A little story from the pages of Facebook about trying to take your two year old the McDonalds in Alexandria, Virginia.
I use Facebook to keep in touch with my friends from around the planet. I’m one of those people who’ve moved around the planet and I’ve gotten to know a few likeminded souls during my hospitality career. Most of what we share is pretty mundane stuff. The exciting stuff comes when somebody posts new pictures of their kids…or announces the birth of a new family member.
Today my friends Kate & Casey (we worked together at a resort on St. Thomas) posted this little ditty about an experience they had at McDonalds in Alexandria, Virginia. They’ve got a two year old son named Caleb. You can hold the catty comments about not eating at Chez Mickey’s; we’ve got bigger fish to fry here. It’s a little tale about homophobia in America….
The three of us went into McDonald's today to have a quick lunch in between Caleb's music class and Casey going to work. We went to place our order and I asked for the Littlest Pet Shop toy instead of the "boy" toy which was Venom from Spiderman (something Caleb has not been introduced yet) I thought he would enjoy the bobble head bird with cage that was the "girl" toy of the week.
The guy ringing us in said "you want the girl toy?!" and I said yea, he's only two, he doesn't know what spiderman is. He replied "but what if he turns out, you know". I said it's fine and tried to leave the subject. He then turns taps Casey's arm and says "you're going to let her raise him like that? He's going to turn out , you know." Casey said it's fine. At this point I walked away, something I regret, but it was that or really get into it with this clown. He continued to tell Casey that I shouldn't let my child play with girl toys (keep in mind this is still a stupid little bobble head bird in a plastic cage) and further more WHO CARES!?
So while he is retrieving our food to put on the tray, he gets a call, answers it, and proceeds to share that we let our boy get the girl toy (I kid you not!) Casey finally got our food and walked away from this guy. BUT REALLY! There are so many different things wrong with this scenario that I cannot even begin to express my frustration of his ignorance. I would love to hear your thoughts!
My friend Kate has emailed McDonald’s corporate. Here’s their response:
Thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's Customer Service Center to bring your recent experience to our attention.
First, I hope you will accept my sincere apology for your disappointment in McDonald's. I can assure you that we want you to be completely satisfied every time you visit one of our restaurants.
Because most McDonald's restaurants are independently owned and operated, I have forwarded your comments to the franchise owner or local representative for follow up at the restaurant you visited in Alexandria, Va. Please be assured that your comments will be investigated and, if appropriate, corrective action will be taken.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's Customer Service Center and giving us the opportunity to address your concerns. Customer feedback is very important to us as it helps us improve.