Business
Published January 15, 2024, 12:00 PM ET
A McDonald's cashier, whose more than four decades with the fast-food chain predates the introduction of McNuggets and Happy Meals, hangs up her drive-thru headset.
According to Business Insider, Dot Sharp, who turned 84 last month, served her very last customer – her granddaughter – from the drive-thru window of a McDonald's in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
“The drive-thru line was wrapped around the building because so many of her regular customers wanted to wish her well,” a spokesperson for McDonald's franchisee Tri County Management told the outlet.
Sharp initially got the job in September 1978 and enjoyed the flexible schedule as a single mother.
Back then, an order of small fries cost just 35 cents, and the chain's signature Big Mac sold for just 90 cents, according to a Reddit thread showing McDonald's menu prices in 1978.
Forty-six years later, a Big Mac combo meal — consisting of a burger, medium fries and a medium fountain drink — costs $10.89 at the location where Sharp works, an increase of nearly 800% .
Dot Sharp retired from her job at McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Friday after more than four decades. Facebook/Clothespinhead/McDonald's A photo posted on Facebook shows McDonald's in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, where Sharp works, wishing her a happy retirement. Facebook/Clothespinhead/McDonald's
Prices vary by location: The same Big Mac combination will set hungry diners $13.69 at a McDonald's in Times Square, and a branch in Darien, Connecticut, charges up to $18 for the 1,080 calories -Have a good meal.
When asked about big plans for retirement, Sharp told CBS News, “Just enjoy life.”
Representatives for McDonald's and Tri County Management did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.
Sharp's career with the Golden Arches began before the first Happy Meal was invented.
Chicken McNuggets were added in 1980 and McFlurries were introduced in 1995. The company's McCafe's coffee beverage line was introduced in 2001.
Sharp also worked for the Chicago-based fast food giant during the ill-fated McPizza's lifetime.
Sharp took the job at the fast food giant in 1978. In the years since, she has seen the invention of the Happy Meal, Chicken McNuggets, McFlurries and McCafe's coffee drinks.
Launched in 1986, the offering transitioned to a personal-sized cake in 1991 and was ultimately discontinued nine years later because the 11- to 16-minute baking time did not align with McDonald's focus on speed.
“Her job as a cashier was to greet customers, take orders and take payments, but that doesn't capture the core of who Dot is,” the McDonald's spokesperson told BI.
“Dot greets every customer with a sunny smile and a cheerful greeting. She knows many customers by name and order.”
Sharp reportedly handed out her last Happy Meal to her granddaughter.
Franchise owner Meghan Sweeney described Sharp's personality as “sunny” in a press release and said, “Our customers love her and so do generations of her colleagues. She brought a sunny disposition to every shift and always put the customer first.”
“I hope Dot enjoys a well-deserved break in her retirement,” Sweeney added.
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