When an In-N-Out customer assured a worker he didn't have to repeat her order back to her, he accidentally made his true feelings about the practice known.
While working in fast food, many employees are required to portray an "enthusiastic, positive attitude."
In a video with 4.1 million views, TikToker Sofia (@sofiazianii) films her friend in the In-N-Out drive-thru. Her friend, she notes via text overlay, used to work at the chain.
“Can we do that in separate boxes if it’s possible?” her friend asks the In-N-Out employee in the drive-thru. After the employee says, “Of course,” he starts to repeat the order. Then, the customer abruptly cuts him off.
“You do not have to repeat it. I understand it,” she says.
Immediately, the worker's cheerful facade fades. “Thank you, God,” he says, relieved.
“$17.35 at that first window,” he continues, pointing straight ahead.
The Daily Dot reached out to Sofia via Instagram comment and direct message as well as to In-N-Out via media contact form.
In-N-Out workers have mixed opinions about repeating orders
For some In-N-Out workers, repeating orders was their least favorite part of the job.
“I hateee repeating orders,” one viewer wrote.
“I’ve never felt more seen before that was so real,” another agreed.
But others said they actually enjoyed this part of the gig.
“I low key liked repeating the orders out loud, felt like an auctioneer,” another said.
And others pointed to the "relief" in the worker's voice when he realized he didn't have to repeat back orders.
“The relief in his voice!” one user noted.
“‘Thank you god’ was so felt!!” another said.
Why do the workers repeat orders?
In an In-N-Out subreddit, one user asked, “Why does In-N-Out always get orders right where every other fast food place struggles?” Some workers credit the order-taking system that the chain has in place.
“The types of clarifying questions we ask the customer to find out exactly what you want, and repeating the orders back the same way a customer says them to us greatly increases our order accuracy,” one Redditor answered. “Additionally the way our paper tags list the items and the condition you want it is: double double with onion, etc. is really simple to understand. It’s not common an associate makes a mistake while making a part of the order.”
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