“Sir, this is a Wendy’s,” also said or written as “Ma’am, this is a Wendy’s,” is a phrase that pokes fun at people who tend to share their weirdness and inappropriate behavior with a captive audience – in the original joke, a cashier at a fast food diner.
The various memes often show one or more frames of someone ranting about something, followed by a frame of a uniformed fast-food worker saying, “Sir, this is a Wendy’s.” Initially used only in text posts, and later in memes, the phrase has now become popular in in-person interactions, as well.
What Does “Sir, This is a Wendy’s” Mean?
Whether in a social media post, in meme form, or in conversation, the phrase is used to tell someone that what they are talking about is irrelevant or inappropriate in their current situation. It calls out people who think they are more important than they really are and flaunt it in public.
For example, some people think it is okay to speak loudly about their problems and personal lives in crowded places and don’t care who hears them or who they disturb.
The meme alludes to the fact that workers in the fast food industry are often exposed to the weirdest of humanity and they can’t do anything about it because they have to stand there and do their job – they are a captive audience.
Picture a person who is having a bad day holding up a long queue at a fast food restaurant because they are ranting at the cashier about the things they have to put up with at work. It is not the cashier’s fault or problem, and the speaker is just looking for attention in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Its essential meaning is some variation of, “Dude, nobody cares!” or “What are you telling me for?” depending on the specific situation. Due to its popularity, the phrase is now used in all sorts of situations to tell people that they are acting inappropriately.
Examples
Here are some examples of situations in which someone could use the phrase “Sir, this is a Wendy’s”:
- A group of friends is sitting around having a conversation about their boyfriends when one of them loudly interrupts to tell them that she is changing her diet to veganism. This obviously has no bearing on the conversation and is just a cry for attention or approval. One of her friends could respond, “Ma’am, this is a Wendy’s,” to let her know that her interruption is not relevant or appreciated right at that moment.
- A man is doing his laundry in a public laundromat and a stranger is speaking loudly on the phone about his wife cheating on him. The man could tap the stranger on the shoulder and say, “Sir, this is a Wendy’s,” to tell him that his loud rant about his private life is not something that should be spoken about so publicly.
- A grocery store cashier makes the mistake of politely greeting a customer and asking him how he is doing today. He goes on a rant about how someone parked in his driveway that morning and made him late for work, and then goes on about how the younger generations have no respect, and that nobody thinks about anyone other than themselves anymore. The cashier could interrupt the tirade by saying in a sarcastic tone, “Sir, this is a Wendy’s.” Of course, depending on his age, the customer might not have any idea what that means – at least until he reads this article.
History
This phrase appears to have originated in 2008 after an episode of The Office in which a character is given the number of a Wendy’s as a prank when he asks for phone numbers of ladies whom he could go on blind dates with.
He calls the number, expecting to speak to someone named Wendy, but is abruptly told, “Dude, this is a Wendy’s restaurant.”
The Early Days
Shortly after that episode, the jokes began appearing on Twitter and other platforms, beginning with the following self-deprecating Tweet:
Emergency call to Dominos to quell the ego storm:
“I need a humble pie!”
“What?!”
“It’s a joke!”
“I get it, sir, but this is a Wendy’s.”
In other words, this guy was feeling pretty good about himself after an excellent day and he needed to be brought down to earth. So he called a pizza place and asked for a “humble pie,” but was promptly shot down by the cashier claiming they were actually a Wendy’s.
In the first few years, the Wendy’s jokes were usually about people embarrassing themselves by placing orders at the wrong stores or dialing wrong numbers, and like the one above, they were most likely all made up.
Then, in 2016, the jokes started to be more about calling people out for their weird behavior, one of the earliest being a joke Tweet about former US President Donald Trump. In it, Trump states into a microphone that doing illegal business in Cuba makes him smart, and a drive-thru cashier replies, “This is a Wendy’s, Mr. Trump.”
Going Viral
Ironically, it was also the former President who eventually, completely unintentionally, caused the phrase to go viral after a Tweet he posted in July of 2018. In it, he rants in capital letters, threatening the President of Iran for no obvious reason.
Despite widespread fear that there would be harsh consequences for Trump’s thoughtless actions, one Twitter user, apparently unfazed by the drama, responded to Trump’s Tweet, “Sir, this is a Wendy’s drive-thru.”
The response got thousands of likes and retweets by the following day, as well as the attention of national news stations, and so the phrase became the popular and broadly used meme we know today.
Conclusion
“Sir, this is a Wendy’s” is a phrase that seems to have originated after a specific 2008 episode of The Office, in which a prank has a character calling a Wendy’s instead of someone named Wendy.
Over the next 10 years, it would evolve from the occasional joke in a Tweet to a viral meme that has only continued to grow since then.
The unsuspecting former US President, Donald Trump is largely to be thanked for the popularity of the phrase, due to its being used in response to some of his actions.
In its current use, the phrase is a way to let someone know that their rant, tirade, or oversharing is not appropriate or appreciated, and that they should consider where they are before spouting nonsense or accosting people as a captive audience.
