Do you want curry to go with that shake?

I do love the news; it gives a whole new meaning to "truth is stranger than fiction."

Apparently, outsourcing is not just for IT anymore. Jack-in-the-Box, a popular fast food chain based in San Diego, CA, is doing a test run to outsource its drive-through orders.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Basically, if you happen to be in Charlotte, NC and have a hankering for a Big Jack hamburger, you can pull up to the drive-thru window and give your order. However, there is no guarantee that there will be some bored-looking person waiting on the other end of the oversized headset, barking your order to the person manning the grill and fries. Nope, your order will probably be bounced via satellite to India, where someone with a fake American name (like "Biff") will take your order instead, then bounce it back to the restaurant.

Let me know when this starts making sense, 'cause I haven't figured it out yet.

The Jack-in-the-Box folks state that "The technology is intended to improve speed, accuracy and service, freeing up restaurant employees to process orders, accept payment and address other needs."

I had to reread that a couple of times, because I still don't get it.

Let me get this straight: paying millions of dollars to implement a system that sends my humble order for a value meal across an ocean, processed by someone for whom English is not their primary language, only to have that same order bounced back across that same ocean to be prepared and bagged by people who are actually physically in the restaurant, and who could (and usually would) take the order in the first place.

(and before you even go there: yes, there are quite a few people working in the fast food industry for whom English is not their primary language, but at least they are HERE. And don't sleep: they understand plenty of English; they just choose not to speak it.).

Yeah. That really speeds things up, and makes it accurate too.

Come on, y'all. The registers at McDonald's now have pictures on them, in an effort to reduce the language barrier. And it's not like restaurant workers seem to be all that busy outside of the breakfast and lunch rushes during the week; why do you think that some restaurants have implemented the "no cell phones at the registers" rule? Or maybe that was just in Brooklyn, NY. As for accuracy, isn't that what those Matrix-looking LCD monitors are for? And why there are managers on duty, to help clean up the errors?

This call-center technology has not been proven to save time and/or money (according to Mickey D's and Wendy's), which is why Burger King and Taco Bell have opted to leave it alone (Let's hear it for common sense!). However, Jack-in-the-Box will continue to test this system once they finish their Charlotte run.

Long live the King, and the Chalupa, too.

Thanks for stopping by.