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In my college days, I probably spent 30% of my time in one line or another. We had over 50,000 students and the school seemed to have some things happen on a few days in a few hours so that a long wait would be had by all.
There was the 3 hour wait for the disbursement of financial aid checks for the quarter. Then you moved to another line to wait an hour or more to pay your fees. There was a line to eat at the dining hall each meal since everyone wanted to eat at the same time. 30 minutes wasn't uncommon to wait to move through the chow line. If you needed books for a class, expect to wait in another line to pay for them.
In four years I grew to adapt to the various lines. For some I planned to avoid them if I could. I would eat as soon as the dining hall opened at 5pm for dinner. I would try to buy my books as soon as I got my schedule during quarter breaks.
As I moved on from my school days, I didn't like lines but I learned to stay calm and find ways to pass the time. Now as I get older, I am getting less patient, especially when it seems the wait is not necessary. The biggest line I dislike the most is the waiting at the drive-through at fast food restaurants.
The drive-through, although not a new idea for food service, spread virtually all forms of quick service type businesses.
Basically you drive up to a speaker box and someone takes your order. They total up the amount, you pull up to a window, pay for the order, then they hand the order to you. The drive-through is just like the line inside except you don't have to get out of your car.
The usual time guideline for drive-through service is 3 to 4 minutes per car. That's the time when you place your order to when you pull away with the order. It is rare that I get through in 4 minutes. In at least a couple of recent cases I waited at least 20 minutes!
I think I know why drive-through service has become shoddy and uneven. People treat the drive-through like it is just another register at the restaurant. They order off the menu and that backs up the line.
In my town that has a tight labor market, businesses don't have the staff to cover the window service exclusively. Your order is completed as part of the inside orders.
The proliferation of menu items including "mega meals" where you can purchase food for a family of four or more. That adds to the time the order takes and backs up the line.
I offer these solutions to the major problems addressed above:
Limit the drive-through menu. Instead of offering the entire menu, limit it to a major grouping. Some have what are called value meals where you can get an entree, side dish, and drink for one price. The drive-through should not be just another register of the restaurant.
Don't allow special orders. Fast food is NOT the place for special orders like you can do at full service restaurants. Most places will have to make your order from scratch which adds time to the order. If you order a hamburger with no pickles, they don't take the pickles off a burger warming in the bin, they make a new burger without pickles. I have talked to friends who make special orders just so they get a freshly made item. The drive-through is NOT the time to be picky. It is suppose to be quick. Make people who want off the menu orders go inside since it will take the same amount of time yet not back up the drive-through.
Limit the number of orders to four per car. If you need to feed more than your family, say a meeting at work, call ahead and go inside. Banks limit the number of transactions in their drive-throughs so why not fast food places.
For the users of drive-throughs, know what you want before you get to the speaker. If you don't know what you want go inside to decide.
The reason drive-throughs took off is because they were suppose to be easier and faster than going inside to get an order to-go. Nowadays it is easier and quicker for me to go inside than use a drive-through. There is something wrong with that.
