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Attention everyone: Stop getting all indignant and outraged when you receive less than stellar service at a fast food establishment. If you really cared about quality food and attentive customer service, you wouldn’t be shouting your order out of your driver’s side window near a dumpster in a dingy parking lot into an intercom connected to a headset worn by a 15 year old high school sophomore who gets paid 8 dollars an hour to serve you meals made from the same ingredients they put in cosmetic supplies and industrial grade putty. I’ve found myself in this position many times, but, unlike so many people, I don’t react with shock and horror when the experience doesn’t live up to my expectations. In fact, I have no expectations so I’m never disappointed. What don’t we get here? That near-meat burger is only 80 cents precisely BECAUSE the service is crappy and the food is cold and soggy. That’s not an anomaly — that’s the trade off. It’s the arrangement that you agree to. Again, why can’t you ever get competent service at a fast food joint? Because you want to purchase a burger, fries and a large Coke for less than 4 bucks, and have it in your hands within 90 seconds of placing the order. That’s why. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Well, you can, but it will be stale and crusty, and served to you by a surly teenager.

I bring this up because I just saw that viral video of a guy standing outside a Wendy’s drive thru window, screaming that his hamburger doesn’t meet his specifications. He calls the employees, among other things, “sons of bitches” and rants about their incompetence. At one point, following the generic Irate Fast Food Costumer script, he says “this happens EVERY time I come here… This happened the past three times!” Uh, so EVERY time you order food at this establishment they botch it, yet you STILL come back for more? Well whose fault is that, chief? If you take a stroll down a dark alley and get mugged, I’ll feel sorry for you. If you walk down that same dark alley a week later and get mugged again, my sympathy will start to wane. If you decide to wander down that SAME alley AGAIN a few days later, I’m going to start to suspect that you enjoy getting your butt kicked and your wallet jacked.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go back to the window if they get your order wrong. I’m not saying you shouldn’t complain if you order something and don’t get it. But I am saying that you have absolutely zero ground to get all righteously outraged about it. You’re only looking to invest 2 minutes and 6 quarters into your dinner, which means you’re choosing to make sacrifices. Specifically, your sacrificing service and quality. You are knowingly signing up for that deal. Enjoy.