A McDonald's cashier who has worked for the company since before the invention of Happy Meals and McNuggets is finally retiring at 84

• Dot Sharp worked at a McDonald's restaurant in Pennsylvania for 45 years. She retired on Friday.
• Sharp, 84, took orders at the drive-thru. She said she's "really sad" to leave her coworkers and customers behind.

An 84-year-old McDonald's cashier who retired after 45 years at the burger giant says she's "really sad" to leave her coworkers and customers behind.

Dot Sharp started working at the McDonald's restaurant in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1978, and served her final customer – her granddaughter – on January 12, 2024.

"I'm really sad about that because it's not so much the food, it's the people," Sharp told ABC-affiliate WTAE. "The people that I work with, they were great, they treated me great all these years, and we have the best customers in the world here."

Sharp told Business Insider in a statement that McDonald's gave her flexibility to work as a single mom, too.

Over her 45-year stint at McDonald's, Sharp held various crew and manager positions, but spent the last nine years working at the first window of the drive-thru, a spokesperson for McDonald's franchisee Tri County Management told BI. Her role involved greeting customers, taking orders, and accepting payments.

"That's the actual function of her position – but it doesn't capture the essence of who Dot is," the spokesperson said. "Dot welcomes each customer with a sunny smile and cheerful greeting. She knows many customers by name and order."

On the last day of Dot's employment, "the drive-thru line was wrapped all the way around the building because so many of her regulars wanted to wish her well," the Tri County Management spokesperson said.

"Our customers love her and so have generations of her fellow co-workers," franchise owner Meghan Sweeney said in a press release. "She brought a sunny disposition to every shift and always made the customer her top priority."

Sharp continued working at the restaurant after it changed hands multiple times and after it moved to a new location. During her tenure at the company, she witnessed the introduction of Happy Meals, McNuggets, and McFlurries.

A photo of a McDonald's menu board in Michigan from 1978 shows it selling a Big Mac for $0.90, a Filet-o-Fish for $0.65, and an Egg McMuffin for $0.90. Other items available included hash browns, tomato juice, apple pies, cookies, and pineapple sundaes.