You can accomplish a lot in 25 minutes.
In 25 minutes you can watch an episode of Seinfeld, or read a chapter in your favorite book, or stalk your "friends" on Facebook, or make waffles, or read 5 blog posts on Green Eggs. 
Our time is precious. We protect time more than anything else. It is our most valuable asset. We can't get time back. There is no exchange for time. It's likely you have a calendar and a cell phone/watch. You have these two things for a couple of reasons:
1. To manage your time.
2. To keep track of time.
Time rules over everything else, yet precious moments of our life our continually wasted...............................................................waiting. We wait at restaurants for a seat, we wait for our food, we wait for the check, we wait for the to go box, and we wait to get out of the parking lot.
We wait in the drive thru. Even though it's "fast food." However, the definition of "fast" is in the eye of the beholder.
I got in the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts at 10:46 am.
It was a busy Saturday morning, but not unusually busy. I was about 6 cars deep in the drive thru lane. I already know what you're thinking. "Why didn't you just get out of your car and go inside!?!?" Don't worry I had already planned for this and a short analysis of the line in Dunkin as I drove by didn't seem to be moving any faster. So - I went with the drive thru.
I have been in this line before. I have fought this long drive thru battle. For the most part, I typically get through in a solid 5-10 minutes from beginning to end.
At 11:00 am (16 minutes later) I still had not placed my order. I was beginning to get annoyed and in a fit of rage starting thinking about what I would say in my post.
At 11:05 am (21 minutes later) I finally reached the talking speaker to place my order.
11:09 am I arrive to the window and get my order. I asked the employee what took so long and without an apology simply stated, "I know, we're really backed up right now." I respond, "This is not a ride at Disney. It shouldn't take me 25 minutes to get through." Still no apology, she hands me my food and I get on my way. The worst part? There were 4 Dunkin employees just standing around leaning up against the counters.
Let's look a little more closely at the opportunity that Dunkin missed out on.
1. Dunkin was extremely busy. Why weren't they giving extra amazing service instead of slacking off because "they were already packed"?
2. Dunkin employees could have been out in the line taking people's orders and delivering it to their cars - or have it ready the second we pull up.
3. Dunkin could have apologized for the wait at the window and given an offer to come back again.
4. Saying Thank You is powerful. Wouldn't it have been nice if they simply thanked the people in line for visiting them on a busy Saturday morning?
Dunkin has a great product. Their coffee is outstanding, their bagels are simply the best. However their service is lacking. When the economy turns around and people stop caring about "price" and "value" as much as they do now, will Dunkin still be as popular? Or will we start taking our time and money back to Starbucks down the street?
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