I wanted George behind the counter at the start of this, but I didn't want him to be working, and I didn't want Justin there because he would have immediately started talking to Nanase and Ellen.

So now we get two panels devoted to the simple idea of "when Justin's not on-panel, everyone should be asking 'where's Justin?'", and establishing that George is not, in fact, on the clock.

I was originally trying to think up reasons Justin could be in the back room, such as being on the phone with some customer for HILARIOUS reasons, but it was all a bit too complicated.

Justin simply getting food next door is much better, and not just because George gets a milkshake out of it.