You ever worked in fast food?

[Kid Presentable]

Whenever I eat fast food I'm a little bit sympathetic towards the kids working there. I worked at KFC for about 8 months, and only ever remember the managers being frustrated losers who made it to the top of a small, greasy pile. I was a cook, though. Never out front.

While they work you very hard for very little, there are a lot of lessons in it. I hope my kids experience it. It's a great way to get motivated for something better, I suppose. For me it was a great way to turn up to work faded, spit in the cookers, eat for free, and drop random bits of food on the floor before serving them. And wearing my visor upside down was a must.

[paul jones]

I'm glad that I have never worked in fast food but when I worked in a pub in Melbourne,the McDonalds was directly opposite and I got lots for free as they drank in the pub after shifts

[RobMoney$]

Worked at Nathan's hot dogs for 2 days and quit.
I'm still embarressed by it 20 years later.
I sympathize with anyone who's had to sully themselves by working those jobs.

I have the same opinion of the kids working at my local supermarket.
They seem like they've been turned into slaves by the place, being asked to work fucked up shifts and being treated like absolute trash for next to nothing.
I told my kids they will NEVER work there.
I will suck a cock for money before I would let that happen.

[Kid Presentable]

Teaching your (the general you, not yours specifically, Robert) kids that they can be considered trash by others is a good way of stripping them of entitlement though. A bit of a reality check for them? Maybe?

[mikizee]

I worked at McDonalds for almost 6 years. I wanted to quit after 2 weeks. I was terrible at it. But as I was there for so long and refused any offer to become a 'crew trainer' or manager, (as I saw how terrible they were treated) I ended up being sort of the veteran, even most of the managers hadnt been there as long as me, so I was given pretty much free reign to do what I wanted. If one of the 'cool' managers was working me and a couple of workers would always go up to the roof during our break and get really, REALLY high. Or we'd go out the back where the helium tank was for filling up kids balloons and huff helium then serve at drive thru with a squeaky voice. When you are 16 that shit is really funny.

And when you're 17-18, the steady stream of 16 yr old girls coming in and gaining employment there was a huge plus. And even though the job really sucked, it pretty much makes any job after that seem awesome, and so you do really well at it. It did good in the fact that it geared me up and made me ready for proper employment. So I wouldn't mind if my kids work somewhere like that.

[b i o n i c]

i never did one of those jobs, but i delivered pizza for a few weeks and worked in retail... yeah i ALWAYS sympathize with those kids. i actually sympathize with the girls a little more for some reason

Originally Posted by Kid Presentable

Teaching your (the general you, not yours specifically, Robert) kids that they can be considered trash by others is a good way of stripping them of entitlement though.

i think doing the jobs i really hated was good for me, as much as i never want to do them again. i think it was a good way to learn some humility and the value of money. also i think its a good way for them to see what they might have to do if they don't make something of themselves.

i took a year off from college to work because i enjoyed the money, but when i got to see how hard the mexicans i worked with had it, i went back to school with the quickness and not only did i do a double course load to graduate on time, i got really good grades. perspective.

you have people, if they were rich, would buy their kid a bmw as a first car and you have people like me who would do no such a thing. i dont care how much money i have, my kids arent getting more than the equivalent of a honda civic when the time comes.

[RobMoney$]

Originally Posted by Kid Presentable

Teaching your (the general you, not yours specifically, Robert) kids that they can be considered trash by others is a good way of stripping them of entitlement though. A bit of a reality check for them? Maybe?

There's plenty of entry level jobs that kids can work where they aren't treated quite that shitty...retail comes to mind.

[YoungRemy]

yeah I did pizza delivery but mostly drove around killing time...

then a Mexican Fast Food/Delivery place opened up and me and all my friends were the first Staff to get hired as delivery drivers.

we ran that place into the ground.

never did the traditional burger joint/taco stand,etc.

I sacked groceries but it was a nice community and the customers tipped well. it wasn't so bad. got fired for lying about a misdemeanor.

did a stint at Starbucks on Park Ave., got pretty good benefits/starting wage.

the only other franchise I see treating their employees with decency is In-N-Out Burger, and they recriprocate the kindness to the customers.

[NicRN77]

I worked at McDonald's for about 3 years in high school. I really think it helped me with my people skills and prepared me for my nursing career. It was always fun working with the "cool" managers. Like some of you, we would smoke up and drink during business hours. I would work the closing shift quite frequently. We would spend the night drinking and playing cards in the dining room. Was great fun. Lots of free food too. Go figure I was skinnier back then.

[Planetary]

Originally Posted by b i o n i c

i actually sympathize with the girls a little more for some reason

must be the smaller brains

[Audio.]

fuck.

I need to find a part time job then.

[Dorothy Wood]

I was always too much of a snob and a shy person to work in food service. I worked in Parks and Recreation, where you hardly had to deal with the public at all...just pick up their garbage occasionally. I got to ride around in a golf cart, which rules when you're 15 years old, and use a metal detector. woo!

minuses:
working at 7 a.m.

maggots

getting hit on by 30-something-year-old umpires who think you're in college (or so they say)



anyway, anybody that I ever knew that worked at McDonalds actually had a pretty good time they said.

[Nuzzolese]

Low-wage jobs in highly corporate companies teach the worst lessons, I think.

They don't encourage innovation or originality, because all decisions come from above and you're not supposed to change anything, even if it makes things better. You're taught to do the minimum and shut up.

You're not encouraged to work harder because in the places I worked, managers were brought in from outside, hardly ever promoted from within. They like keeping people at minimum wage without benefits because it's cheaper. We were treated like we didn't matter, and very little was expected from us.

You're taught to be wasteful. The donut shop where I worked, we weren't allowed to take home any food at the end of the day. It wasn't stale, it just wasn't fresh enough to sell by their standards. We had to throw it all away. We couldn't even toss it outside for birds. The bookstore threw away tons of paperbacks weekly because that was cheaper than mailing them back to a publisher, and we couldn't donate them anywhere. They didn't even recycle old newspapers and magazines. All into the trash.

Yes, it teaches humility and the value of money because of how tiring it is to earn so little. But, as far as work ethics? It's the worst!

[Kid Presentable]

Originally Posted by Nuzzolese

Low-wage jobs in highly corporate companies teach the worst lessons, I think.

They don't encourage innovation or originality, because all decisions come from above and you're not supposed to change anything, even if it makes things better. You're taught to do the minimum and shut up.

You're not encouraged to work harder because in the places I worked, managers were brought in from outside, hardly ever promoted from within. They like keeping people at minimum wage without benefits because it's cheaper. We were treated like we didn't matter, and very little was expected from us.

You're taught to be wasteful. The donut shop where I worked, we weren't allowed to take home any food at the end of the day. It wasn't stale, it just wasn't fresh enough to sell by their standards. We had to throw it all away. We couldn't even toss it outside for birds. The bookstore threw away tons of paperbacks weekly because that was cheaper than mailing them back to a publisher, and we couldn't donate them anywhere. They didn't even recycle old newspapers and magazines. All into the trash.

Yes, it teaches humility and the value of money because of how tiring it is to earn so little. But, as far as work ethics? It's the worst!

You learn how they do things, and you learn whether or not that is how you want to do things.

[checkyourprez]

Originally Posted by Planetary

must be the smaller brains

haha. good burn.

[Bob]

i worked in the food stands at an amusement park, which was kind of like fast food, but even easier because each stand had a pretty limited menu so the work was extra simple; there really wasn't much to keep track of.

it actually wasn't that bad of a job. as long as you actually worked hard and took your shit seriously the bosses stayed off your back for the most part, they were only pricks to the lazy kids (and there were a lot of them)

[Helvete]

Never have, refused to. First job when I left school which is probably similar was working in a supermarket. Started off as random bakery asshole then went on to baking, it's not so bad telling people I was a baker when I left school.

[Echewta]

I worked in a video store for a few years. That was interesting...

[b i o n i c]

i worked at a video store too and that was THE best college job ever. the whole store was run by teenagers and early20somethings. our manager looked like scott baio and was completely stuck in the 80s.. he wore beat up white high tops and had that feathered style everyone used to rock.. he was also a coke head - the first coke head i ever knew. i felt bad for the guy. all the employees would take home movies and never return them. everynight after work was a party... *sigh*

[Echewta]

Yea, I have to admit, my experience was pretty awesome too. Good hours, paid under the table, first dibs at movies, and nobody returning their food because it was bad.

Though there was a few times someone got a kids movie and came back because an adult movie got put in the wrong box. No good.

[abbott]

Chick-Fil-A for over 3 years. I quit before I turned 16. I was the only crew leader under the age of 16 on recorded other than Truit Cathy, the son of the original owner.

In my interview, Chuck King asked me why I wanted a job, and I said “I don’t want a job, but my dad said he would cut my allowance if I did not try to get one. " Chuck said….. you are hired.

I loved it, but in hindsight, wish I had dedicated myself to playing golf everyday.

[russhie]

Originally Posted by RobMoney$

There's plenty of entry level jobs that kids can work where they aren't treated quite that shitty...retail comes to mind.

Retail is just as bad. I worked in retail for most of the time I was in highschool and uni, and it's the same thing - crabby customers, long periods of standing, shitty cleaning duties, fuckwit managers. Shifts vary so much, I remember pulling doubles at my first job, where I'd start at 6am and finish at around 8pm.

I waitressed briefly, which was awful, and I also worked as an admin assistant for a large bank - I worked from 8-6 three days a week in a basement with no windows doing the most boring job known to mankind. In the winter time I wouldn't even get to see the sun as I worked through my lunch breaks.

It doesn't matter what industry you're in, part time and entry level work blows. And I agree that it's good for kids to gain perspective - I owe my strong work ethic and good people skills to these shitty jobs.

[russhie]

oh, I forgot. I worked as a promo girl for a club here and that wasn't much fun, you'd get $2 for every person on your list who turned up, with bonuses for 50, 100 and 200 people through the door. You'd have to be at the club from open till 3am fridays and saturdays and you'd be expected to "hostess" - shout the people on your list drinks, chat them up, dance with the girls, etc. Doesn't seem so bad, but you had to foot majority of the drinks bill at the end of it. It was tiring, sleazy and generally without gain - you'd give people at uni the shits promoting a club night they weren't interested in going to.

I stopped when my friends got sick of the club and wouldn't come anymore.