$700 Drive-Thru Order Sparks Debate About Fast Food Etiquette

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What's the biggest order you've ever placed in a drive-thru? For me, it might max out at around fifty bucks, but then again, I've never ordered for more than four or five people, max.

A recent tweet explored the extremes of fast food orders — and believe me, it can get pretty extreme.

Drive-thrus are there for convenience.

Unsplash | Tim Cooper

It's a modern marvel that you can go out in your car and order a bunch of cheap food and receive it quickly, all without leaving the driver's seat.

The flip side, of course, is that if someone gets crazy with their order, it can cause problems.

Here's the tweet that kicked off the discussion.

Yeah, this order rings in at $703.14. The item that makes up the bulk of the order, and raises my eyebrows for sure, is that the person ordering wanted eighty-four double quarter pounders with bacon and cheese.

Yes, eighty-four burgers.

It wouldn't be a fun order to prepare.

I've never worked at a McDonald's before, so I'm not sure of their capacity. While they can definitely grill up a bunch of burgers at once, 84 double quarter pounders equals 168 individual patties. I'm not sure if they're even able to accommodate that.

Asking the real questions.

Aside from dozens of burgers, the other attention-grabber on the item was 33 "Senior Sprites", which cost a modest $26.40 all-in. Somehow, though, the one Senior Coke was free.

As it turns out, these 'senior' drinks come in smaller sizes and are intended for older folks.

It's a fair point.

I would argue that, if you're in the market for 84 double quarter pounders with bacon and cheese, that you're out of luck.

But if you absolutely must have them, it seems like calling ahead would be the reasonable thing to do.

Why didn't they try this?

I know the workers want to do a good job and all, but I feel like I'd reflexively reject this order. As soon as someone rolled up and wanted $700 worth of food, I'd just tell them that our food...maker...machine is down, or something.

Of course, there were some people who were quick to throw out the "it's their job" card.

Although, this reply was quickly shot down as people pointed out that the purpose of the Drive-Thru is convenience, so the person placing the order should at least have gone inside to collect this behemoth of an order.

Other fast food workers claimed that calling ahead for large orders is required in certain places.

It makes sense that people should have to call ahead of time. Anther fast food worker added their own story writing: "I worked at McDonald's in high school. A school bus rolled up one night and ordered 100 big macs and 100 quarter pounders. It was like [a warzone] in the grill area, lettuce flying around like crazy."

Although, calling ahead of time can pose its own problems sometimes...

I never understood this as a "prank." It doesn't make any sense to me as you're just being an asshat and you're not really getting any payoff for it are you?

Finally, some individuals did try and see the silver lining in the order!

Some people really do try and find the positives in any situation and I like that! Anyone else looking for a burger with bacon on after this order is going to be out of luck.

Does this order take things too far?

Giphy | NickRewind

Lots of us have fast food stories, so share your best one. If you've worked in food service or just like to frequent the McD's drive-thru, tell us about some of the stuff you've experienced in the comments below.

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