This morning, I took my stepdaughter to Dunkin’ Donuts before volleyball practice. It has become a ritual for us. Anyway, I drove behind the building to find a ton of cars lined up for the drive-thru window and decided to go inside, where we found almost no one.
One of our neighbors was drinking coffee, and a lady was waiting to take orders. Only, there were no orders to be taken. They were all being handled by the people rushing around the drive-thru window.
We ordered our food and got in the car while the same cars waited around the building. As I drove down the road, a question entered my mind. In truth, I have asked the question before.
Why do people sit in a long drive-thru line when it would be quicker to park the car and go inside?
It could be laziness. It could be that we have been brainwashed to think that the drive-thru is always going to be faster. It could be that they do not know how to park their cars.
There may need tons of reasons, but I cannot figure it out. I may not be smart enough to tell time, or I may not be able to figure out the fancy math that will tell me sitting in the car is always best. Of course, it could be my disdain for drive-thru windows.
In the early days of this blog, I wrote about the stupidity of having drive-thru windows at Sonic. However, the invention also has problems at other places.
Often, the person who is wearing the drive-thru headset cannot hear the order. That leads to the order coming out wrong. A wrong order means you have to get out of your car and go inside. Guess what. Going inside in the first place would have solved the problem.
People have made fun of my drive-thru aversion. They do not understand my desire to walk in a building a do business. For example, I like walking into the bank. The transaction goes smoother, and I can actually talk to the people handling my money. Guess what. They get to know me, too. If I have some future issue, then they might be more willing to help me out.
I know a lot of people feel the same way. A bunch of my Twitter folks, including Zach, provided great examples of how walking in is a lot better than driving through.
I wish drive-thru windows did not exist. Wait, I did not mean that. I am glad they exist so people will sit in them while I walk in and get my stuff done faster.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
I think it’s all of the above. We have a MacDonald’s nearby and there’s ALWAYS line of at least four or five cars at the window while the restaurant itself is empty. This is Uxbridge where four or five cars is a major traffic event. People are so lazy and programmed.
All they have to do is break out of the herd.
We haven’t been there in quite a while, but when we did go, we went inside. It’s always faster. And you get the food, such as it is, hotter. People have a lot in common with sheep.
Laziness pure and simple.
It’s only a few steps.
The last drive-through window I used was a Starbux a couple weeks ago b/c there were no parking spaces.
The last time I used a Dunkin Donuts drive-through was probably in Obama’s first term. It was a very warm day.
The only other reason I can think of for picking a multi-car-queued drive-through over parking and going inside a food establishment is that the driver doesn’t feel like wrangling the passengers (small humans or other animals), the driver is so close to home he doesn’t feel like turning the engine off and turning it on a few minutes later, or they want to listen to the rest of a song/podcast/whatever else playing on their stereo.
I can understand the need to keep everyone in the car. I can also understand wanting to listen to something through the sound system.
Given the numerous news reports this summer of parents and other caretakers leaving their pets and animals in cars on hot days, I started wondering why more non-food places didn’t have some kind of drive-through or curbside pick-up.
If you must bring the little ones with you as you run errands, it would be nice if Target or Petsmart or CVS offered such a service. Call ahead or fill up a shopping cart on an app and make sure you choose the “curbside pick-up” option upon transaction completion.
That’s true. The line I saw yesterday had bunch of people sitting in cars by themselves.
I think it’s largely conditioned behaviour.
That could be the case. We automatically think that the drive-thru has to be faster.
Interesting. I rarely use Drive-Through myself. Prefer going in. I do notice that Drive Through gets preferred service though. Not sure why? Like they are in First Class seats or something. And you’re right, it’s often slower – big line ups. ???
Another puzzle I’ll file under ‘Human Nature’.
Instead of following the herd, I would rather be the bull on the hill.
If it is in the morning on my way to work (2 large diet cokes from Hardee’s please; my day’s worth of soda) I am usually still putting on makeup and such while I wait. So, that’s my multi-task time 🙂
That’s a good reason to stay in the car. No biscuits?