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00:00:01
FF 009 - The Restaurant is Named!
20 Plays27 days ago
In this episode of Fatherhood Friday the guys discuss how they came to know one another, and the "mysterious" restaurant is finally named! They discuss some of the funny stories, off-menu food items they liked, and some of the things they learned from working there. We hope this laughter will lift your spirits during these trying and serious times.
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Email: Dads@PreacherDad.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Balancing Content
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello everybody, welcome to the Preacher Dad podcast. My name is Jared and I am the Preacher Dad. And this is Fatherhood Friday. in light of recent events in our nation, it might seem a little odd to you to have such a lighthearted episode as what we're about to hear.
00:00:20
Speaker
But we feel like we need to be able to laugh together and that's part of the healing process.
Chick-fil-A - The Bonding Factor
00:00:27
Speaker
And so we have decided to share this episode with you in which the restaurant is named. That's right, folks. We're going to talk about the restaurant that brought us all together and how we started working together and the things that God has taught us through it all.
00:00:43
Speaker
And I hope that you'll stick around to listen. We will be addressing Charlie Kirk's assassination as dads in a coming episode and some of the things that we are thinking about surrounding that.
Community Connections and Sponsorship
00:00:55
Speaker
But for now, we hope that you'll be encouraged and blessed by some of our conversations surrounding the restaurant, which I shall not name yet. But I hope that you'll stick around for this, and we hope that you'll be encouraged.
00:01:08
Speaker
Please remember that this podcast is brought to you by Cornerstone Fellowship, which is a small country church just north of Tombsboro, Georgia. We're the little church with a big heart, and we would love for you to come and experience the love of Christ with us. We are growing in the Lord.
00:01:25
Speaker
And we are excited about the things that God is doing in our community. So please come and check us out. If you can't come and visit in person, then you can find us online. You can go to Cornerstone Fellowship on Facebook.
00:01:37
Speaker
You can also find our website, which is cornerstonefellowship.com. dash ga.org that's cornerstonefellowship dash ga.org and we would love for you to come and visit us and be blessed by the lord so without any further ado here is fatherhood friday god bless you
00:02:09
Speaker
Well, hello everybody.
Chick-fil-A Origins and Humorous Tales
00:02:10
Speaker
Welcome to Fatherhood Friday. I am Jared and I am the Preacher Dad, the host of the Preacher Dad podcast. I guess that's why all 10 or 11 of you have found us here on Friday. I hope that we found you doing well.
00:02:24
Speaker
I'm here with my fatherhood panel tonight, Mr. Matt Stewart and Mr. Mark Blowers and Mr. Nate Eisner. These dads are here to help us reveal the restaurant that shall not be named.
00:02:38
Speaker
The business that shall not be named is finally named tonight. And i know that many of you out there probably have been just breathlessly wondering what it is. going to give you a chance right now to ah to guess what you think it is. Go ahead.
00:03:01
Speaker
Wrong. We actually, we all met each other because we worked at Chip and Dale's together. um ah No, no, no, no, we didn't, folks. Of course not. It was Taco Bell. No, no, it wasn't a Taco Bell. Oh, ah no, folks. We all managed to intersect together at a restaurant called Chick-fil-A.
00:03:24
Speaker
Believe it or not. Ta-da. It was our pleasure to serve you all at Chick-fil-A when we were there. And a little bit of the history here is that, well, started working at Chick-fil-A here in Georgia, and then we moved to Richmond to pastor a church up there.
00:03:43
Speaker
And there in the Richmond, Virginia area, I came to work. It was kind of a miraculous, sort of really providential, the way the Lord brought us to that particular Chick-fil-A. And Matt Stewart was working there at the time as, I think you were the drive-through director, Matt, or no glo kitchen, something like that. is it was It was early on. He was director there. And then um we worked together for just a little bit. And then we decided to hire this young 16-year-old kid, you know, homeschooler, could manage to work daytime hours.
00:04:15
Speaker
And he actually got in trouble with his mom because he was working too many hours. and forgot about that. She was like, he needs to actually get school done, guys. He can't work here all the time.
00:04:29
Speaker
But that was
Creative Culinary Adventures
00:04:30
Speaker
the way we met Mr. Nate. And then ah and of course, Tony Russell, he can't be here tonight. He's a little under the weather. But Tony came along looking for a job. And I actually trained him to do his job. And he eventually became my boss. He joined the joined the director crew and was in charge of me.
00:04:51
Speaker
And and then we Mark actually worked at a ah sister restaurant. um And he was eventually one of the main directors there at that restaurant.
00:05:03
Speaker
And so we had an opportunity often to work with Mark. And actually, Mark, you came and worked with us for a time. I don't remember if your location was being remodeled or exactly what was happening.
00:05:16
Speaker
Yeah. But ah you did ki you came and worked with us for two or three, four weeks, something like that. Yeah, it was there was some overlap there. I can't remember. exactly the details, but, um but yeah, I was, I probably had the shortest tenure, I guess, of all of y'all.
00:05:34
Speaker
I would assume, I'm not sure about you, Nate, but, um little about yeah, probably, okay, yeah, just about the same. Well, um I think I have the longest record of any of you at Chick-fil-A. I'm currently working on my 17th year working for Chick-fil-A, so that's quite that's your hard
00:05:57
Speaker
and i've I've got some stories to tell, but we just wanted to get on here and talk a little bit about our shared experiences ah in the restaurant business in general and also at Chick-fil-A in particular.
00:06:10
Speaker
um It's a really excellent business. I'm still proud to work for them. And I'm really grateful for all the things that I've learned. But one thing that I did learn is all the different things that you can do that are not on the menu.
00:06:26
Speaker
And people talk to me often enough about the secret Chick-fil-A menus and they do TikTok trends about if you can do this and this and this. and and i And I just end up getting a little bit annoyed with all those TikTok trends because how many times can you possibly put grilled nuggets and mac and cheese with hot sauce in a bowl? Come on just just give it a rest, please.
00:06:49
Speaker
can't be that good. But I remember mixing sauces. My favorite thing to do is mix Chick-fil-A and Buffalo. That's a really good combination. And I mixed Chick-fil-A and barbecue sauce once and woo, it was sweet, but like, like very sugary, but it wasn't bad. It was pretty, pretty good flavor.
00:07:10
Speaker
What do you, what do you guys like to do? What did you like to do for like your break food and stuff? Well, what are the three sauces that you can mix together to kind of get close to Chick-fil-A sauce? Is it, honey mustard barbecue and something else. Do y'all know?
00:07:23
Speaker
It was honey mustard barbecue and and I think it was the ran coleslaw dressing. Or it's one of the, one of the sauces. Well, honey roasted barbecue iss real close. I don't know.
00:07:35
Speaker
Maybe it was ranch I tried. Anyway, I mixed, mixed a couple of sauces one day and it came out pretty close to Chick-fil-A sauce. Yeah. But, um, did you ask us what foods have we tried here? Would we like to eat? What what do you like to eat?
00:07:47
Speaker
So, I spent, seven or eight years at Chick-fil-A. And so, you know, we eat a lot of food there, especially at ours. We were able to, he let us eat about as much as we wanted to as managers. So that was nice.
00:08:00
Speaker
And I never got tired of the food. still, I still, I miss it. Oh, awesome I miss that morning thing. Oh, the friendships, obviously. oh Well, thank you for that, Matt. That's good to know.
00:08:11
Speaker
Yeah. You know, that's funny because they told me when I first started working at Chick-fil-A, they said, man, you'll be tired of the food in about three months. Well, and I'm still not tired of the food. Yeah. Well, for one thing, too, with us, we could eat working during the day. We could eat breakfast food. we could eat lunch, whatever. We could eat different things. but and we've had the And we could change things up a little bit, too.
00:08:32
Speaker
But no, like I got a few things I wanted to mention. So for breakfast, I ate more breakfast food than anything else. Back when we had the sausage gravy, I would get a chicken biscuit, chop it up.
00:08:49
Speaker
with hash browns on top and then pour that gravy all on top of that. And that was delicious. Um, I think I was the only person that ate the gravy, but, um, I ate the gravy. It was good.
00:09:02
Speaker
Yeah. But that was a while ago. They probably got rid of that wasn't like, i don't know, 16, 17, something like that. But, um, a couple of other things that was really neat. Um, one of our other directors who was very creative in the kitchen, Brian, um,
00:09:19
Speaker
He got a ah chocolate chip cookie frozen and then wrapped the leftover biscuit dough around the cookie and then deep fried it.
00:09:33
Speaker
That was good. It's a deep fried chocolate chip cookie. Man, I remember Brian. One thing I remember that he did. some stuff yeah did One thing I remember he did is he took He took grilled nuggets and he marinated them in different salad dressings. um He would marinate them in either balsamic vinaigrette, salsa, light Italian. I think maybe the Italian was one of my favorites.
00:10:02
Speaker
But he would just let them soak in it like all day. And at the end of the shift, he'd go and he'd grill it on our grill. And man, one of the – I can't remember which one he did, but one of them tasted like steak.
00:10:14
Speaker
It was like eating a steak. And I
Corporate Constraints and Culinary Freedom
00:10:17
Speaker
just thought, this is amazing. yeah he did He did a lot of quesadillas. I was going to say, he made the quesadillas a lot.
00:10:25
Speaker
And it was better when when they had the peppers. Oh, yeah. Before they got all the peppers. But, yeah, the quesadillas, that was a solid one. And there was actually people that ordered it.
00:10:36
Speaker
Guests would come and order the quesadilla because they knew we we made them. And that was before Chick-fil-A said you can't – you have to stick to the menu. You can't do that anymore. Oh, man. That was before that.
00:10:48
Speaker
We got so many crazy requests before Chick-fil-A started saying, hey, listen, you got to stick to the menu. We got all kinds of you know asks. We want to grill the strips, and we want to – all kind of various – I want you to – one of the things that people used to say, they they want it double-breaded and double-fried.
00:11:07
Speaker
back on That's good. Did you guys ever get that one? I never got that, no. I never tasted it, but people say, man, you read it twice.
00:11:18
Speaker
They loved it. we had to We had one gentleman who would get the ah the Asian salad. What was it called? is that Was that what it called? Yeah, it was one of them. It was Asian salad.
00:11:29
Speaker
And he would, you know, subtract whatever else and then add like seven times oranges. Oh, yeah, remember that. in orange I remember that. I don't remember that one. Yeah. But one one other thing I wanted to mention though that so our marketing director, of course, we all loved him and and he had some crazy ideas, but one that was fantastic. We did it for our.
00:11:53
Speaker
VIP crew, a list that were, yeah, they listeners, they came in one night and we we would soon as the waffle fries would come up out of the fryer, we put cheese on top and he bought he brought a blowtorch in.
00:12:07
Speaker
And we would melt the cheese all on top of the waffle fries and then put but bacon bits on it and then ranch dipping sauce. So good. I remember that. It was delicious.
00:12:19
Speaker
Yeah. but But the blowtorch. Yeah, i probably shouldn't have said that. you know, you got special. When Chick-fil-A corporate listens to this, well, um they might have something. They might say something about that. But yeah, right.
00:12:36
Speaker
Oh. go ahead. That's, that's, those are my main menu items that I wanted to talk about. Some good stuff though. I'm surprised. I'm surprised I never got tired of the food.
00:12:48
Speaker
Nate, did you do anything of the ordinary or special? fact, that's actually when I reminisce about Chick-fil-A with people, you know, that I'm just telling out in the general public, I pretty much almost exclusively talk about the food that we made, you know, more than anything else.
00:13:02
Speaker
Um, but yeah, one of my eat so Matt started breakfast. I'll start with breakfast. Um, nothing too crazy, but you know, i guess now they've got the scramble bowls, which is i was making those before that was ever on the menu. It's just, it's just a no brainer, but I used to consistently, would get five eggs or five scoops of eggs on the kiosk, whatever, um, two grilled chicken breasts and Colby Jack cheese and hash browns and mix it all up. And it was so good. Um, so that was like, that was a typical breakfast for me.
00:13:35
Speaker
Um, cause i wouldn't come but I guess y'all mainly work the opening shift, so I get there at 5 in the morning and unload the truck, order the truck, that kind of stuff. so Take a break. but um That was breakfast. and then Sometimes I would time it you know because you could ah you have to throw away the food after 30 minutes. Is that right?
00:13:53
Speaker
Can't be in the warmer for more than 30? It's Whatever it was, i would schedule my break, specifically minutes after breakfast was over so that whatever they threw away i would just you know that was i was strategic about that one so um yeah that was my little trick but um as far as off menu stuff man yeah you mentioned a lot of what brian made the quesadillas the deep fried cookies he made pulled chicken one time and that was another all-day thing because he put that in the oven and it was just low and slow and yeah he put the barbecue sauce man it was good it was really good um
00:14:34
Speaker
no Yeah, that was good. He would made hot wings a couple times or boneless hot wings, whatever. So he would, he basically mix the the ranch and the buffalo sauce and put it in a metal pan, throw the nuggets in the oven, let those bake. And those are pretty good.
00:14:49
Speaker
um But one of my favorite items that I remember to this day, y'all haven't had the smokehouse barbecue sandwich in a while, have you? Or is that kind of a... About in a while.
00:15:00
Speaker
yeah I mean, I had it when we had, you know, we were, yeah we were selling it recently last year. Okay. Okay. So it was like, so whenever they had it, when I was there, um, actually this was another Brian creation. He made the best food, be but I started making that after he showed me he, uh, cause it had that special yeast roll, um, different, different than the potato roll that you normally have.
00:15:22
Speaker
and And this was breakfast because that was a lunch item, but he would, we would take the yeast roll, And then the sausage, she basically made a sausage, egg and cheese um on the yeast roll with the special bacon with the special barbecue sauce. and Oh, man.
00:15:37
Speaker
oh Oh, and after he assembled it, he after he assembled it, he threw the whole sandwich on the grill. So, yeah, it was a grill sausage, egg and cheese, bacon for the record. Against the rules.
00:15:51
Speaker
and None of us, but me and Brian don't work there anymore. It was against rules because that's putting gluten on a gluten-free area. So just saying it. Uh-oh. We got, we they got a certain, certain manager got on us about that. But um yeah. Well, good. You should have gotten, yeah you should have gotten in trouble for that. That's right. That's right. So I think that's probably similar with the, say what? but By the way, just tell everybody, we did work.
00:16:15
Speaker
we We didn't just in the kitchen to make food the whole time. We were just making food the whole day. Yeah. yeah um I'm trying to think if there was any other crazy stuff, though. that Those are the main ones that I really remember ah lot.
00:16:27
Speaker
Oh, um the fries you know typically get thrown away. you can't or You have to throw those away. The bacon gets thrown away. And so we used to make bacon sandwiches out of the French fries after closing. And that that was really good.
00:16:40
Speaker
So you that in Chick-fil-A sauce. It's pretty
Playful Pranks and Ice Machine Tales
00:16:43
Speaker
good. Listen, after the doors close at night, There's all kinds of shenanigans that go on. I remember when I first started at Chick-fil-A, this was not up there in Richmond, but they used to do something called bunning.
00:16:56
Speaker
You guys ever been bunned? Nope. and So they they take um they take ah a bun, just a half of a bun, like the crown, and they put ketchup and mayonnaise and hot sauce and any other kinds of crazy things they could get on it.
00:17:11
Speaker
and they sneak up behind you, and then they smear it all over your face like likeness and that. goodness. That was your ah your initiation. and And I didn't get bunned with anything on the bun, but they did sneak up behind me and just smash my face with a bun. my initiation, again, throwing Brian back in the mix, ah me ah so for the right me and Brian were pretty close in my time there because we we hung a lot.
00:17:37
Speaker
But my initiation, and I was 15 when I started. i had I don't know if I had a work permit or something, but I was 15 when I started. And it was during my training, Brian, you know, said he introduced himself. Hey, man, you want to help us out real quick? We need you to rotate the ice.
00:17:54
Speaker
Because the ice machine, you know, it collects up top and it falls down as it gets heavy. And so he said, yeah, if it starts to melt. So you got to take it from the bottom and put it back in the top. And so I'm standing there for a while.
00:18:08
Speaker
that was That was my initiation. and oh you know what? I remember that. Go ahead, Mark. You're going to use that one? is that Well, no. As so as a manager, like and and my team called me like the grumpy old man. I was 25, and I was the oldest one there.
00:18:23
Speaker
But I would always just walk around. And I went back one time. I opened up the door to go to the back of the kitchen. And this one poor 15-year-old is down there, scooping ice out of the bottom, putting it up.
00:18:38
Speaker
and back up in the top. I was like, what are you doing? And he was like, I'm rotating the ice. And I was like, and I look, ah and I'm looking around for who it was.
00:18:48
Speaker
told him, you know, there's someone just giggling. I was like, get back up there. That was probably me.
00:18:59
Speaker
No, it was not you. it was not me. Okay. Okay. So there is in my mind so that was that that hat to that happened more than once. all right Oh, yeah. Hey, listen, I did it to Tony. Did he fall for it?
00:19:11
Speaker
Yes, he did. i said, hey, we need to get the ice from the bottom, put it up here in the top. He's like, okay. And then he's just going in there and he's just working away, working really hard. for hundred mills an hour and And he told me later, because I finally said, hey, I'm just kidding. You don't have to do that. I was just picking on you. And he said, I was kind of wondering, this ain't really stupid, but man, I wasn't going to question. I was just going to get it done, you know?
00:19:33
Speaker
And I'm sorry that he's not here to razz on it. But yeah, I did that to him. They did that. I don't, One of you guys did this to one of our our co-workers and you told them to go in to the freezer and get the ah the air out of the freezer and let it out into the outside the door.
00:19:53
Speaker
So they would one of me. I'm pretty sure somebody there went and gave gave this new guy a bag. a trash bag, and so we need you to scoop up some of the air out of the freezer, tie it off, and then take it outside the building and let it out, get it all out of there, and then go get another bag of air.
00:20:11
Speaker
We've got to get the air – the air gets stale in there if we let it sit too long. i I will say my favorite prank that I pulled – y'all remember the – y'all still do – does Chick-fil-A still do the calendars?
00:20:25
Speaker
No. Oh, okay. Well, back when it was physical calendars that we would sell, you know, they'd come in hundreds of them. They were big. um i That was a big deal trying to sell those. And it was everybody got in their teams and you try to sell them.
00:20:42
Speaker
And, and I remember one day, know, we were, it was in the, the height of the competitiveness of upselling those. So, you know, I was morning crew, so I get off and,
00:20:55
Speaker
um This one girl who was on headset, you always – you were envious of the people who were on the headset because they would always get – you wanted them on your team because they would upsell it. So I get off my shift, and I get in my car, and I go in the drive-through, I go, hey, y'all selling those calendars?
00:21:11
Speaker
She's like, oh, yeah. I said, I'll take 20 of them. Give me 20 of them, and I'll – and it was some big prize that the group would get at the end that I could hear her like you know covering up her microphone and being like, we got 20 calendars.
00:21:23
Speaker
She's like okay, is that all for you? I was like, ah, I'll ah pull up to and pull up to the window and I just said, just kidding. She still works for Chick-fil-A. She's she's up somewhere, but I just remember she was just a look of devastation. but mean what What food did you like, Mark?
00:21:48
Speaker
I was i was like In my four years there, I was like, or three and a half years, i was like exclusively front of house. So I was never in the kitchen, you know, concocting.
00:22:00
Speaker
But I do remember, you know, chicken tenders with you dip first in the Chick-fil-A, then in the Buffalo. you do it the other way, you don't get any eat Chick-fil-A sauce on it.
00:22:12
Speaker
But you got it. That was ah the best combination. i I would go like months getting the same thing. just every morning just eating the same thing and then you know after two months of eating that every day getting you know two spicy biscuits or something. But I'd eat the Cobb salad and then add extra corn and extra, you know I didn't do very many very many unique things. But I do remember when I would get the breakfast burrito, um there was one particular worker in the back who hated seeing me ordering in the morning because I would add sausage, bacon,
00:22:50
Speaker
You know, everything just in the burrito was just massive. It was like a Chipotle burrito by the end of it. And but yeah, I was i don't have too many crazy stories. I did quesadillas and that kind of thing, but no real no real experimentation.
00:23:11
Speaker
Cool. I remember trying to go through the drive through and fool my coworkers into believing that I was somebody else. ah because I always enjoyed doing various types of voices.
00:23:24
Speaker
And, you know, I don't know how you guys felt about this, but, you know, when I was on the headset, I would get sometimes bored. And so to to stave off that boredom, I would i would try to take orders in a different way.
00:23:44
Speaker
And so i would I would take orders with various characters. I'd be, you know, the southern fella from way out west I sometimes would pretend to be from Ireland or Scotland. And I was particularly fond of St. Patrick's Day every year.
00:24:02
Speaker
ah tried to to so speak like an Irishman all day long and that was not easy, but I did give it to Tre. And then my friend who was actually an Irish preacher and actually from Ireland,
00:24:18
Speaker
I'd try my Irish accent with him and he'd say, yeah need a little work. I need a little work. It's not there. ah But his accent was not even that thick. His was very slight because he wasn't from Southern Ireland, which apparently in Southern Ireland, their accents are deeper.
00:24:36
Speaker
But anyway, i yeah. And i would I would use these accents and and more than one time, guests would say, man, I love your accent. or somebody said hey man i'm from new york too what part of new york you're from i said um i'm not from new york i'm just playing with accents today well you're good at it it was it was it was a very fun fun thing to do you also kind of had a um kind of of a feminine voice do you want to you want to do that for us or not it was not a feminine voice it was chris chrisley or chris what's his name
00:25:13
Speaker
I can't even remember that guy's name, but he had all kinds of attitude, and he just oversaid his S's and stuff.
Drive-thru Shenanigans
00:25:18
Speaker
And that was always a lot of fun because I just kind of got the attitude going. I said, I don't care what you say. Go go get to work.
00:25:26
Speaker
and And everybody would laugh. and Rachel thought that was hilarious. Yeah. when you're When you're having a really busy lunch rush, which was pretty much every day of the week, it's nice to have a little bit of laughter.
00:25:40
Speaker
oh yeah. And you brought a lot of that, Jared. Yeah. but most ah oh well thank you yeah that was good I wasn't always intentional sometimes I just things just popped out that were funny i don't know at one time one time I was on the headset and I didn't realize that the person could hear what I was saying and I was singing to myself but I was singing over the box and so the person gets around to the window and they said yeah we we heard you're singing it was nice I said oh no no but
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah. Like I was singing along and then somebody said, hello. and I said, Oh, I'm sorry. Are you ready to order? They said, that was nice song. You can keep singing. And I was like, Oh, I was pretty embarrassed by that one. I didn't, didn't know anybody was listening.
00:26:28
Speaker
so Yeah. They're like, i bet Chick-fil-A is now training their employees to do that. They're just, um, Hey Jerry, I was gonna say one other the thing too, that I, when I think about you and the drive through, um you probably remember it at one point you were, uh, this lady pulled up and she's driving a Kia soul car.
00:26:46
Speaker
And you're like, ma'am, you said something like ma'am, just want you to know that. Uh, I like looking into your soul or something. She looked at you like, she's like, what are you talking about? And she never got it.
00:27:01
Speaker
I don't think she ever got it. Did she? I think I said, think I said, ma'am, I just want you to I can see into your soul. Yeah. Yeah. And she was like, but awesome I think she drove away going, man, that was a weird restaurant. going back there Oh man.
00:27:23
Speaker
That was a good one. and And anytime a Kia soul pull pulls up, I just, I think of that. yeah think I try to work it in every time. When sometimes, you know, somebody will pull up, somebody pulls up and, uh,
00:27:37
Speaker
you know I'm taking orders outside, and it's a man and a woman in the car. And I'll say, hey, what's the name on your order today? And the man says, like, Tiffany.
00:27:48
Speaker
you know Or something. It's very clearly his wife's name that he's just giving her name. Or it's a mobile it's a mobile order, and he's giving the name that's on the order. And I like to say something like, you know, you're not the most attractive Tiffany I've ever met, sir.
00:28:03
Speaker
He usually just asks. ah gotta to be make I got to be real careful and make sure it's not like yeah and Tracy. and I knew a guy named Tracy or Jesse or stuff like that, but those gender neutral ones. But yeah, it usually makes them laugh. and Anyway. Yeah, we had because we had a guy that would come through semi-regularly.
00:28:26
Speaker
musta lived you know He lived in the area, but every time we got it wrong. and the drive-thru, and we said, you know, thank you, ma'am, and he said, I'm sir.
00:28:38
Speaker
but And I knew, can still picture him in my in my mind, and I was just, we never knew his car, we never, like, he it wasn't regular enough to where it's like, okay, you know, it's just, all right, well, you know thank you, ma'am, I'm a sir, and he'd come up, and it's like, sorry,
00:28:56
Speaker
without fail. Yeah. Yeah, we had so we had the the same thing, but remember Kenan, He could be on headset. You remember him, right, Jared? Yeah. And he was not, I mean, he's a masculine dude. I don't know, but guess when he was on the headset, that I guess he was talking fast or I don't know, but they would always say ma'am to him.
00:29:16
Speaker
He just got used to it. He's like, michael well, sometimes at first he was, he would be like, they got me again. They called me ma'am again. got on his nerves, but then eventually he just kind of just sort of gave his, oh, well. Yeah.
00:29:31
Speaker
It's just, it is what it is.
00:29:35
Speaker
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Speaker
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Promotional Segment: Supporting Pro-life Initiatives
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Speaker
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00:31:02
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00:31:15
Speaker
Yeah, those was good times. That's when you start your ah your your feminine voice. Yeah.
00:31:23
Speaker
I am a sir. Excuse me.
00:31:28
Speaker
Oh, man. You know what? I think some of my favorite things at Chick-fil-A are the the people that would come in and out. All the different types of guests and the the things that they would say.
00:31:40
Speaker
Some of them were funny. Some of them were incredibly rude. i remember one time a guy made Leah Landrum cry. He was ah about as rude as I could imagine. It was everything I could do to not, um not chew him out really for making her cry.
00:31:56
Speaker
And I mean, you know, 99% of all the guests that we ever served were just incredible, wonderful people. But, you know, I, I, I really learned have learned so much from interacting with them. And, you know, there's one, one guy in particular, and he wasn't,
00:32:17
Speaker
ah It was a – not the Chick-fil-A you you guys worked with me at, but um he would come in and he had – he would come in every day and he would have the sort of a an unusual gait to his walk. Like he would kind of walk almost bow-legged like you'd imagine a cowboy from the old movies would walk. And you know he'd kind of blink his eyes like this a lot and and you know he ordered the same thing every time.
00:32:44
Speaker
And I started kind of thinking that maybe he was just kind of, you know, high functioning autistic or that he was um ah maybe even worse than that, maybe mentally handicapped and just, you know, was able to walk over here from the mental hospital that he was actually living at or something.
00:33:00
Speaker
And I started to kind of wonder that seriously. And then one day i saw him walking in with an incredibly beautiful woman and like And she was an older woman. She wasn't like a college student or anything, but ah he said, yeah, that's my wife.
00:33:21
Speaker
And I said, oh, nice to meet you. um And I was stunned, number one, that he was married at all. Number two, that she was a complete knockout. And then I found out that he actually is a professor of law at a local college and teaches law at at the university level.
00:33:41
Speaker
And I have never forgotten that lesson because i I think I was a lot more likely to judge people from their outward appearance at that time.
00:33:51
Speaker
And that really taught me a lesson that you cannot tell.
Judgment and Customer Insights
00:33:55
Speaker
I was pretty confident this guy, you know, was a couple of cards short of a full deck and come to find out he's actually brilliant. He's very successful. He's happily married.
00:34:05
Speaker
um It just really taught me a ah really good lesson. That's why I say your camera cut out. You said full deck deck, like a deck of cards. Yes.
00:34:16
Speaker
A deck. Let's move on. shit I've got a, um, a sort of of a similar story about you it's not who you expect. So it's my first, um, first day or two on the job.
00:34:31
Speaker
And of course they put you on a register, right? And it takes you for, you know, forever to type in an order. And so you're like number one and, You know, it takes you like 30 seconds to do one little simple order.
00:34:43
Speaker
So I'm finishing up this one and kind of nervous and the lines forming out there. And as I'm looking down at the register, I see this guy coming up and I say, one second, sir.
00:34:57
Speaker
I'm like, all right, how may I serve you, ma'am? ah your Oh, it was, I mean, it's it was It was sort of embarrassing, but I'm like, well, i mean, they're asking for it by dressing like that. you know i mean it's But um I don't even remember if it was a man or a woman, but I know I said both in the same conversation.
00:35:18
Speaker
but anyway I remember just this one. It was early on when I started, so I'm just on the register, and it's 10 o'clock in the morning. No one is there. It's just a dead empty in the restaurant, and this huge...
00:35:36
Speaker
black, totally tinted, i think it was, it might've been two of them, um ah SUVs drive up and just, you know, look, look very, very unique looking SUVs and outcome like seven of the most jacked and built and just put together guys in all black, like cargo looking,
00:36:06
Speaker
outfits you know it's just they they are very obviously some kind of like military crew that come into this empty restaurant and they all order and I'm you know everybody's just standing there quiet and just go so what are y'all ak more and they and then they all start laughing and i was like okay we yeah no idea what you guys are doing but it's Not painful.
00:36:38
Speaker
And, uh, yeah. And that was it. That was just, it was just one those things where it's like, what on earth are you guys doing? Um, but yeah, there's one of my favorite, probably my favorite memory there of like, of dealing with a difficult person was I was, I was talking to this one guy who was in the drive-through. i was having to deal with, you know, why we couldn't take his coupon or something. don't know. He was really upset.
00:37:05
Speaker
And then, He drove off and he called and I was the manager on duty. So I go and I answer the phone and he says, and he starts just chewing me out about how rude I was to him.
00:37:16
Speaker
But he has no idea that it was me who was talking to him. And so I'm just talking to him and I'm trying to talk him down and just trying to be like, yes, sir. He said, that guy in your drive through is blah, blah, blah. And I was just, you know, he was just upset.
00:37:29
Speaker
And he said, you need to train him how to, you know, how to deal with customers like you do. Like you're treating me with respect and you're being very kind and very good. And I wanted to be like, it's the same guy, man.
00:37:42
Speaker
But he, but I think I just ended up being like, yes, sir. I'm going to take him to the back and I will talk to him. it will
00:37:51
Speaker
and I'm so glad you said that. Yeah, that's a perfect end of the story. You're right, sir. I'm going to take him to the back and I'm going to give him a stern talking to you can bet your bottom dollar. He's going to get a piece of never work again a day in his life with that. culture I assure you.
00:38:08
Speaker
So Chick-fil-A would be proud. You were following the, um, is it the last method yet? Jared is that y'all still use that? Listen, apologize, solve and think.
Customer Service Skills: The HERD Method
00:38:18
Speaker
Uh, no, we teach them to use the herd method.
00:38:22
Speaker
Here. here empathize, apologize, resolve, and delight. Oh, that's good. Yeah. We try to turn a bad situation and, and, uh, make it a good one.
00:38:35
Speaker
Kind of like Jesus does. He takes bad situations and makes them good. That's why, that's why we're Jesus's favorite restaurant.
00:38:44
Speaker
So I've got I've got a story, of a angry customer. Again, Jared, like you said, we serve what the 2000 in a day and you've got your couple that are, Just, you know, and and I think a lot of times do that. They just take it out on us.
00:38:59
Speaker
We really like a chicken biscuit, giving them a spice instead of a regular. Like, that's not why they're upset, you know? um So, but anyway, this one guy, and it was, it was a little bit of a bigger deal, but he came in.
00:39:14
Speaker
um We were busy. I forget what time of day it was, but he was, he said, I'm here to get my 25 chicken sandwiches. And um we said, you know, what's the name for the order? And he, whatever his name was.
00:39:25
Speaker
And we looked it up and it was no order in our system. We're like, well, how did you place that order? And he goes, well, through Yelp. And I'm like, wow. And I'm asking people like, yeah, do we do? We don't do any kind of mobile or whatever through Yelp. like no And I said, sir, I'm sorry, but we just do not have that. i have no idea how that even worked.
00:39:47
Speaker
And he started getting really angry. i'm like, well, look, look, let me just give us seven minutes and we'll have you 25 sandwiches. And, um, and so he's getting upset and sure enough, five, seven minutes later, we had it.
00:39:59
Speaker
I'm like, sir. All right. I'm so sorry, but we got your sandwiches right here and they're, they're for my son's baseball team and I'm late, blah, blah, blah, whatever. And he said, well, you know what? I don't even want them. I don't want any of your sandwiches.
00:40:12
Speaker
And then I got upset with him. And so he started walking out the door and I went out the door with him with his 25 chicken sandwiches. And I'm like, sir, we just made you 25 chicken sandwiches.
00:40:23
Speaker
He's like, I don't want them. And he got up in my face and started screaming at me. I think I remember this. i think Brian came outside um to kind of get my back, you know. But, yeah, this dude was so mad.
00:40:36
Speaker
And then he and then he ended up leaving, did not take his sandwiches. And the next day he came back and ordered 25 sandwiches the correct way he called it in. And he was very pleasant the second day. And but anyway, yeah, that was a that was a tough customer.
00:40:52
Speaker
Yeah. kind of shaking a little bit afterwards, you know, I'm like, he could have hurt me. Well, and know go ahead well I was just, I was just going to say, you know, I think you talk about this is fatherhood Fridays, right? And, and you're right that in Chick-fil-A, you, you know, in, in any business, most of the time you're dealing with just, you know, regular people, but in, in a restaurant business, you're dealing with people who are hungry, right? And you know that,
00:41:21
Speaker
you know, sin is crouching at your door when you're hungry. and and that's And that's just the way it is, you know, when you're tired, when you're hungry, when you don't, expectations haven't been met and all these things. And it's like, I know that I'm going to want my kids to work in the restaurant industry at some point for some season, just to be able to appreciate, just Just because you you learn so much in that culture, dealing with hungry people, dealing with that kind of thing.
00:41:54
Speaker
And it's you learn a lot about human nature, about yourself, about how you know the ability to be patient and to overcome you know different trials.
Lessons from the Restaurant Industry
00:42:05
Speaker
And it's just in that kind of industry, in the restaurant industry, you those kinds of situations can come up really quickly.
00:42:12
Speaker
and you have to deal with it really quickly, like what you had to do there. And just, um and it's a very good learning process. And, and a lot of people, know, just don't know how to deal with that.
00:42:28
Speaker
um it Especially like really young people, know, there were some young people where it's just like, yep, that person was super rude. And right, can go back and you can step behind the store and you can cry for two minutes and, you know, you'll be okay. um And that,
00:42:42
Speaker
that just happens because hungry people are, can be difficult. <unk> true And it's good. It's good for people to, to get in that because it gives you an appreciation for the industry, appreciation for what everybody else, for what goes on in those behind the, you know, in the kitchen and behind the, behind the doors.
00:43:05
Speaker
You know, I think that I learned so much. um I've, I've really learned a lot from Chick-fil-A, but, my experiences here, but one thing that i I can see different about myself today than when I started is that when someone gets angry about their chicken sandwich or their fries were cold, or they're, they're just like using expletives in my face or something like that. you what's ice in my drink Yeah, whatever.
00:43:32
Speaker
You know, I have, have a lot of compassion towards that person. And I, I have, what comes out of me is no longer usually anger or resentment or how dare you talk to me that way. It's just chicken.
00:43:49
Speaker
I'm usually like, man, you must have a lot going on in your life. That's going to make you so angry about this one little thing. You know, it's, it's, it's usually a whole bunch of other things going on in their lives that are making them finally snap over the ice in their drink. Or i ordered sweet tea and I wanted on sweet tea. You know, I got sweet and I wanted on sweet or whatever it was that made them angry.
00:44:10
Speaker
I find myself having compassion towards those people because I realized that they probably have a lot more going on in their life. That's very hard and they deserve my patience more than my reaction. So Nate, any final thoughts before we kind of close up part one here?
00:44:30
Speaker
I'll be honest. I don't, I've worked in the back for most of my tenure. So, I mean, I was on the front line some, so I was, I was at the restaurant twice. So when I was 15, 16, and I don't know if I got into 17 or not, but I left and did a couple other jobs throughout high school and then came back, uh, once I was 18 and that was the longer tenure the second time around.
00:44:56
Speaker
and that time was in the back in the kitchen. Um, but I really don't remember difficult customers. Um, And part of that, I think, is my personality. I really don't hold grudges generally. And so a lot of that kind of stuff rolls off my back.
00:45:15
Speaker
um But so that's probably why I kind of block some of those out. But I know that I learned valuable lessons, kind of like what Mark was saying. You know, I think back to so many things so often that I learned in that restaurant when it comes to leadership, um when it comes to work ethic and just even how I deal with manners in general, ah a lot of that I can attribute to Chick-fil-A.
00:45:42
Speaker
um Not to mention having that on your resume is pretty spectacular. ah But it's because they do such a good job of of setting a standard and holding people to that in a good way. you know not It's not know unpleasant to work there.
00:46:01
Speaker
um Otherwise people wouldn't. So, but yeah, um while I'm kind of blanking on specifics, and I'll be honest, I did not do a ton of prep work going into into tonight's episode. I kind of wanted to wing it just because that's when the best stories come out. but um But as far as you know valuable lessons learned, um man I could go on for probably an hour if we had the time. but yeah And if you were to start poking a product, and I'm sure we probably dig up some stuff. But oh I can absolutely say that it's true, Mark.
00:46:34
Speaker
You know, being someone that started there when I was 15, you know, so many lessons that I've carried into adulthood were, were learned at, at, at the restaurant. So. Amen.
00:46:46
Speaker
Well, guys, I think that's about all the time we have for tonight. Uh, any final thoughts before we, uh, uh, head out? Can I ask one, two questions real quick? it but they're They're not hard questions.
00:47:02
Speaker
Yeah. well Actually, maybe. So Mark mentioned, did you just say something about your kids working there one day so they can experience it all and working with customers and kind of stuff?
00:47:13
Speaker
So, yeah, yeah, yeah. Then it's a, it's just like, you have to do this. don't care if it's for three months or six months, you will live, you will work in the restaurant. So do you, you know, this is a fatherhood show, right?
00:47:27
Speaker
Do we let our 15 year old girls work at Chick-fil-A? and they would do And then do we let our 15, 16 year old boys work at Chick-fil-A? is it ah Is it a yes to both or yes to one, no to the other? Or what do you think?
00:47:41
Speaker
Well, can say. you know What are you asking me or all of us? they Everyone. OK. I can say yes to both.
00:47:54
Speaker
I have a 17 year old son and a 16 year old daughter, and we've discussed them both working at Chick-fil-A at some point or another. I'm not sure if that's necessarily in the cards. It's not like a requirement that I'm going to make sure you have to but I would be comfortable allowing them to, at least at the Chick-fil-A where work.
00:48:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I would, I would, I would let them work at the one that we worked at together as well. Yeah. I think that's circumstantial oh for me.
00:48:26
Speaker
You know, ah probably wouldn't, no, I don't have boys. i only have daughters, but, knowing so far, so far, uh, being that I was 15 and don't how I want say this.
00:48:42
Speaker
It's not that the people there were necessarily bad or raunchy. I think there's just an element of real life that you experience when you go into a workforce where adults work as a 15 year old.
00:48:56
Speaker
And so that was a culture shock. And so this kind of goes back into the sheltering episode we just did. Um, But, you know, i think I would probably be more comfortable letting my 15 year old daughter work there if she had a sibling or somebody that I knew very well that I knew for one that she would hang around because there is downtime and there's people that you tend to click with and talk to. So I think I would feel more comfortable. I knew some other people that work there um for one.
00:49:24
Speaker
And I think I would probably be probably be more comfortable with a boy working there. Um, But at the same time, I would just want to have a lot of debrief, you know, every day.
00:49:36
Speaker
Because I know there were some conversations that I had that, and not to reflect, it doesn't reflect poorly on Chick-fil-A. It's just the matter of, you know, we are sinful, broken humans who don't always talk about the nicest things in the world.
00:49:49
Speaker
And that's it's going to be no matter where you go. It doesn't matter what company you are. You know, people from all walks of life are going to be there. And that's just the reality. um So, yeah.
Reflections on Role Models and Teen Employment
00:50:00
Speaker
that's ah you're going to get you're going to have your teenagers have a job someplace that is true and that is true that it seems like you wouldn't be able to find a rest a restaurant or missing and that's a good point and you know i will say working with people like you and matt and tony and i'm sure it would have been great mark if i worked with you but you know y'all y'all were fantastic influences in my life specifically um
00:50:28
Speaker
especially you and Matt, I knew y'all the best. I mean, i I knew Tony, but I've actually gotten to know Tony more since leaving Chick-fil-A than when I actually worked there. um But you and Matt specifically were phenomenal role models and really father figures. Not that I have a great dad, but- Jared's a figure father, but not me. but But no, great influence. So to your point, Jared, that is true.
00:50:52
Speaker
there There are not whole lot of places, if any, that you would probably find that. outside of a place like Chick-fil-A. Um, so that is, that is a good point, but then that comes down to the question that comes down to the question is, do we send our daughters off to the workforce?
00:51:09
Speaker
That's a whole other episode. Oh, that's, that's another episode. Not far today. Mark, how what do you think? What do you think, Mark? Well, I agree when Nate says, you know, it would be more comfortable sending your boys out than your daughters. I think that's just true.
00:51:25
Speaker
know, definitely true. Um, And I think it it really would be circumstantial. and And a big part of that circumstance would be the shift.
00:51:36
Speaker
no That is true. That's a good point. You know, um because, yeah, that that but certainly would be a ah big part of it. um And, yeah, beyond that, that's the other element that – elements that would that would call it into question, but it is hard. I mean, and what Jared says is right. like, I can't imagine them if, goodness, I wanted to work in a restaurant, like I, Chick-fil-A would certainly be the best. You know, and yeah, I would be, you know, more comfortable
00:52:20
Speaker
my son's going through and learning those kinds of character traits in that in in that kind of environment and that kind of pressure. um but But yeah, that's... that's a
00:52:35
Speaker
My daughters would be, I'd hold them a little closer and wanna be a lot more involved on that. ah ah my My final thought, Jared, and I agree with all of you.
00:52:46
Speaker
I'm thinking like for for five, if there is a father that is trying to figure out a ah job for their, for their kid. And, you know, if you, if you happen to know some of the managers there, you go to church with them or whatever, then, then I would feel completely fine with letting my, my kid work for them.
00:53:06
Speaker
But even if not, think if you could just go there, sit there for a few, order some food for a few shifts, just watch the, the team work, Just talk with them a little bit. And I think you can probably get a pretty good feel for how they how they are.
00:53:20
Speaker
And like you said, Mark, 11 to 2 shift for a homeschooled 16-year-old, that's fine. A 7P to 11P shift for your 16-year-old is probably not a good idea.
00:53:32
Speaker
yeah So butma that's my thought. Good advice. All right, guys. Well, this episode was definitely a pleasure. And I know that if Tony were here, he would say strength and honor.
00:53:46
Speaker
He always was fond of saying that ah throughout our shift every day. And so i give you the same charge, gentlemen, and I appreciate your thoughts. And I hope that all of you out there that are listening have found something funny or encouraging ah to just liven up your Friday a little bit tonight.
00:54:05
Speaker
If you'd like to send us a question or a comment, you can do so to the email address, jared at preacher dad dot com. Jared at preacherdad.com. We would love to hear from you.
00:54:18
Speaker
And we would love for you to subscribe and to comment, follow, whatever it is that you do on this particular platform where you're hearing this podcast or watching it.
00:54:29
Speaker
We would appreciate your support. It's just a little click and it would be great. So we encourage you to do that. And we encourage you to listen next time when we may touch on a few more of our Chick-fil-A stories. All right. God bless you.
00:54:41
Speaker
We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.