By Benjamin Nguyen
Chicken sandwiches, creamy milkshakes, red-shirted employees welcoming guests in with a smile and a kind greeting. This is Chick-Fil-A at its core (even though its fries are really good too)! Initially a mall outlet in Georgia and now a country-wide franchise, Chick-Fil-A is an enduring bastion of Southern hospitality in fast food among other greats like Popeyes and Zaxby’s.
Chick-Fil-A has always been one of my favorite fast-food restaurants of all time, whether as a guest or as a team member. I haven’t been able to work at my former restaurant since last March (and likely won’t be able to for the foreseeable future because of coronavirus), so I decided to write this article as a little memoir about my short 10 months working there.
I believe that a strong reason why Chick-Fil-A is so successful is because of the strong relationship it fosters between its employees. Through treating its employees like family – and serving food almost as good as home – workers like me are naturally obliged to work as hard as we can. To put it simply, I think that a good relationship between boss and employee is the foundation of a good customer experience.
So I clock in, talk to a manager about my duties, and get straight to work helping my store succeed. Most of my time was spent in the dining room, where I wiped down tables and swept the floors while taking care of dine-in customer needs. The work was tiring and busy (since Chick-Fil-A felt like it was perpetually full), but I did my duties with my full effort in order to meet the expectations my managers had set on me. My favorite part of the job was definitely the conversations I had with customers, starting with how their day went and blossoming into any of their passions. I’m not that good of a speaker, but I am a great listener. From Christian country singers to veterans to widows, I got to meet people of all ages, backgrounds, and occupations.
Unfortunately, I had to leave my position at Chick-Fil-A in late March amid personal concerns about coronavirus (have a grandma at home). The managers and owners are still on amicable terms with me though, saying I can come back anytime I want to resume my job. I think I’ll come back in January, depending on how effective the coronavirus vaccine is in its initial distribution. It was my pleasure to get to know everybody I worked with at Chick-Fil-A, and I hope to say it to customers again sometime in the future.
P.S. My favorite custom order at Chick-Fil-A: “Hot Honey Boneless Wings”
- 8 or 12-pack of chicken nuggets
- Honey BBQ sauce (used for grilled sandwiches usually, ask the cashier)!
- 2 packs of Texas Pete hot sauce
- Fork
- Napkin
Put in the nugget carton the Honey BBQ sauce and hot sauce packets (changing amount depending on taste/preference). Cover the bottom of the carton with a napkin, and hold the top closed with your thumbs. Shake until evenly coated and serve right away.