A third colleague remembered how, one evening, a waiter gravely asked her grandmother, "May I take your order, sir?" (Luckily, grandma had a sense of humor).
A talking McDonald's Happy Meal Drive-Thru from Hasbro, which also makes the talking Barney and the Busy Crib Center, features a computerized voice that asks, "May I take your order?" Toots the Train, from Mattel, responds by opening its eyes when a child says "go" and makes comments of its own, like "Gee, it's dark in here!" when inside a tunnel.
"It's not about, 'May I take your order?' It's about, 'How has your day been?'".
Try "Hello, welcome to Taco Bell, may I take your order?" or "Welcome to K-mart, how may I help you?" works too.
Ma'am -- may I take your lunch order?
You wouldn't get to see a server in black evanesce at your side, Jeeves-like, leaning forward from the waist to hear your order, asking "May I clear that, miss?" and not, "Still working on that?" Most of all, you'd be missing a chance to listen to that quiet purr that you hear only when a restaurant and its audience understand each other perfectly.
May I help you with your order today?
May I decline to handle their orders, or must I treat all my prisoners the same?
Or, may I suggest a made-to-order option: my own book Do Your Laundry or You'll Die Alone: Advice Your Mom Would Give if She Thought You Were Listening.
