I mean, really, how difficult can it be?

How difficult can it possibly be to get a fast food order correct? (Read that sentence as if I'm saying it in the late, great Andy Rooney's high-pitched voice.)

I mean, really, how difficult can it be?

Here's what happened to me today. I pulled up to the drive-thru at a local fast food restaurant in Halls. I ordered what I thought was a simple selection: a hamburger with mustard only.

"Do you want a combo or just the sandwich?" the attendant asked.

"No, just the sandwich."

"Would you like cheese on that?"

Thinking to myself that "mustard only" should be self-explanatory, I cheerily replied, "No, thank you, just mustard."

I pull up to the window and am handed my order while the attendant rings up my card. I glance at the sandwich -- and see lettuce, tomato and a bunch of other stuff I didn't order.

"Uh, ma'am?" I said. "I hate to complain, but I ordered this with mustard only."

She takes it back and corrects my order. In the back, I hear another woman say, "That's the way I ordered it."

"No," another voice answered, "you just said no cheese."

The attendant at the window was apologetic. "Sorry about that. I'm normally working sandwiches."

I didn't get mad. I know these folks work an at times frantic job for a less than glamorous salary. But, I just marveled. Especially after repeating the order.

Here's a story that sounds like a joke, but it actually happened.

A woman pulled up recently to a drive-thru here in Knoxville. The exchange went like this:

"May I take your order?"

"Yes," the woman said. "Just give me about five dollars of whatever you think I should have."

"Excuse me?"

"Just give me about five dollars of whatever you think I should have."

"Uh, ma'am," came the reply, "we can't do that."

"I don't know why not," the woman answered. "You do it every damn time I come through here."

Point taken, on a day in which I can relate.