Order Up, It’s a Game

Inspired by the news1Donald Trump works at McDonald’s in Feasterville, Bucks County

I know it’s a game, because I bought it.
I got it for my grandkids when they were young.
They loved it. We played it a lot. A review of the game
says it all: “Order Up puts the ‘short’ back in ‘short-order cook,’
but virtual cooking has never been more engaging”—think about it;
it’s a Monday, a work day, customers are pouring in
placing orders with little time to wait around,
maybe they’ve got a half-hour or so for lunch, it’s called
“fast food” for a reason. I once knew a social media
content creator who got fired because she took too
long a lunch break, she was “stealing” time on company time
they said so this is serious business, wolfing down a Big Mac
and fries is an eating skill essential for the average Jane or Joe.
In other words, this is nothing to play around with, except
in your spare time, on PlayStation. If you’ve ever been to
a Waffle House or other diner worth its name pay attention to
the cook who’s manning the grill, it’s a culinary operatic ballet:
Adam and Eve on a raft, 86 the Axle grease, BLT hold
the mayo, Blue plate special, Bowl of red, Tube steak deluxe,
synchrony in motion. There’s close to one million short order cooks
employed in the United States according to one recent estimate.
Most don’t have time to play games.

Howard Richard Debs is a recipient of the 2015 Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards. His essays, fiction, and poetry appear internationally; his art and photography will be found in select publications, including Rattle online as “Ekphrastic Challenge” artist and guest editor. His book Gallery: A Collection of Pictures and Words is a 2017 Best Book Awards and 2018 Book Excellence Awards recipient. His chapbook Political is the 2021 American Writing Awards winner in poetry. He is co-editor of New Voices: Contemporary Writers Confronting the Holocaust a winner of the 2023 International Book Awards. He is listed in the Poets & Writers Directory: https://www.pw.org/content/howard_debs Read other articles by Howard Richard, or visit Howard Richard's website.