Drive-thru workers often get a bad rap because their job seems hugely boring. Besides, the many drive-thru horror stories emerging online don't add to the job's appeal. And while any job poses potential health and safety hazards, what drive-thru work isn't is monotonous. As a few threads on AskReddit have indicated, drive-thru workers are a great source to derive some of the most interesting drive-thru stories and unexpected customer-employer encounters.
And while grumpy, sour-faced customers are the usual, it's the strange encounters and sights that get stuck in the memory long after the shift is over. And strange doesn't necessarily mean bad. Actually, many funny stories from the drive-thru are so memorable because they are downright weird and happen entirely out of the blue. On the other hand, creepy drive-thru stories might not make you LOL; however, they will surely make you uncomfortable. And unfortunately, that's a feeling that sticks with us for a long time.
Below, we've compiled some of the best answers from Reddit threads, sharing the most memorable, funny, creepy, or plain weird stories that current or ex- drive-thru employees had to share. (Plus, some customers shared their points of view from the front seats!) Upvote the best stories, and let us know in the comments whether you have a weird or a funny story related to drive-thrus to share!
#21
"NGL the damnedest thing I ever did see working Taco Bell drive-through was a dude with no arms, who gave me exact change with his toes, took his bag between them, and drove away with his feet. Northern WV."
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32points
#22
MontgomeryWeiner said:
"I worked at Mcdonald's and saw some pretty odd stuff to be fair. One dude had dyed his mohawk blue, had a parrot, and ordered like it was nothing. Had some other woman just sat there drinking a bottle of vodka at the wheel, at like 11 pm, I couldn’t do anything about it so I just sent her down to the next window."
"I worked at Mcdonald's and saw some pretty odd stuff to be fair. One dude had dyed his mohawk blue, had a parrot, and ordered like it was nothing. Had some other woman just sat there drinking a bottle of vodka at the wheel, at like 11 pm, I couldn’t do anything about it so I just sent her down to the next window."
cryptic-coyote replied:
"Blue Mohawk parrot guy sounds like an anime protagonist."
"Blue Mohawk parrot guy sounds like an anime protagonist."
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31points
#23
"I admit I have gone through the drive-thru with sheep in my backseat."
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30points
#24
"A guy drove through with a live duck riding with him. The duck immediately went for the bag of fries!"
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30points
#25
thekoonbear said:
"Does a naked man with bags from Burger King and Taco Bell already count as a “thing”?"
"Does a naked man with bags from Burger King and Taco Bell already count as a “thing”?"
TVStatic417 replied:
"That is the most thing thing to ever be considered a thing."
"That is the most thing thing to ever be considered a thing."
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29points
#26
"On Christmas eve this guy comes through and I'm taking his money when he asks if I want to see his stump. I wasn't really thinking and said sure. The guy opens his car door and reveals that his left leg was amputated from the knee down. Again, without thinking I asked him if he was alright. He said he was, and while closing his door he mentioned that he needed to be careful when getting out because he has fallen on his face before."
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29points
#27
"At Starbucks, I had a woman order nothing, pull up to the window, pick up a stack of papers from her passenger seat, and in a pissed-off voice yell “THESE ARE WHAT YOU CALL BILLS!”. She then drove away without saying another word..."
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29points
#28
"No fu**ing joke, like 400 birds. Not in cages, but just sitting around. They were all flying around and s**t and he had this plastic thing that kept them inside. S**t was bonkers."
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29points
#29
"The couple pulled up to the in-n-out window and the only thing in the car aside from them were 5 or 6 bearded dragons ranging in size from fully grown to maybe 3 inches long."
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28points
#30
"My gym teacher, he was drunk. He started eating the tacos at the drive-through window. He was there for over 5 minutes, just eating. I saw him the next day in school, and we both acted as if nothing happened."
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27points
#31
"I have a monkey lizard from Starwars, wearing a fedora and tinted glasses, sitting on top of my passenger seat. Definitely got a lot of funny looks at the drive-through."
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27points
#32
"Technically in the car, but I had someone come through covered in blood."
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27points
#33
hondac55 said:
"This girl used to come through with like 3 dogs. I finally asked her, "do you have to feed these beasts?" And she explained that she just walks and grooms them. Well, one day she came through the drive-through with like 15 dogs and she screams through the intercom "MY BUSINESS FINALLY TOOK OFF" and got a bunch of chicken tacos for them. Come to think of it... I think she may have been trying to flirt with me. Damn."
"This girl used to come through with like 3 dogs. I finally asked her, "do you have to feed these beasts?" And she explained that she just walks and grooms them. Well, one day she came through the drive-through with like 15 dogs and she screams through the intercom "MY BUSINESS FINALLY TOOK OFF" and got a bunch of chicken tacos for them. Come to think of it... I think she may have been trying to flirt with me. Damn."
RyeFluff replied:
"I'm just laughing thinking about how happy she must have sounded through the chaos of a car full of that many dogs screaming "MY BUSINESS FINALLY TOOK OFF"."
"I'm just laughing thinking about how happy she must have sounded through the chaos of a car full of that many dogs screaming "MY BUSINESS FINALLY TOOK OFF"."
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26points
#34
"Used to work at McDonald’s back in the day. I was training a new girl and told her to hand the man at the window his drink. The window opens, and I notice the adult man driving is wearing a bib... Weird, but to each their own. As the new girl reaches out her hand to pass the man his drink, he just starts vomiting on himself, violently so... There was splatter. The new girl stood there in shock, so I grabbed her and pulled her back. The window automatically closed and the man eventually drove away."
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26points
#35
"Not a worker but as a customer. One time I had to transport this huge replica military bomb last minute for a work thing and my car was full of decorations and sound equipment so I strapped it in the passenger seat. The boss called and asked for coffee too so I stopped through a Starbucks forgetting I had this bomb in the front seat lol."
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26points
#36
"A raw chicken in the passenger seat. no tray or anything wrapping it. just a baked chicken ready to be cooked."
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26points
#37
"A snake. Just chilling with the passenger. Nice little ball python. They got their food and I wasn't the person at the window but no one mentioned the snake and they just drove off. We all laughed about it after they left though."
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26points
#38
"I used to see someone come through with a lifelike mannequin in their passenger seat. I asked about it and turns out they did it to use the commuter lanes on the highway (you must have more than 1 person in the car or cop a fine)."
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25points
#39
"Semi-regulars at my branch before I started working from home who had a car filled with baby dolls, their car plastered with home-printed anti-abortion slogans and packing tape, who always wore the same ratty a** baseball caps and fishing vests with paper bible verses and mini baby heads safety-pinned to them.
Unsurprisingly, they were both complete a**holes to all the tellers.
I hated them. A lot."
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25points
#40
"While working at taco bell I had some guy who came through with a dead deer in the passenger seat just looking out the window."
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25points
