Drive-Thru Customers Need To Be Aware Of This Important Rainy-Day Etiquette

You may think you're a courteous drive-thru customer. You turn off your music and get off the phone. You know your order before you get to the speaker to avoid making people mad at the drive-thru. You speak clearly. You'd never dream of changing your order at the last minute, and you always say please and thank you. But you're probably still committing one of the most grievous drive-thru offenses — at least, if you've never worked the thankless job yourself. 

According to fast food employees on Reddit, you should always turn your windshield wipers off before pulling up to the window. "Rain and snow are thrown from the windshield of your car into the store and onto the store employees," wrote one Redditor. Often, the user explained, employees have to work hours-long shifts in soaking wet clothes. Active wipers even create a safety hazard: "It can also make the floors of the store wet, creating unsafe working conditions for the employees," added the Redditor. 

More and more companies may be updating the look of their drive-thrus, but working at a drive-thru window is still grueling. Even if the window has an awning that covers your car, you could still end up flicking residual rain or snow onto a hapless employee. "I used to have to wear a trash bag poncho to keep the rain off of me, and I'd be so cold and miserable," one former drive-thru worker wrote on Reddit, adding, "If you turn off your wipers, you're getting extra sauce."

Contrary to old wives' tales, rain isn't responsible for coughs and colds, but a study published in the "Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology" stated that staying cold and wet for a long time messes with the immune system. And, the water your wipers are splashing onto the employee might not be the cleanest, either, if you've been slacking on your trips to the car wash. They're handing you a burger and fries; you're serving up a faceful of water with a side of residual bird poop.

The etiquette doesn't just apply to drive-thru employees. Redditors noted that toll booth operators and gatekeepers are frequent rainy-day victims, too. Some users asked customers to switch off their headlights to avoid blinding workers and asked diesel truck drivers turn off their engines so employees wouldn't have to inhale fumes. Just remember to turn your lights and wipers back on before you get on the road — nothing cancels out your act of goodwill like crashing into someone else's car.