A Well-Oiled Machine

On Sunday night I had In-N-Out for dinner. I went to the one on Harvey Drive over by Glendale Adventist Hospital. I originally was going to drive over but I quickly nixed that idea when I saw the line of drivers coming up Harvey Drive. There was no way that I was going to be “allowed” to drive into the restaurant’s parking lot. So I parked my car on Wilson Terrace and walked over.

What I first thought was a pain in the rear turned out to be a real eye-opener.

I entered the restaurant, which wasn’t overly busy though there wasn’t a dining table open. I somewhat quickly ordered my food then sat down to wait on an adjacent bench. Then I watched.

I watched the folks going in and out and how the workers kept their focus on the job at hand. One guy was in charge of slicing potatoes for fries – that was it. Not cooking the potatoes or serving the potatoes … just slicing them. And he was fantastic.

The guy who cooked the fries expertly took them out of the oil and shook salt on them.

The cooks had patties on the grill, flipping at regular intervals and laying on cheese where needed. Another couple of people were in charge of assembling the burgers and, knowing what I do now about the “secret menu,” I was astounded how adept these people were in getting the orders right.

Every person working wore the same uniform, down to the oversized safety pin that kept on their apron. (Of course that made me wonder who pinned on their apron – was it someone at home or did they wait until they got to work and asked a co-worker to pin them up?)

Once assembled, the meals were placed on a counter and the girl in charge of calling out the numbers of the completed orders would grab the microphone (hoping it worked) and called out the order numbers. Promptly (probably because they were hungry) diners would come up, show their receipt and pick up their meal. There was no danger of completed meals being left too long on the counter; folks (like me) were eager to grab their dinner and enjoy what “a hamburger is all about.”

Soon enough it was time for me to answer the call of my number and I made my way to my car. As I did, I couldn’t help but note how many people were making their way into the In-N-Out parking lot; there were a lot. 

But once I bit into my perfect cheeseburger I didn’t think about them anymore and only thought about my delicious meal … and how the company really does operate like a well-oiled machine.