When you’re craving McDonald’s, it’s generally the gremlins in your stomach you’re worried about. However, gremlins can actually be anywhere, anytime, as one hungry horse trainer discovered to her total confusion.
In a feed that typically features videos of her horses and their antics, Cailyn Carrington (@mikeandcailyn), interrupted her usual content. In a TikTok that’s been viewed over 8 million times, Carrington showcases her encounter with a literal troll.
You’re Not Talking To The Hamburglar Anymore
The in-screen caption reads, “Weirdest Drive Through Experience Ever: ‘someone stole our headset and is trolling us,'” and it’s sorely needed. Because as the horse trainer tries to order her meal, a voice that sounds like Oscar The Grouch‘s irritable cousin asks, “What do ya wanna eat?”
Just after this, a more human-sounding voice implores her not to listen to him. “I’m sorry about that,” an actual McDonald’s drive-thru worker says.
Then the voice interrupts her again, grumbling something unintelligible but mocking. Carrington tries again and again to place her order in peace, and each time the voice says something absurd. When she orders a “Big Arch” meal (medium), the gravelly voice retorts, “The Big Arch isn’t even that good.”
Then when she is able to convey the last part of her order (10-piece nuggets), the voice says, in a small yet smug tone, “No.”
Finally, she requests a large Diet Coke, and the troll replies, “No. I don’t think so.”
On the other end, the employee is beyond exasperated, saying again and again, “Please ignore him.”
It gets to the point where it feels like a live Saturday Night Live skit. So Carrington leans in. After being told to pull forward, she offers her thanks. “To both of you,” she quips.
Who’s Lovin’ It?
The internet is loving the gremlins in the headset scenario. “Plot twist: it’s just him & his alter ego,” speculated Ashley (@theashbutton).
While others plaster imagery all over the comments section. The scary-accurate one? Beavis (of Beavis and Butt-head renown) as his “Cornholio” alter ego. He’s not demanding toilet paper, but he does a good job of personifying a McDonald’s-centric troll.
Then there’s the biggest joke of all. “What’s even funnier is they HAVE to be sitting in the parking lot for it to work,” Lily (@lilzzzamilzzz) pointed out. Talk about a commitment to a bit.
The Evolution Of Trolling
Everyone’s familiar with the idea of teasing and of jokes. But somehow, trolling feels more malicious and somehow less personal. In etymological terms, the word “troll” gets its current usage from the online communities that began in the late 1980s or early ’90s in multi-user dungeons or Usenet discussion groups. There, a favorite pastime of those early users was to “troll for newbies – to start discussions that established users knew were old hat. The intention was to show up new, gullible users.”
The word itself is much older than the late 1980s. “Troll” traces its lineage to “the Old French verb troller.” It was a hunting term, meaning to go in quest of game. Which isn’t that far off from the dude sitting in the McDonald’s blind hunting for unsuspecting victims.
Though these days, as Carrington noted in her caption, it’s more chaotic than engaging. “I’ve legitimately never been more confused at a McDonald’s,” she wrote.
BroBible reached out to Cailyn Carrington via TikTok direct message and with a comment on the video. We’ll update this if she gets back to us.
@mikeandcailyn i’ve legitimately never been more confused at a mcdonalds ☠️ #drivethru #mcdonalds #tiktok #fyp #viral