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From Weird To Nearly Dangerous, Here Are 40 Insane Stories From McDonald’s Workers
If you remember the good old comedy called "Four Rooms," then you understand perfectly well what incredible life twists and turns an ordinary person can encounter when they just go to work at a hotel. Or, for example, at a fast-food restaurant.
McDonald's is the world's largest fast-food chain, so it's not at all surprising that its employees can recall the most incredible things that happened to them or that they had to witness while working. Especially if you persistently ask them about it... So here is a list of forty such stories.
More info: TikTok
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#1
One time two costumers came round drive thru when I was on overnights (regulars) and were a bit short on money so I paid the rest and said don’t worry I’ll sort it as they were always nice and always came round. They came round day after and ordered food, (they definitely had the change) noticed it was me and they asked me to sort it for them again. I told them I won’t be paying it again as it comes out of my pocket, or I can’t be short on the till. They then proceeded to scream at me calling me a sc*m and an inconsiderate little girl because I done it the day before and won’t do it again. I’ve never paid for anyone’s meal since oh and btw they ended up paying it fine when the manager came over they just took my niceness for granted 😂
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#2
On an overnight a drunk woman climbed through our fast forward window to get sauce. When I heard the rustling I look over and see half her body hanging through the window. When I asked why she did that, she seemed as though it was no big deal, she stole a whole big grey pot of sweet chili. Her taxi driver apologised profusely and I laughed because they had done this before and every night I’ve had the same conversation being that she needed to wait. Because of her we have to lock our windows.
Motivated sloth 4 months ago
Charge her and trespass her. That’s a sanitary issue and burglary, even if it didn’t cost much.
#3
not the worst but i was serving a customer once, tell me why when they go to pay they take their shoe off and get the £5 note from not just their shoe, but OUT OF THEIR SOCK????? and then when i made a bit of a face recieving it he clarified that “he had clean feet”
Recently, the TikToker @bwright99 asked netizens: "Give me your most unhinged McDonald's crew story." The original poster specifically clarified that when she wrote 'most unhinged,' she didn't mean everyday situations like "I got yelled at by a customer for what they considered bad service," but something truly out of the ordinary.
Something you'll remember literally for the rest of your life. Well, not only did the video go viral, garnering over 705.5K views and nearly 3.3K different comments, but it also spawned a wave of followers. Like this Threads post by the user @chronicallyhumored, who asked not to be considered nosy, but also urged netizens to share similar stories.
#4
once a customer asked me if they could order 50 cheeseburgers and i said did u just say 50? and they said yes. i said let me get my manager quickly (we have to) and they kicked off, i then pre warned kitchen “50 cheeseburgers on order” and got my manager so they could put it through coz a code was necessary, they then had their card declined and had the audacity to go to the next window and say “well u may as well give us them now [seeing] as they are probably already being made and u wont sell them all” it was also half 9 at night
#5
A customer shouted “I wanna get served by McSpicy over there” and pointed at me
#6
one night, nobody showed up to a night shift except from me and my manager (she was a new manager) it was extremely busy and she wanted to keep inside open as long as possible cause she didnt want to get in trouble and we didnt realise how busy it picked up. She eventually decided to close inside (doors only open from inside to let people out) but customers were standing by the door to let more in. we ended up with 50 odd pending and a hoard of customers trying to jump the counter, people getting out of their cars wanting to know what tf was going on and my manager sat in the corner crying her eyes out. orders serving themselfs off for being too long so we lost a bunch of orders. We did turn off our menu but orders were were still coming through. and cleaning? non existant. That was the hellish shift i ever worked
Well, it's been almost a century since the 1940s, when the brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first restaurant in San Bernardino. In 1954, Ray Kroc began franchising their business. Since then, McDonald's has grown into a colossal corporation with over 40K restaurants worldwide and more than 2M employees.
So it's no surprise that McDonald's employees can tell almost any tale about strange visitors, entitled managers, unusual orders, and emergency situations. McDonald's is present in 100 countries around the world now, and in this selection, you can find stories with any national accent - although, of course, most of the stories are from Americans.
#7
Someone threw a plain cheeseburger at me through the drive thru window cuz it had cheese on it, we had to call the police in the end cuz he was so mad💔
#8
had someone threaten my life because he didnt want lettuce on his 4 hamburgers after i explained that there was no lettuce on his hamburger to begin with
Anthony Elmore 4 months ago
Honestly, I get it. No lettuce on the burger is serious business. Better safe than sorry.
#9
KFC got armed robbed the night before. I was on night shift. all the systems went down (same thing happened at KFC just before the robbery) and someone came through the drive through and when we explained why we couldn't take orders they went "that's weird. isn't that what happened before KFC got robbed" and sped off. police came and put us on lockdown
Interestingly, McDonald's, which was once criticized for high staff turnover, has been actively fighting this problem over the past decades. For example, if in 2020, according to this study, McDonald's employee turnover rates were nearly 44%, then in 2024, as this dedicated article on Recruitment Tech claims, the use of AI algorithms made it possible to reduce annual staff turnover by 22%.
However, AI cannot yet cook burgers and French fries, so the human factor will still be relevant here. So the stories collected in this list can often tell you something interesting about interactions with other people. Strange, entitled, arrogant, livid - but still human beings.
#10
i had a man late 30s ask me if i was single (i was 16 and looked my age) i said no then he proceeded to wait in his car outside until i came outside and was STARING at me as i was taking out bays literally doong my job 😀 i cried in the office and literally couldnt go back outside
#11
i asked an old man if he wanted any sauces, his reply was “my wife gives me enough sauce”
#12
Had these big boys order 2 family box meals on a late night dinner rush hour, I asked em “was that everything?” They said “yeh” Comes up to window and they’re like “can we get all the buns steamed?” I nearly lost it at these guys 😭 manager came in and took over while I made the food
Hollywood has paid attention to the Golden Arches more than once - from the recent film "The Founder," with the brilliant acting of Michael Keaton, to numerous references to their products in popular movies.
Do you remember what they call the "Big Mac" in France? Le Big Mac, that's right. The film industry has been constantly complaining about the lack of ideas in recent years, but here, voila - forty almost ready-made plots for every taste, from comedy to horror!
#13
A colleague had a chocolate milkshake thrown over her because the customer didn’t believe it was chocolate as someone had pulled a banana directly before. Another colleague had a customer jump over the counter and steal a big Mac. It ended up in court. I had a fully grown adult male threaten (in front of his children) to shove my glasses down my throat because the happy meal boxes had run out and I had to put the exact same contents of a happy meal inside a bag, which I confirmed with him upon ordering and he was totally fine. Took him 10 minutes and finished food before he came back and slammed the empty bag down in front of me to begin his rant. Someone threw a double saus muffin at me that they’d asked for no egg in, there was clearly the sticker that said NO EGG but kitchen put the egg in so was my fault ofc, manager sided with the customer even though the sticker that meant I PUT NO EGG THROUGH THE SYSTEM was right there on the double saus wrapper, so I tendered my immediate resignation on a napkin and walked out.
#14
1) I’ve had two love letters written, one physical and one put in on FFT. 2) A man came in on my shift and needed help, came back 7 hours latter and tried to make me leave with him. 3) Another man told his 5 yr old son that they WOULD take me home, he was wearing a temu grill and talked to himself while repeatedly pointing at me and trying to find where my manager (who he thought was my brother, he’s not) lived. He was the worse and was genuinely off his head
#15
I had two women walk in covered in blood who asked me how long do I think they will get for stabbing someone coz that’s what they have done. It was confirmed the next day by police that they had 💀
But for now, producers and directors are trying to shoot countless remakes and sequels, and haven’t gotten to these stories, so be among the first to read them all. And if you, too, once worked in the shadow of the Golden Arches, and you have some amazing, funny or sad, instructive or terrible story behind you, please feel free to share everything in the comments here as well.
#16
Some lady went all the way to corporate and reported me for having braces causw it's unprofessional
#17
Handed someone’s drinks out at the drive through, one of them was wrong so took it back to change it for them, as my back was turned they’d spat at me 🫠 found out from the next customer who was disgusted and said I should call the police 😂
#18
If this helps I was on a overnighter one night and some crazy woman came running with a machete at 5am….
#19
i had a really old man who was quite large try and climb through the drive through payment window and attack me after his card declined 14 times trying to demand i gave the £72 order for free which i obviously didn't do i handed my notice in immediately after
#20
Someone once tried to sue me because I didn’t give sufficient first aid through the Drive thru window after he spilled a Coffee on himself … but I couldn’t get the chance because he had ✨driven away✨
#21
A man asked me if he could swap the fries for an apple pie when ordering a meal, I told him no, he then asked if I’d be able to do it if he stabbed me and lunged over the counter to hit me. My manager still served him and APOLOGISED 💀
#22
Swapped a shift with another manager, did a morning shift when i usually do only closes. A customer notified 2 crew people about someone looking unwell in their car. They came to me and I went out and found someone dead in my parking lot, there was also 2 dogs in the car dead too 🥰🥰
#23
My car, phone, id and card were stolen from work while I was on shift. Some guy/customer went into the crew room and stole it all from my bag. (Keypad was “broken” but was actually turned off).
superfluous 5 months ago
I know it's victim blaming, but you should NEVER keep your car in your bag in the crew room!
#24
I got shouted and every swear word in the book was shouted at me - just because I gave him his drink after he asked me to put ice in it (apparently I was giving him a look)
#25
someone threw a hot chocolate at me when i was a trainer because it was “stone cold”. it was in fact, not stone cold
#26
A morning staff member was carrying scissors up the line to go cut open a sauce packet, whilst holding the scissors she tripped on a bin and stabbed herself in the stomach. She was rushed to the hospital and luckily was fine, this happened 4 years ago and she still talks about it to this day. We also aren’t allowed scissors anymore…
#27
On the drive thru this guy asked if he can get a free happy meal toy because his son got hit by a car and I had to try so hard not to pull a face or anything so I sent them to the next window 😭
#28
Chicken nugget dashed right at my head because his burger had pickles on it. (I didn’t take his order. I didn’t know he didn’t want pickles. I was just the first person in sight).
#29
had a sobbing, dryheaving breakdown at work and my manger said ‘not being funny but i don’t pay you to cry, if you’re going to cry can you clock out please’
#30
Some man threw a double cheeseburger at one of my managers then flipped the wet floor sign over because she refused to serve him after he threw the double cheeseburger at her all because he was missing a patty in the burger I think it happened nearly 2 years ago but he was also told not to come back in otherwise they’d ring the poilce what did he do he came back in and the manager rung the poilce then 2 young lads came in and stole a delivery order of 2 flurry’s off the counter so we had to remake them for the delivery order
#31
I literally nearly got kidnapped when doing the drive through bays, the manager wouldn’t let me do it for weeks lmao
#32
we was really busy on drive thru one day and i was on window. we seen a police car blue light someone on the main road by the store. the police car followed the car into the drive thru and pulled the in the lane. they arrested him. we still don’t know why he was arrested to this day 😂
#33
Was working the drive thru and this couple pull up and I hand the guy their food and he goes “with a smile like that I wouldn’t want you at my funeral” like what 💀 even his partner gave him a weird look and then apologised to me
#34
Someone threw a dead rabbit at the store on Easter
#35
Over 30 pending and people just wouldnt stop coming in, orders were getting messed up food was cold ended up with a strawberry milkshake down me
#36
Had to chase ducks round the drive through, got chased by a rat, and had to clean up a kids sick whilst pretending to be elsa from frozen. This was all in one shift 😂😭
superfluous 5 months ago
I don't understand how any of these fall to a McDonalds employee but I am having the hardest time with pretending to be Elsa (from Frozen) while cleaning up vomit. 🤯
#37
our shakey was broken as in the pump was literally taken out of the machine. someone was told to fill up flurry mix and they got shake mix out too. it was all over the floor in the next minute. just to add fuel to the fire.... both business AND AREA managers were in. that was an event.
#38
Oh so a drunken man came in during overnight and basically sh*t himself and changed underpants out of a plastic bag left the original pants on the table and then when my manager caught him proceeded to stand up and the underpants he was now wearing were ripped all down the middle (not my personal experience but a story I got told at 6am the next morning)😅
#39
a customer complained about not having enough drizzle on their caramel frappe , when my manager offered to give them more they took it upon themselves to walk into the kitchen pour themselves more drizzle , then proceeded to threaten my manager + everyone else in the kitchen
Brian Droste 4 months ago
Why would the manger allow a customer to go into the kitchen? Shouldn't the manger able to stop them?
#40
i once fried my whole forearm in a chicken fryer
What do you think ?
JB 4 months ago (edited)
Large restaurant in Bournemouth, two of us assigned to floor for cleaning tables etc., I’m white, my colleague is not. This is back in the days smoking inside was allowed, so there’s ashtrays on every table. Four mid-teens decided to pour what was left of a milkshake on their table, dumped the overflowing ashtray on top and they’re laughing while they tell my colleague to “come lick it up [slur]”. My 5’ red haired āss marches up to the table and yells, “Get the fūck out of here, NOW!” They start yapping about wanting the manager because I can’t talk to them like that. Well, he’s over 6’ of black don’t-take-s**t. So, I do exactly as they demand. Shoulda seen their faces when he menacingly walked very, very, slowly towards them. They tried to bolt but the person they were taunting, yep, he’s standing in front of the doors, arms folded. Manager brought a cleaning bucket with cloths and stood over the lil shıts while they cleaned their own mess up.
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
I worked at McDonald's for a few months while a college student. No stories to tell except that customers can be terrible and I'm always as nice as I can be when I deal with fast food employees. It's not a fun job.
Autumn 4 months ago
I was tired, working the drive- thru window, and automatically asked a customer if they wanted their order “for here or to go?” Does that count? :) Oh, and several grown men would keep climbing up into the indoor playground slides to smoke, glad I didn’t have to chase them out!
James Phetteplace 4 months ago
I worked in a mall food court McDonalds. The benefit was no drive thru. The downside was everything else. During a busy holiday shopping season, we had five cashier lanes and were were probably 10 ppl deep in each lane. I was an assistant manager. Was going back and forth quickly from the office in the back, through the kitchen to the front to cash out tills and whatnot. A man started screaming at me for being in the kitchen without a hat. Flipping out. Dude, I just walked through to the front, I'm not cooking. He threatened to shoot me, as in "I'm going to shoot you". In front of all those people. A gasp went through the crowd. I picked up the phone on the wall next to me and called security. A combo of police and mall security had to wrestle him to the ground and cuff him. They dragged him out while he's still screaming about me and how he was going to shoot me. Good times.
Rick Murray 5 months ago
Saw over here in France when McDo was kind of new... A woman on a horse, goes through the drive through. Then she marches the horse to the entrance and let's it take this enormous dump on the ground by the door. Then *she* is peeing (through her clothes!). Finally her order gets smeared all over the door, she turns around, and bolts across the car park, over the hedge, and away... hopefully through a river or something because ewww. I think it was some sort of political protest. And the staff and clients were just looking at each other as if we were all thinking the same thing: did that really just happen....?
Der Kommissar 5 months ago (edited)
Taco Bell; employee is told to get a haircut by manager, back when long hair was unacceptable to most fast food franchises.. He comes back with hair one inch shorter. Manager fires him. He makes a huge burrito and throws it full force at manager's back. All other employees smother/stifle their laughter.
Beth Wheeler 4 months ago
Years ago I worked at Hardee's and 1 day some woman had gone through the drive thru and something about the order was wrong. She came in the front door yelling at whoever was working drive thru that day This whacko puts 1 hand on the counter and sailed over it like it was nothing. I ran to the back and told the asst mgr that was there to call the police. That d*****s waited on her like she was a freaking queen. I told him he was crazy and should have only given her the 1 thing that was wrong with the order and should have kicked her out. The next day the manager asked the ones that were there about it and everybody agreed with me.
Brian Droste 4 months ago
Why can't people be nice about things. If your order is wrong or don't like how it is, be polite about it and let the employee fix the problem than get angry. I know the reasoning. It is because we are living in the last days and the Bible says people would have these type of attitudes
nottheactualphoto 4 months ago
The Bible says a lot of things, many of which contradict each other.
Load More Replies...
Cee Cee 4 months ago (edited)
I have been to McDonald's twice. Once to please my stepson (it was the first outlet in our city back in the '80's) and to meet with my manager back in 2005. Reading these I won't be contemplating a return visit.
JB 4 months ago (edited)
Large restaurant in Bournemouth, two of us assigned to floor for cleaning tables etc., I’m white, my colleague is not. This is back in the days smoking inside was allowed, so there’s ashtrays on every table. Four mid-teens decided to pour what was left of a milkshake on their table, dumped the overflowing ashtray on top and they’re laughing while they tell my colleague to “come lick it up [slur]”. My 5’ red haired āss marches up to the table and yells, “Get the fūck out of here, NOW!” They start yapping about wanting the manager because I can’t talk to them like that. Well, he’s over 6’ of black don’t-take-s**t. So, I do exactly as they demand. Shoulda seen their faces when he menacingly walked very, very, slowly towards them. They tried to bolt but the person they were taunting, yep, he’s standing in front of the doors, arms folded. Manager brought a cleaning bucket with cloths and stood over the lil shıts while they cleaned their own mess up.
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
I worked at McDonald's for a few months while a college student. No stories to tell except that customers can be terrible and I'm always as nice as I can be when I deal with fast food employees. It's not a fun job.
Autumn 4 months ago
I was tired, working the drive- thru window, and automatically asked a customer if they wanted their order “for here or to go?” Does that count? :) Oh, and several grown men would keep climbing up into the indoor playground slides to smoke, glad I didn’t have to chase them out!
James Phetteplace 4 months ago
I worked in a mall food court McDonalds. The benefit was no drive thru. The downside was everything else. During a busy holiday shopping season, we had five cashier lanes and were were probably 10 ppl deep in each lane. I was an assistant manager. Was going back and forth quickly from the office in the back, through the kitchen to the front to cash out tills and whatnot. A man started screaming at me for being in the kitchen without a hat. Flipping out. Dude, I just walked through to the front, I'm not cooking. He threatened to shoot me, as in "I'm going to shoot you". In front of all those people. A gasp went through the crowd. I picked up the phone on the wall next to me and called security. A combo of police and mall security had to wrestle him to the ground and cuff him. They dragged him out while he's still screaming about me and how he was going to shoot me. Good times.
Rick Murray 5 months ago
Saw over here in France when McDo was kind of new... A woman on a horse, goes through the drive through. Then she marches the horse to the entrance and let's it take this enormous dump on the ground by the door. Then *she* is peeing (through her clothes!). Finally her order gets smeared all over the door, she turns around, and bolts across the car park, over the hedge, and away... hopefully through a river or something because ewww. I think it was some sort of political protest. And the staff and clients were just looking at each other as if we were all thinking the same thing: did that really just happen....?
Der Kommissar 5 months ago (edited)
Taco Bell; employee is told to get a haircut by manager, back when long hair was unacceptable to most fast food franchises.. He comes back with hair one inch shorter. Manager fires him. He makes a huge burrito and throws it full force at manager's back. All other employees smother/stifle their laughter.
Beth Wheeler 4 months ago
Years ago I worked at Hardee's and 1 day some woman had gone through the drive thru and something about the order was wrong. She came in the front door yelling at whoever was working drive thru that day This whacko puts 1 hand on the counter and sailed over it like it was nothing. I ran to the back and told the asst mgr that was there to call the police. That d*****s waited on her like she was a freaking queen. I told him he was crazy and should have only given her the 1 thing that was wrong with the order and should have kicked her out. The next day the manager asked the ones that were there about it and everybody agreed with me.
Brian Droste 4 months ago
Why can't people be nice about things. If your order is wrong or don't like how it is, be polite about it and let the employee fix the problem than get angry. I know the reasoning. It is because we are living in the last days and the Bible says people would have these type of attitudes
nottheactualphoto 4 months ago
The Bible says a lot of things, many of which contradict each other.
Load More Replies... Cee Cee 4 months ago (edited)
I have been to McDonald's twice. Once to please my stepson (it was the first outlet in our city back in the '80's) and to meet with my manager back in 2005. Reading these I won't be contemplating a return visit.
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