AmericanTable Manners
Duringa meal, Americans show their hospitalitydifferently from Chinese. An American host orhostesswill usually offer food or drink only once. If you want something to eat ordrink, accept it thefirsttime it is offered. Do not refuse it,expecting that the host or hostess will make a second offer orinsiston serving the food or drink. If the food served is something you areunfamiliar with, ask for just alittle.If you do not like it, you should be honest and polite. Frequently guests are expectedto help themselves to food and it is polite to finish all the food on yourplate. In a restaurant, you must tip the waitress or waiter. It is customary totip 15% of the bill, and to tip more if the service is good. It is notnecessary to tip people in cafeterias or fast food restaurants. In European andsome Asian restaurants, service is often included in the bill. In suchsituations, it is not necessary to leave a tip.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s is the world’s best-known fast food chain. With its familiar logo of goldenarches, McDonald’s serves its world-famous French Fries, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, ChickenMcNuggets and Egg McMuffin. It is the leading global foodservice retailer, withmore than 30,000 restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119countries each day. The first McDonald’s restaurant was opened in SanBernardino, CA, America in 1954 and operated by two brothers, Dick and MacMcDonald.
My First Day at McDonald’s
1 I arrived early on my first day. My uniform hat and apron were handed to me and a helpful McDonald’s assistant explained out the operation of the cash register.
2 To those unused to all the different colors and names, the cash register looked a little bit like the control panel of an aircraft. Each button was for a different type of food — Big Mac, fruit pie, Filet-O-Fish, and so on. Then there were the “combo” (combination) meals and other specials. Then, if someone asked for the combo but wanted a special, you pressed this other button …
3 The confusion never went away for a newcomer. You were told to ask whether someone who had ordered a meal would like some dessert or something else to drink. You were not to be a pushy salesman, but you suggested the idea. It was forbidden to push a sale to children and old ladies.
4 I was told it was very important to place the carton of fries with the McDonald’s name facing the customer so that they could receive the advertising message loud and clear. And it was important to put the drinks on the right hand side of the tray for the customer. Most people are right-handed and so are stronger with their right hand when it comes to lifting heavierweights.
5 The first customer stood in front of me. “I would like a cheeseburger, fries and a thick shake,” she said. “Would you like any dessert with that?" I said in my best McDonald’s selling manner.
6 “No, thank you,” was the reply and I missed my first McDonald’s sale.
7 If I couldn’t find the correct button on the register, a McDonald’s staff member, who was always kind to “temporary employees”, would come and help me out.
8 This was most important, especially when the combo buttons seemed to disappear, or when you pushed the button for the money total and found the sale and the change had disappeared completely from the small computer screen on the cash register.
9 Then I had to get used to feeding the fries into the cartons and to pushing the right button for the drinks. I had to call out when I picked up a Big Mac or any other burger so the kitchen staff would know they would need to cook more; I had to check the times on the cartons so I would know if I had to throw away the food because it was past its time …
10 Such was my first day at McDonald’s, the most unforgettable day in my working experience.
在麦当劳的第一天
第一天，我早早地便来上班了。有人给我拿来了工作帽和围裙，接着一位热心的麦当劳员工向我解释了如何操作收银机。
收银机上有各种颜色和名称的按钮，对于不熟悉它的人来说有点像是飞机的控制面板。每个按钮都代表了一种食物，如巨无霸、水果派、麦香鱼，等等。除了这些，还有各式套餐和其他特价品种。如果有人点了一份套餐但同时还需要一份特价食品，那么你就需要按另一个按钮。
对于新手，总有一些事搞不清楚。按要求，你需在顾客点餐之后询问对方是否需要甜点或饮料。当然，你不能做一个过于主动的推销员，而是要间接地表达你的意思。向孩子和上了年纪的女士强行推销食品是不允许的。
我了解到，将带有“麦当劳”字样的薯条盒正对顾客摆放很重要，因为那样顾客能很容易准确无误地接收到广告信息。将饮料放在顾客托盘的右方位置也很重要，原因是绝大多数顾客惯于使用右手，因此托重物时右手更有力。
第一位顾客站在了我的面前。“我想要一个吉士汉堡、一包薯条、一杯浓奶昔。”她说。“需要再来点甜品吗？”我尽可能地按麦当劳的方式来促销。
“不用了，谢谢。”就这样，我的第一次推销以失败告终。
如果我在收银机上找不到正确的按钮，一位总是对“临时工”特别关照的麦当劳工作人员会前来帮我。
这样的帮助非常重要，特别是在你找不到套餐按钮的时候，或是当你按下了计算需付总金额的按钮却发觉总额与找零显示已经从收音机的小屏幕上彻底消失了的时候。
接着，我得适应如何将薯条倒进包装盒、如何按对标明不同饮料的按钮。每当顾客点了巨无霸或其他汉堡之后，我得大声提醒生产间员工多做些这类食品。我还得检查包装盒上的日期，看看是否过了保质期，如果过期了就得扔掉……
这就是我在麦当劳工作的第一天，也是我工作经历中最为难忘的一天。
