This is a must read

I support 350 computers and their users at a school. School starts Monday so you might guess that I’ve been pretty busy with getting ready, making sure everything is running at its best, and getting rid of the remains of last year’s crop of boogers which are now securely adhered to the monitors and keyboards of the student computers. (The last school year produced a bumper crop.)

Actually, I like my work. I suppose, like anybody else’s job, mine has its moments but folks are fairly nice to me and I must be pretty good at my work. Like lawn mowers, computers are one of the greatest threats to my testimony but at the end of the day it’s all good.

Other people are good at their work too.

Sometimes I’m quick to criticize others. In particular, many of you have probably read some comments I posted about McDonalds a few months ago involving a meal I had and my policies concerning menu items with the designation of “number two”.

Today, I’m not writing to revisit my viewpoint on that atrocity again. If you want to know my thoughts on this important subject you can scroll down towards the bottom of this Facebook silliness called a “Timeline” and read my comments there.

While it’s true that I am passionately opinionated about many things in the world, today I am actually here to praise someone.

Oddly enough, this posting is also centered on an experience at McDonalds.

Two days ago I was covered up to my ears in work. For every support ticket I closed I got 6 new ones. Around 1:00 p.m. the diabetes medication caught up with my blood glucose and I knew I had to eat. I needed something quick so I jumped in the Ranger and headed for McDonalds.

I pulled up to the ordering kiosk where you pretend to understand what the words coming out of speakers with sound quality that reminds me of a movie at the old Thunderbird Drive In. I sucessfully fought off the high pressure up sale attack and finally convinced the voice that there wasn’t going to be any “go large” or 2 fried pies for a dollar.

I ordered a number 5. I wanted a number 4 in reality but number four is a multiple of number 2 and I just wasn’t in the mood to defend myself for anything that could even remotely be construed as selling out my life long pledge to never eat anything identified as “number two” EVEN if “number two” and “number four” are only distant cousins.

I pulled up to the first window to pay where there stood the most…how can I be nice…UNUSUAL looking young man I’ve ever seen. He relieved me of the biggest part of a ten dollar bill.

When I say unusual I mean--- at birth the doctor turned around and slapped his mama- unusual.

It wasn’t the cocked eyes or the 10 speed bicycle chain that pierced his bottom lip. It was more than the way he looked, rather the way he looked at me. I can’t explain it. It was like - the little chills and goose bumps you get when you see a flash of light in the corner of your eye that you can’t identify or when a great poet like Billy Ray Cyrus steps up to a microphone and the words “Achy Breaky Heart” spill off of his tongue….*SHIVERSSSSSSSSSS

We criticize McDonalds for their shortcomings but for the most part they are as fast at fast food as fast food gets. (Say that 10 times if you can!)

I pulled up to the window, got my cup and my happy sack and rolled out into the parking lot. It was only when I reached into my golden arched treasure chest did it occur to me what had actually taken place just a few moments ago.

The young man was not the serial killer I had first suspected him to be. Nor did he have a thing for middle age fat guys.

It was so much more than that.

Theres no other way to say it. This young man is GIFTED.

This young man is nothing short of a fast food prodigy, comparable to Einstein in his field of expertise.

While I was busy misinterpreting his scrutiny as something sinister this young man..this…..GOLDEN CHILD was quickly evaluating my needs as a customer and custom tailoring a culinary solution to match my specific needs.

OK..I’ll prove it.

I was in a hurry. BUT....I did not tell him I was in a hurry.

Yet, he instinctively responded to the urgency of my day in the following ways that I can only describe as phenominal.

#1 - I received a refrigerated Hamburger instead of a hot sandwich, thus eliminating the time it would have normally taken for enough reduction in temperature before my sandwich was safe to eat.

#3 - Instead of trying to drive while fishing French Fries out of some greasy cardboard container this wonderful young man had the foresight and customer service skills to put my French Fry container in my happy sack Upside Down…YES…you read it right. UPSIDE DOWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.

AND EVEN THOUGH I really didn’t even need the box he never even considered shorting me any of the value included in the meal. I received the empty box anyway.
Napkins? He obviously determined I couldn’t afford the time it takes to wipe ones mouth.

#4 And last but not least, I got a FREEBIE!

I ordered a soft drink but I was apparently upgraded to their latest fancy beverage. I think its called a “Mc’Boil”. It’s a 16 ounce cup of hot, flat, iceless Coke Zero.

In closing, I just wanted to publicly thank this young man for his devotion to the needs of the consumer. You see, I didn’t ask for anything special yet this young man took it upon himself to become a bright spot for me in an otherwise crappy day.

With his brand of work ethic and natural ability I’m quite sure that he can expect a long and less than rewarding career in the fast food industry.