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Odd trend in the service industry: "Can I help the next?"

yllus

yllus

Elite Member & Lifer
This isn't as much a rant as a genuine question about phenomena that I've only recently picked up on.

Lately because of the long hours I've been pulling at work, I've been neglecting doing any cooking at home and just grabbing something on the way home from work. At a McDonald's, a Hero Burger and a couple of other fast food joints I've noticed that the person taking your order often gets the next customer to approach him/her by saying, "Can I help the next?"

😕

What a weird place to end the sentence. Is this ambiguity purposeful? Are service personnel now being instructed not to offend anyone by calling them a customer? Or is it just bad English? I have noticed that it's always been an Asian with at least an accent of medium thickness who utters this badly formed phrase.

Mostly I'm wondering if this is happening anywhere else than in Toronto, Canada. Or maybe it's just me, a victim of some city-wide prank to make me doubt my own veracity as a consumer on this planet.

Edit: Despite me "ranting" about grammar, this post of mine (and others) is probably riddled with grammar mistakes. I am slightly affected by dyslexia.
 
Originally posted by: yllus
This isn't as much a rant as a genuine question about phenomena that I've only recently picked up on.

Lately because of the long hours I've been pulling at work, I've been neglecting doing any cooking at home and just grabbing something on the way home from work. At a McDonald's, a Hero Burger and a couple of other fast food joints I've noticed that the person taking your order often gets the next customer to approach him/her by saying, "Can I help the next?"

😕

What a weird place to end the sentence. Is this ambiguity purposeful? Are service personnel now being instructed not to offend anyone by calling them a customer? Or is it just bad English? I have noticed that it's always been an Asian with at least an accent of medium thickness who utters this badly formed phrase.

Mostly I'm wondering if this is happening anywhere else than in Toronto, Canada. Or maybe it's just me, a victim of some city-wide prank to make me doubt my own veracity as a consumer on this planet.

Edit: Despite me "ranting" about grammar, this post of mine (and others) is probably riddled with grammar mistakes. I am slightly affected by dyslexia.
Click to expand...


Are you kidding? Its just a shorter way of saying it. Its kind of obvious what the person means..
 
Originally posted by: tenshodo13
Are you kidding? Its just a shorter way of saying it. Its kind of obvious what the person means..
Click to expand...

So is, "You. What?" And how much time does that save anyways?

I'm not confused by the question they're asking, I'm just wondering why a word is being lopped off all of a sudden.
 
I've never heard anyone utter the phrase "can I help the next" aloud. I've heard "can I help the next customer" or "can I help the next person in line" but never just "next."
 
This is almost as stupid as when people say "Are you coming with?". I've heard that tons of times from people all over the place, so I know it isn't a regional thing. It is profoundly stupid.
 
Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
I've never heard anyone utter the phrase "can I help the next" aloud. I've heard "can I help the next customer" or "can I help the next person in line" but never just "next."
Click to expand...

If the cashier doesn't like you order, can they say "Next!" and send you back to the bus?
 
your phenomena is obscure and unimportant, you have too much time on your hands

/resumes life of playing on the internet and messing with Blackberry
 
ORDER NAO OR GTFO!!!

Would that be preferable?


English has the "understood you" noun, so why not other understood nouns?

 
Originally posted by: meltdown75
your phenomena is obscure and unimportant, you have too much time on your hands

/resumes life of playing on the internet and messing with Blackberry
Click to expand...

Spoken like a true towel.
 
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