Wunt Frahhs Wi-eth Thaaat?

Look Who's Talking at the Drive-Through
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. wants to outsource your neighborhood drive-through. The world's largest fast-food chain said on Thursday it is looking into using remote call centers to take customer orders in an effort to improve service at its drive-throughs.
"If you're in L.A.... and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you'll know what we're up to," McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner told analysts at the Bear Stearns Retail, Restaurants & Apparel Conference in New York. Call center professionals with "very strong communication skills" could help boost order accuracy and ultimately speed up the time it takes customers to get in and out of the drive-throughs, the company said.

First of all.....isn't it the Drive-Thru? That is the way ALL their signs read...... I know, that is soooo not the point. Anyway.....as long as they keep their value menu and their prices where they are now.....unless they would consider lowering their prices, yeah...I didn't think so.......I don't care who I talk to when I use the drive-thru as long as they speak ENGLISH!! Driving from Spokane to Portland I was shocked by the McD's and Burger King's that had spanish speakers ONLY!! "Did I take a wrong turn and end up in Tijuana? I don't remember driving 1,000's of miles out of my way!"

It probably wouldn't be a good idea to use the southern states for this, either.......southerners talk slower which would be great, except for the accent. "Wunt frahhs wi-ith thaaaat?" Also, what about the cultural differences? Up here in the Inland Northwest we call carbonated drinks pop......or soda.....down south it's all called Coke. Luckily McD's only serves Coke products. Then there's the habit up here of wanting tartar or ranch with our fries.....how does that translate down south? It took me a good 10 mins to convince the gal at Waffle House in Georgia that I know I didn't order any "fee-ish" but that I wanted tartar sauce for my fries! There was definitely a language/cultural barrier.

I'm going to keep tabs on what happens with this breaking-news-story........stay tuned to the McD's drive-thru near you!