I’ve noticed a new trend at a few fast food places, and it’s making me unreasonably grumpy.

Starbucks, Tim Hortons and McDonalds - and others, I'm sure - have little signs designating a spot as where you can pick up your food that was ordered on a phone app.

The one time I’ve actually seen anyone use the service, I felt personally insulted. It was at a Starbucks in Saskatoon. I was waiting in line to place my order and someone came up to the counter, grabbed their drink and left.

And there I was, still waiting like a sucker.

It’s odd that any business based on customer service would want to create two classes of customers - those who skip the line and those who wait.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, as they say. The time spent to make the drink of that other customer at Starbucks was time not spent on mine.

It’s different than ordering take out at a restaurant - those businesses are designed to accommodate making a few extra pizzas or pad thais.

Has McDonald’s or Timmy’s hired extra staff to deal with mobile orders? Given the cutthroat nature of the quick service industry, I doubt it.

I shudder to think of the road rage caused if a dozen cars are waiting in the drive-thru for their double-doubles and some perky millennial walks in the door and back out three seconds later with hers.

Sadly, I have no expectation that any of these companies will get rid of their apps. As I said, the business is cutthroat, and if you’ve already ordered McDonald’s with your phone you can’t change your mind when you walk past a Starbucks.

So it’s up to consumers to ditch the app, and sacrifice a bit of time from their day to keep the restaurant peace.