Why McDonald’s Ice Cream Machine Is Always Down

After years of complaining, I've finally found an answer.

Ice cream machine's being down and McDonald's go hand in hand. They are so synonymous that it's just a well known fact. Like, it's a joke at this point.

I went to Denny's one time and their ice cream machine was broken and my first response was "What is this, McDonald's?"

Whenever you go to order a cone or a McFlurry, the first thing you say isn't "Can I get a small vanilla cone?" No. It's "Is your ice cream machine working?"

Because it feels like 9 times out of 10, that machine just sits there, broken, and taunting us with the sweet delicious treats we want but can never have.

But it turns out that when McDonald's employees say that the ice cream machine is "down", they don't actually mean it's broken.

They don't see you walking up with your eyes alight in ice cream bliss, and yell to the back "BILLY! GET THE BAT! WE'VE GOT A CODE BLUE! SOMEONE WANTS ICE CREAM AND WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!! I NEED YOU TO GO OFFICE SPACE ON THE ICE CREAM MACHINE, STAT!"

This is what they mean when they say the machine is "down":

It's being cleaned.

That's all it means.

But something that sounds so simple takes FOR FREAKING EVER.

You see, McDonald's has a rule that requires the machine to be cleaned every 24 hours or so. Seems reasonable, right? No bacteria and such in our ice cream sounds nice.

Well, this "heat cleaning cycle" the machine goes through lasts FOUR HOURS.

And that's not including an 11 step process you have to go through BEFORE you start THAT cleaning process that involves disassembling the machine and cleaning individual parts.

It's very time consuming and involves a lot of steps, and it's just easier to say "The machine is down."

So next time you go to get your McFlurry craving taken care of, and get told the machine is down, don't freak out and get mad. They're just doing their job and making sure that the next time you do actually end up getting a frosty treat, that it isn't riddled with bacteria.

Chill.

(Source: Urbo.com)

Maybe try a different ice cream place to quench your ice cream thirst?