Aussie mum kickstarts debate around Maccas drive-thru etiquette

A simple endeavour is a little more complicated than you might think. So, who's in the right?

Going through the drive-thru is supposed to be the quick and easy way to get a half decent meal.

You can order and have hot food in your hands within minutes, all without having to step out of your car.

But, it seems the endeavour is a little more complicated than you might think, with one woman kickstarting a debate online around something we’ve all experienced.

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Image: TikTok / @caraoverell, iStock.

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“Is she right, or am I right?”

Aussie mum Cara took to TikTok after having a negative experience in a McDonald’s drive-thru.

In the video, she states that she was sitting in the right-hand lane of the drive-thru, with another woman sitting at the other ordering box in the left-hand lane.

Noting that she wasn’t paying attention to who ordered first, a disagreement ensued when it came time for the cars to merge into one lane.

“What I thought happened is a car in the right lane goes, and then a car in the left lane goes… but what actually ended up happening was the traffic was moving slow because it was super busy, so there was a car in front of me and a car in front of her,” she said.

“The one in the right lane goes, then the one in the left lane goes, so I tried to go next because I’m pretty sure that’s the etiquette. I tried to go, and she starts pushing in behind this car, not letting me in.”

Cara continued saying that the other woman, once in front of her, began yelling at her saying that because she ordered first, she got to go first.

But, still thinking she’s in the right, Cara took the debate to the comments.

“Is she right, or am I right?” she said.

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The debate continued

The majority of commenters on the post agreed with the woman in the left-hand lane, saying that going in the order of who ordered first makes it easier for employees.

“Whoever finishes their order first goes first? I always thought this was the right way but maybe I’m wrong 🤣,” one person said.

“I've always done whoever orders first... because their order is what's gonna be next for the staff at the window,” another agreed.

“You go in the order that you ordered. So if the lady in the left finished ordering before you did, she goes first. The orders are given out at the window in that order. If not that’s when people start getting the wrong order and complaining that Maccas staff are incompetent when it’s actually the drivers not paying attention,” said a third.

@caraoverell

Can’t believe she fully yelled at me 😭😭 But I think I’m right?? #maccas #drivethru

♬ original sound - CARA

But, plenty agreed with the poster as well, saying it has no impact on the workers at all.

“You're in the right. The merging lanes should zipper, unless there is a delay and 2 cars from the 1 lane have room to go through. No WAY am I sitting around listening to who around me is ordering,” one commenter said.

“You are in the right. It’s always one from one lane and then one from the other unless there is no car in the other lane or they haven’t finished yet and you have. But yea they have picture of the car and just click the picture so it doesn’t have to be in order of orders,” said another.

“Totallly agree, it’s like a zipper never mess up the zipper,” a third added.

Some even said that though it normally goes with who ordered first, Cara was right in this particular scenario, when the line is backed up.

“I was gonna say you’re wrong - it’s whoever ordered first gets to go HOWEVER when there’s traffic like that and therefore unclear who ordered first then yeah, one from each lane,” said one commenter.

“So you can only go out of turn if you order first AND there’s enough room to get ahead of the car in the other lane still ordering. Once it’s backed up, it’s merge like a zip rules,” another agreed.

The Kidspot team weighs in

The Kidspot team also had some thought on the matter.

Leah said that whilst the zipper rule makes sense, it doesn’t quite work in the drive-thru.

“I think basic road etiquette when there's merging traffic is: 1 in, 1 out. In this case, I think whoever ordered first goes first otherwise the orders will get mixed up and annoy the workers, surely,” she said.

Lauren agreed, adding a few more drive-thru pet peeves to the list.

“In this woman's defence Macca's drive throughs can be brutal. Hungry drivers make for chaotic drivers. I think the order goes based on whichever order was placed first. I worked as a drive through order taker in high school and it was stressful with one speaker box - I can't imagine the poor worker having to juggle two!” she said.

“There's bigger demons in the drive thru - people who sit on their phones holding up the line or people who pick fights with the workers over their order are the true McIdiots!”

“If you order like this we will ignore you”

It seems Lauren isn’t alone, with plenty of Macca’s workers expressing different gripes with common drive-thru habits.

One young Maccas worker in particular spilled on why she ignores people who are guilty of one annoying but oh-so-common drive thru habit - screaming ‘hello’ as soon as you pull up at the drive-thru.

"You can't keep on ignoring the car in drive thru because they screamed 'hello' as soon as they get there," the Aussie sarcastically said.

Whilst many fast food workers agreed with her gripe, others said her behaviour was entitled.

"Big deal. Someone says hello as soon as they pull up… you need to grow up if that's what annoys you," one person wrote.

Another suggested a nicer approach would be replying, "One second, I'll be right with you" adding that they say hello "because I don't know if anyone knows that I'm there."

Kidspot reached out to McDonald’s to see what the official "rule" is. 

Originally published as Aussie mum kickstarts debate around Maccas drive-thru etiquette