[Linganth] Substitute x for y / scripting and technologization in fast food ordering

[Emily McEwan-Fujita]

I agree with Francis and Tom that the inflexibility is the result of training in tandem with technologization, at least for the national chains. My menial jobs involved paper rather than food, but as far as I understand the fast food employee interaction with customers is heavily scripted by the corporation, much as it is for call center employees. Deviation from the script "does not compute" with the cash register/order system, and also frequently seems to "not compute" in a cognitive sense with the employee who has been trained in the scripted routine.

Such scripting is also prevalent in Japan for employee-customer interactions. My spouse (who worked for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Skylark [a Denny's clone]) in Japan also pointed out that a manager may be eavesdropping nearby, ready to penalize the employee for any deviation from the script.

My favorite example of seeming inability/unwillingness to deviate from the corporate script involved my weekly visits to a bakery in Japan to buy whole wheat bread, 10 years ago. The bakery mainly sold individual pastries, sandwiches, and the like, but it also sold loaves. I would always select an unsliced loaf of bread and bring it up to the cash register, upon which the cashier would always ask me "Is this take out or eat in?" ("Omochikaeri desu ka, kochira de meshiagari desu ka?" to the best of my memory though I may have the grammar wrong.)

Just once I would have liked to say, "Eat in", just to see how she would react. Too bad I never did. In any case, according to the script she probably would not have been allowed to show a reaction; she probably would have just handed me a plastic fork, knife, and plate for my loaf!

Incidentally, back in the U.S., the "no bun" option has become widespread in the last year or two due to the influence of the Atkins diet. So I think it's been programmed into a lot of computerized order systems now in one way or another. I think at In 'N Out Burger it's called something like "protein style" and they serve it between two leaves of lettuce instead of bread.

I also concur on the "two fish suppers," of course with diet Irn Bru!

Emily

thporcello at vassar.edu wrote:
Don't forget, though, that much of this inflexibility is technologized;
orders are linked to programmed buttons on cash register keypads, which in
turn are linked to computers that display orders on screens for food preps
and window staff. The buttons are NOT infinitely flexible; the most
common orders/substitutions/omissions get programmed in (and learned via
repetition; and note how with rapid employess turnover, knowing how to
handle "exceptions" will be continually problematic). So in addition to
any linguistic interference that may exist, there is the difficulty of
knowing (or rather, NOT knowing) how to handle an order for which there is
no pre-assigned button.

(This observation from repeated encounters in drive-throughs where a wheat
allergy necessitated the order, "Cheeseburger, no bun." One could almost
hear the sound of brains overheating as eyes and fingers searched, with
inevitable fultility, for the "No Bun" button. Seriously, though, almost
never could this order be processed without calling over a manager to
figure out how to enter the order into the register system, and several
times I received the comment, "There's no way to ask for that.")

Tom

> Lack of flexibility seems to be central to how fastfood workers are
> trained. I think in 'Fast Food Nation' Schlosser goes into the robotic
> nature of working at fastfood establishments, among other adverse working
> conditions (such as those reported by a member of a workers movement
> related to another famous fastfood chain on this site:
> http://www.mwr.org.uk/mcjobs.htm)
>
> I have had many a frustrating experience with special orders at various
> fastfood places. Now I'm starting to wonder if this is could be related
> to an emphasis by management on the routine of the service encounter in
> these places.
>
> Francis
>

--
T.G. Porcello
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Vassar College

***********************************************************
Emily McEwan-Fujita, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Dept. of Anthropology
Loyola University Chicago
6525 N. Sheridan Rd.
Chicago, Illinois 60626
U.S.A.

Tel.: +1-773-508-3430
E-mail: ecmcewan at alumni.uchicago.edu
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