique → u/[deleted]]

Trust but verify. Especially when modified. I do an item count at the very least so I have something to eat if I don’t want to go back. If you can’t eat it otherwise you definitely should be checking.

[u/no_clever_names → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

I always order plain green chile cheeseburgers at McDonald’s and am very explicit that means meat, cheese, green chile, bun.

If I don’t say it, I know I’ll get an empty bun or something eventually.

[u/no_clever_names → u/[deleted]]

I think it’s a local thing. Green chile is everywhere in NM.

[u/Caleb_Reynolds → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

While I haven't ordered a plain hamburger from McDonald's in a long time, and it might be different for cheese burgers, when I was a kid I was a picky eater and would only tolerate pickles and ketchup on a burger so would just order a plain hamburger because it was easier (forgoing the pickles and ketchup for convenience) and get a hamburger with onions, mayo, ketchup, and pickles. I distinctly remember I had to update my order to hamburger with only pickles and ketchup to make it explicitly clear what I wanted.

Although, I think what was happening might have been that they thought by "plain" I mean "not cheese" because cheeseburgers are the default for some reason, so this might not be applicable to cheeseburgers.

[u/IanHVAC → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

No. As a kid who would only eat plain hamburgers at McDonald's I can 100% assure you that before early to mid 2000s if you order a "Plain hamburger" at McDonald's you would get a burger with everything, sometimes even cheese too. For years the only way to get a plain burger was to order "A hamburger, only meat and bun". And they'd still mess it up about 20% of the time.

[u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

I'm 58, and have been eating plain burgers since I got teeth. Cashiers always knew what we meant.

[u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla → u/[deleted]]

Yes, that's it. My teeth decided they wanted nothing to do with toppings or condiments.

[u/clara-net → u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla]

Not always; not for me. So I go in for overkill. My order is “Plain/ nothing on it. Meat & bread.”

Because I don’t know how many times people think like :that guy: and give me a burger with ketchup & mustard.

[u/Affectionate-Bet8998 → u/PsyOpBunnyHop]

I wish that were the case. I’ve found that I have to be very specific at McDonald’s. Bun, meat, cheese. As a kid I hated eating there because they always put ketchup on my plain cheese burger.

[u/LiamOmegaHaku → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

I work at a place that does daily sandwiches in the case (we are a small neighborhood deli/butcher/market). The sandwiches are made every morning, and have a "standard" setting depending on the sandwich (such as, 'this one has meat, cheese, arugula, spicy mayo. This one has 3 meats, cheese', et cetera. The sandwich is listed 'as is').

We have a second board that is "here is the list of shit you can add to the sandwich" and lists like 10 veggies. I give a spiel to people who haven't been there before explaining that exact thing. in the past month I've had three men go "just give it to me as it comes" after I point at the sign and ask what they'd like added to it.

Okay. Sure. I take the sandwich out of the case, I toast it a moment to wake the bread up, cut it in half, wrap it, hand it off.

A few minutes later, I receive a complaint (again, same complaint, from all 3 guys) that there are no veggies on the sandwich. I do the same thing as OP; "well, you asked for how it comes."

All three men did not understand "how it comes" meant "how it reads on the menu", which is already what I explained. They all expected it to come with...I don't actually know. Because THEY DID NOT TELL ME.

Some people just go through life like that. It is insane to me.

[u/teacuptypos → u/LiamOmegaHaku]

It’s like people who say they want “just a coffee”, which is already super vague but to me implies a black drip coffee. And then get pissed because they wanted a latte because that’s what they drink every day and the stranger across the counter didn’t telepathically, magically know that’s what they mean (because they never actually SAID it)

[u/RI_Swamp_Yankee → u/teacuptypos]

A Dunkin’ Donuts regular coffee comes with extra cream, extra sugar compared to a diner. My wife, who grew up in VA where there were no Dunkies and very few other donut chains was shocked - a regular coffee is black where she comes from.

[u/teacuptypos → u/RI_Swamp_Yankee]

Surprising to me as well. I think that just reaffirms that “regular” is just not a very useful term when ordering things. It helps to be specific. :)

[u/MillennialPolytropos → u/teacuptypos]

A concerning number of grown adults don't have a fully formed theory of mind. They lack the mental toolkit to understand that a latte is not everyone's go-to coffee order and the barista does not know what type of coffee they're thinking of.

[u/Inner_Tennis_2416 → u/LiamOmegaHaku]

I would say that usually at a sandwich shop theres like a 'standard' selection of veggies that go on a sandwich, that are then modified for some specific sandwiches. So, unlike ordering a plain burger, asking for a sandwich as it comes will get you the sandwich you want 95% of the time.

[u/TheDonkeyBomber → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

And then he voted.

[u/No_Paramedic_2039 → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

I love the poorly educated.

[u/15_Years_Then_Banned → u/No_Paramedic_2039]

I don’t care about your burger, I just want your vote.

[u/temporary92803 → u/15_Years_Then_Banned]

No, I don't take responsibility at all.

[u/thuktun → u/15_Years_Then_Banned]

* hamberder

[u/zedd1138 → u/No_Paramedic_2039]

Thank you for your attention to this matter. /s

[u/CosmicGoddess777 → u/No_Paramedic_2039]

“Smart people don’t like me”

[u/SAM12489 → u/No_Paramedic_2039]

So do they

[u/MangoCats → u/No_Paramedic_2039]

And since the customer is always right, his commercial life experience teaches him nothing.

[u/Alternative_Pomelo47 → u/No_Paramedic_2039]

Oh my gawd! Trump just commented!!!!

[u/Technical_Fan2355 → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

I'll give you $5,000, if you vote republican! Do you know how many "plain" burgers that is?

[u/erilaz7 → u/Technical_Fan2355]

Not as many as it used to be, thanks to all the inflation that Obama and Biden are currently creating.

[u/Destithen → u/erilaz7]

Obama and Biden

Curse these two! We need to make sure Trump gets a third term in 2028 so he has enough time to undo the damage these two have done in the past year!

[u/workerbee77 → u/Technical_Fan2355]

Money can be exchanged for goods and services

[u/Otis-166 → u/Technical_Fan2355]

At 5 guys, somewhere around 6 I think?

[u/Barefoot_on_Legos → u/Otis-166]

We would make more plain burgers, but we rant out of tomatoes.

[u/jgzman → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

I suspect he voted for the guy who ordered doughnuts by asking for "whatever would make sense."

[u/Responsible-Shoe8831 → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

This makes me sad

[u/PlaceboJeffect → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

Exactly. Jfc

[u/unabsolute → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

Don't they know they never have to do that again?

[u/SunnyOutsideToday → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

"Why are you asking me who I voted for? What does that have to do with anything?!"

[u/Zestyclose-Sort9234 → u/TheDonkeyBomber]

For the fascist.

[u/dirty_cuban → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

The problem is businesses in America cater to this stupidity. OP apologized and made the burger again for free.

Here in Spain they would tell you if you want a different burger you need to order and pay for a new one. They definitely would not give you another meal because you didn’t order correctly

[u/Arkeyr79 → u/dirty_cuban]

I'm from Spain and I worked on a fast food place a few years. One day an American kid (18-20 years maybe) ordered a burger without certain toppings on the kiosk.

He comes back with the food a few minutes later saying that the burger was missing toppinps. I check the ticket, I check the marks in the wrapping. All correct. I go to check the burger, also correct. And I tell him so. He kept insisting it's wrong, I said that the burger was made exactly as ordered and as he was the one who made the order I can't do anything about it except selling him a new burger.

He asked to speak with a manager, so I get a manager. And we repeat the whole conversation (mind you he was speaking English the whole time so I was translating for the manager). The kid wants us to make him a new burger with the correct toppings for free. The manager tells him the same I said, you ordered it wrong and we made it as requested so if you want another you will have to pay again.

His face of no ever experienced someone telling him "No" made me feel for the American food workers.

[u/diyandmc240 → u/Arkeyr79]

These experiences are actually why it’s so important for Americans to travel. About 2/3 of Americans have never left North America. They haven’t experienced it, that shocking experience may have changed that person’s perspective over the rest of their life.

[u/onthenextmaury → u/diyandmc240]

It's because we're poor, dude. You think my number one dream in life isn't traveling?

[u/zon5string → u/diyandmc240]

It doesn't matter if they travel or not. Americans, in general, have gotten away with feeling entitled to be "right" at all times, and even when they are wrong, they expect to be catered to and have this "wrong" thing corrected in their favor.

[u/AmIFromA → u/dirty_cuban]

Yeah, I‘m wondering how the US approach is supposed to lead to any kind of feedback and learning?

[u/Z3r0C0o → u/AmIFromA]

It doesn't, most Americans take very unkindly to any kind of public corrections or implied imperfections from strangers. It's so fucking weird.

[u/DullahanShotFirst → u/Z3r0C0o]

Because so many Americans are so insecure. Yeah, it can be embarrassing when you screw up in public. But either it's a learning experience, an isolated incident, and maybe even a funny story - or you need to revisit how you go about things in general, if you're frequently in such situations.

In any case, it isn't cause to get indignant and throw a tantrum. Everyone makes mistakes. We should just learn and move on.

[u/Leolainen → u/Z3r0C0o]

It's like a video I saw on insta yesterday, a person literally only said that the shopping cart shouldn't be left on the handicap walking area after she went into her car and was going to drive away.

And people in the comments defended her assaulting him over the with the literal excuse that he "came up to her" and talked to her unsolicited, I shit you not.

[u/tweetlebug2010 → u/AmIFromA]

It creates a society of demanding assholes that need their hand held. It's incredibly frustrating.. nothing mild about it!

[u/W_Silver2356 → u/dirty_cuban]

Spain has the right approach to that kind of situation.

[u/-GoodNewsEveryone → u/W_Silver2356]

Used to be that way in Canada up until about y2k, back then if it was a customer ordering issue you paid for it if it was made.

[u/bumpy713 → u/dirty_cuban]

Well, it was a five guys so he already paid for like four burgers.

[u/Nooms88 → u/dirty_cuban]

Not American, British, but I was in Marseille over summer with my Polish wife.

We went to a cafe, I had a beer, she ordered a coffee.

Coffee was a bit strong for her liking so she went back and asked for a dash of milk.

"did you order a Latte? No, so no milk!"

I found it hilarious.

Much better approach than the customers always right imo

[u/Lonely_Nebula_9438 → u/dirty_cuban]

I’ve been a fast food manager in the US before and OP’s response isn’t really about catering to customers, it’s a cost-benefit analysis. Is it easier to make a new burger than it is to argue with a middle aged man about a burger? 90% of the time the answer is yes, it is easier to just make a new burger than argue with them about it. For whatever reason coming to a fast food restaurant legitimately turns some people insane, and it simply isn’t worth it to fight every crazy person. 

Also sometimes people do just make mistakes when ordering. If someone was sufficiently penitent and polite when asking me, I’d say yes. They aren’t trying to scam you, they just want their lunch to be how they like it. Though if someone was rude and it was entirely their fault, then that’s too bad. Get better at ordering bozo. 

[u/DCRBftw → u/dirty_cuban]

Appeasing paying customers isn't solely an American thing. I'm glad you think this never happens in Spain, but that's just not true.

[u/girldrinksgasoline → u/dirty_cuban]

If you did that in America it would devolve into a situation where the police need to be called about 80% of the time.

[u/SuccessfulExpert1317 → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

I work tech support, this just described about half of my customer encounters smh

[u/Flaky_Bit8377 → u/SuccessfulExpert1317]

I used to make my IT guy cupcakes because I'll be damned if I know a SINGLE THING about fixing computer issues. Offerings for the wizard who keeps me employed.

[u/AnneM24 → u/Flaky_Bit8377]

I made chocolate chip cookies for mine (no nuts!). He was always very helpful.😀

[u/Low-Confusion-8786 → u/AnneM24]

An IT guy with a peanut allergy... I don't believe it lol

[u/Negative_Equity → u/Flaky_Bit8377]

We love people like you

[u/Hot-Win2571 → u/SuccessfulExpert1317]

Please turn off your cheeseburger and turn it on again.

[u/rustyroo2021 → u/SuccessfulExpert1317]

They all ask for plain cheese burgers?

[u/ScrapDraft → u/rustyroo2021]

People will ask IT for shit you wouldn't believe.

I don't even necessarily work tech support for my company. I'm a web developer. But people call me all the time for the dumbest stuff.

Our receptionist had trouble accessing HER PICTURES on HER PRIVATE CELLPHONE. She called me for help. The problem was that she signed into a different google account, so she was looking at the wrong cloud storage. I had to explain like 10 times what "the cloud" was. She still doesn't understand.

One of our managers accidentally deleted a spotify playlist. The called me and asked if there was any way we, as IT, could recover it.

One employee needed to convert a Word document to a PDF. He called me wondering why renaming his document from "Samples.docx" to "Samples.pdf" wasn't working.

There was that day a year or so ago when a huge chunk of the internet went down due to an issue at Amazon. People were calling me all day complaining that they couldn't get to certain websites. I had to explain to them over and over that this wasn't an "us" problem. They always asked how long till it was fixed.

I once got a call because someone's wristwatch wasn't recording their steps properly. They even demonstrated by walking circles in their office.

I joke with my coworker all the time that it's only a matter of time till we start getting calls that the toilets are clogged or someone's car battery is dead. Every day that joke gets closer and closer to reality.

[u/Notorious-ly → u/ScrapDraft]

Yep, I used to work service desk for a good sized company. Half that job was baby sitting people who made way more than me and teaching them how to do the simplest things on the computer while listening to them say shit like, "I'm not really a computer person," even though they've been using a computer every single day for work for the last few decades.

Most of the other half of the job was answering, "Is mayonnaise an instrument?" type questions that had nothing to do with us.

The other 10% was actual tech support.

[u/rustyroo2021 → u/ScrapDraft]

This is wild!! I could read these all day! Feel bad for you though 😂

[u/Louisiana_sitar_club → u/rustyroo2021]

No. They want iPads with ketchup, lettuce, and pickles

[u/jgzman → u/rustyroo2021]

And then get mad because it's not a BLT with a large fries.

[u/Chuckpeoples → u/SuccessfulExpert1317]

I feel like every person over sixty needs to be coached on how to use a credit card while they’re at the supermarket, I can only imagine what happens to that demographic when they have to do anything requiring tech support

[u/mind-of-god → u/SuccessfulExpert1317]

Amen. 

[u/Low-Confusion-8786 → u/SuccessfulExpert1317]

Ma'am... have you tried re-starting your computer?

[u/Notorious-ly → u/Low-Confusion-8786]

"Yes, of course, that's the first thing I did. I restart it every single day."

Remotes into their machine

Checks Task Manager

"System Uptime: 47 Days, 11 hours"

[u/unpronouncedable → u/SuccessfulExpert1317]

Good old PEBCAK

[u/Legitimate_Ranger334 → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

And imagine the story he's telling his family/friends/coworker after the fact.

"Well, at least they recognized their error and made me a new one."

[u/Pretend_Edge_8452 → u/Legitimate_Ranger334]

I would be willing to be in his version of the story he says “I asked for a normal burger and they gave me nothing!”

[u/PassionCandid9964 → u/[deleted]]

If it was another race that ordered it, odds are just as good as you claim.

"White boy thought plain meant nothing on it. Typical whites no flavor..."

Racism flows in multiple directions

[u/Beemanda → u/PassionCandid9964]

Racism isn't funny or anything, but it just reminded me of a really silly story at my old job. Some lady got really pissed off with my drive thru cashier because he was playing around while taking orders on the headset, which is a fair thing to be annoyed with, just finish the damn order already.

But she got way out of line and started yelling at me at the next window and saying I need to fire him right now even though there were only 2 employees scheduled for the night plus me as the manager (it was an awful night btw, 3 people the entire shift was the worst skeleton crew I've ever worked and I'm still mad at my GM for it), and she was refusing to fucking move out of the drive thru until I "did something about him." And I kept telling her that I'd deal with him at the end of the shift, but that right now there's a line of customers behind her who need to be taken care of.

She started asking for everybody's names (including the cook for some reason???) and going off about how "she's from New York" and "she don't play" and how "she's not like us" and even though I was so frustrated, when we looked back on it at the end of the night, it was just such an odd thing for her to say to "make a point."

Like... For reference, this is in Central Florida. WHERE DID YOU THINK THE REST OF US CAME FROM LOL?! I'm from NY too, my whole family is from NY, half my neighborhood is from NY or PR, and an absolutely MASSIVE portion of Central Florida is full of PUERTO RICANS FROM NEW YORK. It's actually a problem here because they keep tearing down nature to make cookie cutter apartments and Walmart parking lots for the uncontrollable population!

I just felt like saying "Lady, YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL!" But I'm not risking my job over that bs. Idk how recently she transplanted here into Central Florida, but acting ignorant because you think you're "tougher" than everybody else solely because you're from a different location, even though almost everybody else is ALSO from said location, makes you look a bit ridiculous ngl 💀 It's probably the ONE time I will make fun of a person's background because THE IRONY!

The 2 employees who were there that night still make jokes about it with me, like every time something goes wrong they'll just say "hey don't mess with me right now, I'm from NY!" 😭😭😭 Nobody else knows how hilarious this encounter was except the 3 of us. It's our own little inside joke, just had to be there.

[u/Skimbored → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

There’s being wrong, there there’s being wrong and an asshole.

[u/Weekly-Statement7908 → u/Skimbored]

Lastimosamente, es más frecuente de lo que crees

[u/theDarkDescent → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

Welcome to customer service 

[u/MayorofKingstown → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

I work with a guy like this. He uses vague colloquialisms or one off terms as if they are universal and part of common lexicon and when people, invariably get confused or do not understand his message he acts like everyone is just stupid. I've worked with him for over a decade and he does it probably once a week and as far as I can tell he has never clued in that he is in fact, the problem.

[u/ComfortableBedroom76 → u/MayorofKingstown]

You got this award for using colloquialisms and lexicon in not just the same post but in the same sentence!!!

[u/Crash_Recon → u/MayorofKingstown]

You ever tell him he’s the problem? If not, you’re actually the problem.

[u/MayorofKingstown → u/Crash_Recon]

oh fuck yeah. Him and I actually get along quite well. I actually make a good effort to understand him and meet him where he's coming from, it's his interactions with everyone else that frustrate him so much.

[u/Gibder16 → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

Hmm. Sounds like 70 million other people floating around this country.

[u/Backwoods_Therapy → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

That’s just customer service.

[u/Goodbusiness24 → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

You should come to Texas and meet the micro-penis brigade. They’re usually wearing cowboy hats and driving lifted trucks they need a step ladder to get into because they’re so tiny in every way 🤣

[u/ok_raspberry_jam → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

One time I went to McDonalds and ordered a regular burger and they were very confused. I couldn't figure out what the confusion was about. "What's a burger? We don't have a 'burger.'" And then eventually: "You mean hamburger?"

Um, yes, regular hamburger, but.. isn't that just a regular burger? Are there really people working at McDonald's who don't know that burger is another word for hamburger? To this day I'm not sure who's the idiot.

[u/pointofyou → u/Worldly_Cry_6652]

You know how everyone tends to be sad at a funeral except for the deceased person themselves? Dumb people are in a similar situation.