Friday Night Fun Crew

1. Friday Night

I'm so excited that I was selected to write this story on behalf of McDonald's Canada. They were my first ever employer and I learned so much about teamwork and friendship while working there. I tell anyone who will listen that they are a great place to work, especially for a first job. This is one of my favorite memories from my time as an employee, as it's so representative of all the great things I learned and all the fun times I had that summer.

Fridays are for friends. Or at least, that's what I grew up believing. So when I got my job at McDonald's and was scheduled for my first Friday closing shift, I bummed that I had to cancel my plans for my favorite evening of the week.

"You're gonna love it," assured Amanda, a friend from soccer and coworker that summer, after we'd ended our lunch shift the day before. "It's not as bad as you think. Plus, I'll be there. It'll be like any other Friday, just with more burgers. And TJ singing."

In all honesty, I wasn't so sure, but I was willing to give it a shot.

"Welcome to the Friday night fun crew." TJ extended his hand for a high five when he arrived on that fated Friday. "You're gonna love doing closing shift – I promise."

"I told you, it's like lunch, only better," Amanda said, from where she was washing up at the sink. "Plus, TJ might even let you wear the headset."

Ah, the headset. Reserved only for the captain of the kitchen ship, the headset allowed one of us listen in to all the drive through orders to better expedite the kitchen prep. I hadn't worn it yet, but I was itching for that milestone.

"The headset, huh?" TJ called, from the break room in the back. "I don't see why not."

Amanda lifted her eyebrows at me. "Told you. Friday night fun crew is the best crew, hands down. See you on the flip side!"

With Amanda headed to open her cash, I made my way into the familiar beeping, sizzling territory of the kitchen.

"Well if it isn't the newbie who's graduated from lunch to the closing shift. How's it going?" Adam said, while swapping out an empty container of pickles for a fresh one. "I got you all set, but get ready. There's a bantam baseball game tonight. 10pm rush for sure."

"Bring it!" TJ called, in his most team captain of voices. "Friday night fun CREW!"

My laugh was overshadowed by the ping of an order up on the screen.

"Two cheeseburgers. Looks like you're on, kid." Adam said pointing to me as he left the kitchen.

I took advantage of the moment of tranquility before the dinner rush to take stock of the kitchen. Adam had left me ready to go, so I whipped out the cheeseburger wrappers, dropped the buns into the toaster, and got ready for the fun to begin.

"So. You've really never worn the headset?" TJ asked, after the initial rush of the dinner rush had passed. He'd taken up a spot at the toaster, headset on, prepping the buns for the drive through orders before they showed up on screen.

"Not yet," I replied a little wistfully, as I squeezed Big Mac sauce on a bun.

"Well, I think tonight might..." TJ trailed off and stared up at the screen. I followed his gaze as I flipped the Big Mac box shut and slid it through the stager, towards the front.

"Get ready, Kate. We got a live one!" He launched into a flurry of tearing open fresh bun packets as the order on the screen began to grow.

And grow.

And grow.

"Five cheeseburgers, two filet-o-fish, a Big Mac, and...a hundred nuggets?" I asked in disbelief, rushing over to drop the required nuggets into the fryer.

"Two filet-o-fish stacked together like a Big Mac," TJ corrected, tapping his headset as the order on screen changed and changed again. "Wait...yeah, two filet-o-fish in a Big Mac bun with Big Mac sauce."

We exchanged a look and both tried not to laugh. As I rushed around to prep the order, TJ burst into song, singing along with the radio as he laid out the cheeseburgers and hybrid filet-o-Big-Mac for garnishing.

"Don't leave me hanging for this chorus!" TJ interrupted his rendition of the Katy Perry song blaring out on the radio as the fryer finally finished the hundred nuggets. "If you wanna earn the headset, you gotta prove you can rock it."

"She can rock it," Amanda called through the stager. "Probably better than you. What's the time on those nuggets? We have a very hungry baseball team on our hands."

I don't think I'd ever shoveled nuggets so fast in my life. "Nuggets up," I said while passing them over to her, "now excuse me, I need to get ready for my drum solo."

"And that is the spirit of someone who wants the headset." TJ said with a grin, before he finished dressing the filet-o-Big-Mac. "As your last and final test, run and grab some onions, stat. I'll hold down the fort."