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A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

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Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#91

Post by codedokode »

larnmar wrote: post #31
x2f10 wrote: post #18

Her job is already going away; McDonald's around me have already replaced cashiers with kiosks. Unionizing and requiring $15/hr + full benefits is only going to accelerate McDonald's automation plans. Is the answer to fight for $15/hr or is the answer to go back to school, apply to more jobs, and/or go into a trade? Honest question.

Honestly I think the solution is emigration. There are places in the world where you can make a living without any particular skill set, but I don’t think the US, or any other first-world country, should really be among them. The US needs immigration reform to bring more high-skilled people into the country, but it also needs emigration reform to find new homes for people who can’t necessarily make a reasonable livin…

Why do you think that people without skills will have better life in developing countries? The salaries there are even lower, for example, in Russia hourly rate in McDonalds is $2-4 depending on the city. The only kind of housing the employee can afford is a room in a shared apartment or sharing a room with a friend or living with parents for free.

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#92

Post by ceejayoz »

Xavdidtheshadow wrote: post #83
ceejayoz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No one truelly cares about self-service, it's just hype. My grocery store recently instituted scan-as-you-go via a smartphone app, and I love it. I bag as I go along, precisely the way I want everything bagged (no crushed bread, no meat juice dripping on the candy) and basically walk out the door.

What grocery store is that, and what region?

Wegmans, in upstate NY.

https://www.wegmans.com/service/wegmans-scan.html

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#93

Post by sketchyj »

jumbopapa wrote: post #47

I'm probably going to catch some flak, but I see some optimizations she can make. - McDonald's offers college tuition reimbursement, when you're low income this is one of the best ROI you have available to you. - McDonald's offers a 401k plan with up to 7% match. Even if you took the 10% early withdrawal penalty this is money in your pocket. I don't think the best use of her time is lobbying for a $15/hr minimum wage…

Economic mobility in the USA should be relatively high if what you are saying is correct - however, it is not. "Work hard" is not a solution to the problems our economic system has created. It is something someone yells before burying their head in the sand.

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#94

Post by outworlder »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #76
outworlder wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A bike would possibly be the ideal solution for someone in her shoes. Not considering how far she works. And there are of course no shower facilities.

> Not considering how far she works. We don't know how far she works. We only know how long her commute takes. Bus routes in cities without good bus infrastructure are often circuitous and don't represent the fastest way to get to any particular place on the route.

Fair point. We do know that it would take 25 minutes by car, but two full hours by bus. My commute is about 10 minutes by car. Which works out to 4 miles (3 by bike, because there's a trail). So it's doable – if those same 10 minutes where at highway speeds, it would be less so.

Regardless, it's getting better, but even 3 miles gets me sweaty and I have to take a shower. We can safely assume this person's commute to be longer. Now she has to go to work all sweaty – at a customer facing role. This won't be well-received.

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#95

Post by allovernow »

davidcelis wrote: post #78
jumbopapa wrote: post #47

I'm probably going to catch some flak, but I see some optimizations she can make. - McDonald's offers college tuition reimbursement, when you're low income this is one of the best ROI you have available to you. - McDonald's offers a 401k plan with up to 7% match. Even if you took the 10% early withdrawal penalty this is money in your pocket. I don't think the best use of her time is lobbying for a $15/hr minimum wage…

> McDonald's offers a 401k plan with up to 7% match. Even if you took the 10% early withdrawal penalty this is money in your pocket. This woman is literally living paycheck to paycheck, and your suggestion is to... put money into a 401k? That simply isn't an option for people living in poverty like this. > Gain knowledge, skills, and have a good work ethic and it is not that hard to get ahead in America. This is a re…

>This is a really out-of-touch perspective. One's ability to gain knowledge and skills is determined by the amount of free time they have when not working

She spends something like 4 hours a day on most days on the bus. That's plenty of time to read.

>Lifting oneself out of poverty is not easy to do here

My family came from poverty. It's easy to do if you come from a culture which values self improvement. I know it's unpopular to say, but most poor people are poor for reasons related to their genes, personality and upbringing, not because of the system. Just as cream rises, the lower end of the bell curve tends to fall, and no amount of education or financial assistance is going to change the distribution of achievement in society.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't have a safety net to help those who are in need, but our expectations should be grounded when we consider allocation of scarce resources.

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#96

Post by jumbopapa »

sketchyj wrote: post #93
jumbopapa wrote: post #47

I'm probably going to catch some flak, but I see some optimizations she can make. - McDonald's offers college tuition reimbursement, when you're low income this is one of the best ROI you have available to you. - McDonald's offers a 401k plan with up to 7% match. Even if you took the 10% early withdrawal penalty this is money in your pocket. I don't think the best use of her time is lobbying for a $15/hr minimum wage…

Economic mobility in the USA should be relatively high if what you are saying is correct - however, it is not. "Work hard" is not a solution to the problems our economic system has created. It is something someone yells before burying their head in the sand.

I laid out two things she isn't doing that she can do today to improve her situation. I'm not ignoring a problem, but offering advice. Teach a man to fish, as the saying goes.

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#97

Post by bradley_taunt »

outworlder wrote: post #86
threatofrain wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with empathy, but I definitely push back on the idea that McDonalds is cheap. People will always go to the grocery store and it's very hard to beat rice, beans, eggs, and ethnic veggies. That makes the cost and time proposition of McDonalds only okay at the right time of day.

> I definitely push back on the idea that McDonalds is cheap If you work there, it is. But I was talking about Taco Bell for non McDonalds workers, which IS cheap. Your groceries list again is assuming there is enough time(and energy) to prepare the food.

I absolutely understand where you're trying to come from, but I think it seems like a bit of a stretch. Saying lack of time to prepare a healthy meal is a valid reason for poor eating habits is a weak excuse. Pan frying an egg and some veggies (using food item examples above) takes less than 5 minutes.

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#98

Post by [deleted] »

outworlder wrote: post #86
threatofrain wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with empathy, but I definitely push back on the idea that McDonalds is cheap. People will always go to the grocery store and it's very hard to beat rice, beans, eggs, and ethnic veggies. That makes the cost and time proposition of McDonalds only okay at the right time of day.

> I definitely push back on the idea that McDonalds is cheap If you work there, it is. But I was talking about Taco Bell for non McDonalds workers, which IS cheap. Your groceries list again is assuming there is enough time(and energy) to prepare the food.

[deleted]

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#99

Post by basch »

WaylonKenning wrote: post #27
papreclip wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, but at the same time an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment. 40% of American adults, including the woman featured here, are obese. You can't just eat 3000 calories of junk food a day and expect the doctor to "fix it"

If only she had the time to do meal prep, outside of the four hours a day she takes to commute.

50% employee discount. McDonalds is a great place to eat healthy if you so choose. Healthful may be boring but its available.

Re: A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier

#100

Post by CharlesColeman »

davidcelis wrote: post #78
jumbopapa wrote: post #47

I'm probably going to catch some flak, but I see some optimizations she can make. - McDonald's offers college tuition reimbursement, when you're low income this is one of the best ROI you have available to you. - McDonald's offers a 401k plan with up to 7% match. Even if you took the 10% early withdrawal penalty this is money in your pocket. I don't think the best use of her time is lobbying for a $15/hr minimum wage…

> McDonald's offers a 401k plan with up to 7% match. Even if you took the 10% early withdrawal penalty this is money in your pocket. This woman is literally living paycheck to paycheck, and your suggestion is to... put money into a 401k? That simply isn't an option for people living in poverty like this. > Gain knowledge, skills, and have a good work ethic and it is not that hard to get ahead in America. This is a re…

>> I'm probably going to catch some flak, but I see some optimizations she can make.

> This woman is literally living paycheck to paycheck, and your suggestion is to... put money into a 401k? That simply isn't an option for people living in poverty like this.

Another optimization she could make is to save the money she spends on food for herself and her family. It won't be easy, but after a few years of not eating she could probably save up enough learn to code and pull herself up by her bootstraps. /s

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