If you have ever visited the McDonald's at 40th and Walnut streets late on a Saturday night, you may have encountered a scene of drunken chaos.
But while some students complain that the store's management is "ridiculously absurd" and its customer service "a joke," members of the store's overnight staff say that students play a part in the mayhem as well.
The two opinions came head to head last month when College sophomore Keith Williams and a group of his friends got into an altercation with several McDonald's employees during a late-night visit. Williams started a Facebook group encouraging students to boycott the restaurant, which ultimately led to the firing of several McDonald's staff members.
But employees say they're not the only ones out of line.
One of the McDonald's overnight security guards said students are often rude and obnoxious to the staff, engage in "rough play" and use profane language.
He explained that the students' "loud, out of control behavior" usually occurs on Friday or Saturday nights around 12 or 1 a.m.
According to a female staff member who has worked night shifts, when students don't get exactly what they want, they sometimes get angry and yell obscenities or throw things.
She added that occasionally students will sexually harass members of the staff.
"Sometimes [the students] have to be controlled by the security guard," she said, although she added that the behavior never gets too violent because the security guard kicks out any students that display potentially threatening behavior.
But many students feel that as paying customers, they are entitled to appropriate service.
"I don't deny that . there is an issue of people coming in drunk," Williams said.
However, he added that especially on the weekends, drunken students looking for a late-night snack after partying are "a fact of a college campus" and "something that the employees should be trained to handle."
Some students side with the employees, though - one post in the Facebook group called the students who go to McDonald's "a bunch of spoiled brats."
Many of the restaurant's employees agree that the students' behavior is excessive.
"They come in here and set each other on fire, or throw up on each other," said a staff member who also works overnight shifts, though she did seem amused at their behavior.
"We get a kick out of it," she said.
Williams argued that while the McDonald's managers have no control over the customers, they can give the employees the appropriate training.
"There is no way of ensuring that every student that comes in there is sober," he said.
But relations between students and staff members seem to be fine while the sun is up.
"I've gone to McDonald's during the day and I've had no problem," said Williams.
"They're nice, they're polite, they don't give me any problems," said a McDonald's employee who works day shifts, about the college students that come in.
Corporate representatives for McDonald's could not be reached for comment.
