Burger King Social Norm Essay
For my social norm violation I decided to order Burger King’s and Wendy’s food at McDonald’s. I chose to break this social norm because, here in America, the majority of people know what type of food each fast food chain offers. For example, everyone knows that a Big Mac is from McDonald’s and a Whopper is from Burger King. I wanted to see the reaction I would get from the McDonald’s employees if I tried to order a Whopper and a baconator. So, I went to the McDonald’s on Weber at a time when it wasn’t busy (so I wouldn’t hold up the line if I took a long time). I pulled up to the McDonald’s drive-thru menu and the man asked me what I wanted. I told him that I would take 2 Whoppers with no cheese and a small fry. At first, he said ok but then realized what I had just said. He
…show more content…
replied, “Did you say 2 Whoppers?” to which I replied, “Yes, 2 Whoppers with no cheese.” He then told me that Whoppers are only sold at Burger King and that McDonald’s sells Big Macs. But I didn’t want a Big Mac, so I ordered 2 baconators (food from Wendy’s). At this point, the man knew that either this was a joke or I was just really illiterate in fast food. But just to make sure that he hadn’t forgotten something that was on the menu, he asked me to wait and asked another employee if they offered baconators or something that was similar. When he returned, he apologized and told me that McDonald’s only offers what was on the menu in front of me- baconators were not on the menu.
I didn’t want to annoy the employee so I just ordered a Big Mac. When I pulled up to the window, I was nervous; I didn’t want the employee to see me because I had just made a fool of myself. But, the employee did see me and noticed that I was a teenager. He immediately assumed that I was part of a prank and asked me, “So where’s the camera?” to which I replied “What camera?” He chuckled, handed me the Big Mac, and I drove off. On the drive home, I laughed the whole time. I kept picturing the man’s face when he asked me where the camera was. But, along with the fun, this experiment was also a great learning experience. I learned that violating a social norm isn’t such a big deal after all. Before, I thought that doing something like this would be embarrassing and that people, like the McDonald’s employees, would make fun of me. But the only response I got from the McDonald’s employees was a little chuckle and life continued. Perhaps I shouldn’t worry about my social mistakes too much because the people around me don’t really care as much as I think they
do.
replied, “Did you say 2 Whoppers?” to which I replied, “Yes, 2 Whoppers with no cheese.” He then told me that Whoppers are only sold at Burger King and that McDonald’s sells Big Macs. But I didn’t want a Big Mac, so I ordered 2 baconators (food from Wendy’s). At this point, the man knew that either this was a joke or I was just really illiterate in fast food. But just to make sure that he hadn’t forgotten something that was on the menu, he asked me to wait and asked another employee if they offered baconators or something that was similar. When he returned, he apologized and told me that McDonald’s only offers what was on the menu in front of me- baconators were not on the menu.
I didn’t want to annoy the employee so I just ordered a Big Mac. When I pulled up to the window, I was nervous; I didn’t want the employee to see me because I had just made a fool of myself. But, the employee did see me and noticed that I was a teenager. He immediately assumed that I was part of a prank and asked me, “So where’s the camera?” to which I replied “What camera?” He chuckled, handed me the Big Mac, and I drove off. On the drive home, I laughed the whole time. I kept picturing the man’s face when he asked me where the camera was. But, along with the fun, this experiment was also a great learning experience. I learned that violating a social norm isn’t such a big deal after all. Before, I thought that doing something like this would be embarrassing and that people, like the McDonald’s employees, would make fun of me. But the only response I got from the McDonald’s employees was a little chuckle and life continued. Perhaps I shouldn’t worry about my social mistakes too much because the people around me don’t really care as much as I think they
do.