American fast food restaurants compete for business by claiming that they cater to the customer's every craving. Burger King's mantra is "Have it your way." At McDonald's you can order a cheeseburger but ask them to hold the onions, pickles and ketchup.
Granted, it doesn't mean you'll actually get what you ordered. (I always factor in extra time to go back and point out that I got a McChicken instead of a McRib and two orders are fries are missing.) But they quickly agree to whatever customization you might desire.
One of my fellow reporters at our city newspaper once tested this marketing claim by visiting every brand of fast food restaurant in town to order the most bizarre customizations he could think of. He wanted to see if all of them would actually do it "your way." (That's how he learned there's a reason no restaurant has ever tried to sell a burger-fish patty combo.)
The Germans and Swiss approach customization differently: What customization?
Our local McDonald's has a beautifully extensive breakfast menu. They even sell a McGriddle breakfast sandwich. I love the McGriddle's delicate balance of sweet and salty flavors. In the U.S. you can have the McGriddle with sausage or bacon. In Germany, the McGriddle only comes with sausage.
I don't like breakfast sausage.
On my past three visits to our McDonald's, I've tried with my limited German to ask if they could swap out the sausage for bacon. I know they have bacon in stock. It's on most of their other breakfast sandwiches.
"Koennen Sie McGriddle mit bacon machen?" I ask. (Can you McGriddle with bacon make?)
Each time the cashier's face reflects confusion. And it's not because of my German. Then she glances back at the lighted menu board as if to remember what comes on the McGriddle. She explains to me something in German that I usually don't understand, affirmed by a negative shake of the head.
"Nicht bacon?" I repeat, just to be sure.
"Nein," she replies regretfully. And so I order an Egg McMuffin.
If I knew more German, I would be able to distinguish whether the cashier of the day is saying she is sorry they don't have a bacon option on the menu, or if she means that they are absolutely not able to make it differently, even with a slight upcharge.
This morning, as I ate my Egg McMuffin a little sadly, I tried to see the bright side. I said to my husband, "Ok, you can't have it 'your way' in Germany. But, in spite of the fact that here I'm ordering in a different language, at least I always get what I order. They haven't messed it up once."
"In America you have to order in a different language, too," he pointed out.
No comments:
Post a Comment