Drive-Thru Employees Can Hear Everything In Your Car Whether You Like It Or Not

When you roll up to your favorite fast food restaurant's drive-thru, you might completely go on autopilot. You may briefly check out the menu, decide what you want (if you haven't already), speak clearly into the drive-thru speaker, then drive up to the payment and pickup windows before you're happily on your way with your burger and fries. But maybe you should think a bit more about what's going on around you when you're sitting in the drive-thru, if for nothing else than the sake of self-preservation.

Unless you've worked at a drive-thru yourself, you might not know what goes on behind that speaker. The thing is, though, that when you use the drive-thru, the employees inside the restaurant can likely hear everything that's going on inside your car, so it's best to be as careful as possible from the second you enter the drive-thru to the time you finish your order (per lifehacker).

While you're rushing to get your lunch order, and perhaps those of your colleagues, you might not be considering the workings of the drive-thru speaker. How do the busy employees even know your car is coming if they're bustling between speaking to customers and potentially tending to other obligations?

Now that you are curious, the drive-thru speaker is actually activated by the metal in your car, so the drive-thru employee's speaker will turn on in their headset as soon as you pull up (per Mental Floss). This means that from that point forward, the employee taking your order can likely hear everything that's happening in your vehicle. That's right. If you're "shushing" your excited kids, they'll hear it. If you're blaring explicit music, they'll hear that too. 

And if you're arguing with your partner, yup, you bet the employee taking your order will hear all about that pile of dirty socks on the floor. Speaker quality does vary — some speakers are older or "grainier" than others — but at the very least, the person taking your order will hear some noise coming from your car (via lifehacker). And as you might guess, they may not be too pleased to hear you yelling in the middle of their busy drive-thru shift.

If you want your time at the drive-thru to go smoothly, simply pay attention to what's happening in your car. Shut down any loud noises before you reach the speaker. You don't have to switch on smooth jazz to relax the drive-thru workers, but it does help to eliminate background noise before you enter the drive-thru.

Knowing what you want to order ahead of time is half the battle. Make sure that you — and if possible, your kids — have decided on your order before you even pull up to the speaker. Also, have your payment method ready before you reach the speaker, as this can prevent rustling noises. Of course, speak wisely too — remind all of your passengers not to talk in the speaker section of the drive-thru well ahead of time, and refrain from saying anything about the employees or service at your local fast food chain until after you've left the parking lot. The employees don't need to hear unnecessary comments about their appearance or demeanor, and any qualms you have about the restaurant are better left for a customer service survey. When you know how drive-thru speakers work and act accordingly, you'll be far less likely to have a drive-thru faux pas.