9:26pm.

I am in the middle of a FIFA match with my roommate. Things are getting intense. Controllers about to break. But then something happens.

The alarm goes off on my phone. ‘‘Not Now! Damn it’’, I think to myself. As I glance at my phone I realize it’s time. It’s time to start my day. Yes, I start my day at night, because as my alarm goes off I transform from a 2nd-year university kid to a dedicated McDonald’s employee.

I leave in the middle of the game, something that hurt the FIFA Gods. But I had to do it. I was no longer the kid playing FIFA. I had transformed into a McDonald’s employee.

I take my battle armor and I move to my vehicle. My vehicle of choice today, my trusted bicycle. Normally it’s my very own two feet but today I have to rush. The war zone is calling me and I have less than 25 minutes to get there. Although I live 10 minutes away from my destination, I head out 25 minutes before my shift. Why? There’s no why. That’s what you do when duty calls at a McDonald’s in Japan.

I rush on my bicycle. Trying to get there as fast I can. Slowly I get closer and I can see the big yellow thing in the sky. The sun at 9.40 pm? No definitely not. It’s something much more valuable. It’s the M from McDonald’s shining in all its yellow glory.

I park my vehicle in my designated zone. I look around to take in the fresh air. Why? Because it’s time to go in. And once you are in there’s going out until the sun rises.

I rush through the front door. I give my greetings to the head of the battalion. She is happy to see me as always. I am her trusted night soldier never letting her down. I take the keys to the locker and climb up to the second floor.

Now, this is the moment where my transformation is complete. The battle armor I talked about earlier, its time is now. I change from the ordinary university boy clothes to the McDonald’s battle armor. I have my shirt, the jeans and the shield of an apron. But the cherry on top is the cap that saves your head. I have a look in the mirror, I look straight into my eyes and then I glance at the clock. "It’s time", I say to myself.

I run down into the battle zone. I am ready to tackle whatever the head orders me to do. She knows my strengths and I trust her judgments. As soon as I go in I greet everyone. That’s something you have to do. You have to make your presence felt otherwise the teamwork doesn’t make the dream work.

I ask the head about my position. Although I knew what was coming I still had to confirm. It was the drive-thru once again.

Let me first tell you about the drive-thru. The drive-thru is one of the most important places for any McDonald’s to function. It is like the backbone of the whole store, especially during rush hour. Not everyone has the honor to be the number one pick for the drive-thru but if you have the honor you have to deliver. From 10 pm till 1 am was the rush hour. That is when the drive-thru needed to be at your best and that is where I came in.

I salute the head. I take my headset and set myself up for the next 3 hours. "It’s now or never Rasheeq", I say to myself every single time. As soon as I put on the headset I am in a different world.

Here’s why the drive-thru is its own different world. You have your headset. Your main point of contact with the outside world. Your duty is to take orders of the car that are constantly coming through one by one. Seems simple enough, right? But that’s not where it ends. As you are taking the orders, the cars whose orders have been taken will come towards the window. And it’s your job to do their bill or お会計. Now neither you can for a goddamn moment keep the person giving his order on hold nor you can put the person paying his bill on hold. You have to attend to both and that is where the ultimate McDonald’s employee shines.

It’s a balancing act and you are the one in control. But if the balance breaks the whole store’s backbone breaks on you.

Back in the battle zone, I take my position. I signal my predecessor that his time is up, my time is now. He gives me a salute and vacates the position. I take a deep breath, then I begin.

It’s crazy, it’s chaos and it’s out of control. That’s what my mind wants to think of the situation. But I have it in control. One by one the cars come, I take the orders, I do the bills and I am in full swing. The McDonald’s night battalion is working in cohesion and the customers are all smiles.

But then something bad happens. Something unprecedented. Something that made me leave my position. Vacate the very position I came to fill in. I walk to the front as I am still juggling through the orders on my headset. Then finally I see it.