A Week in the Life of a McDonald’s Cashier • Hacker News Board

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

#101

Post by SolaceQuantum » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:15 PM UTC

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #89

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" I know it's a cold, impersonal take, but when life sucks, having a child is going to make it worse and most likely just lead to a new generation of suffering." She could've had the child when her economics were in a better place. She could've been assaulted. She could've been denied the education to prevent the pregnancy. There are a bajillion and one reasons why a child might exist and she is responsible for it.

> She could've had the child when her economics were in a better place. She could've been assaulted. She could've been denied the education to prevent the pregnancy It's possible but not probable when you consider that 42.3% of births are paid for via Medicaid [1]. [1] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf

Medicaid is also the largest insurance provider in the USA, so it makes sense they have a lot of births. Doesn't explain much.

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

#102

Post by CharlesColeman » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:17 PM UTC

threatofrain wrote: post #26

jdkee wrote: post #9

Unions, unions, unions.

The most powerful tool in any union is a strike, but McDonalds is okay with that now, and won't be bringing in any scabs to replace those who are gone. They will be replaced by machines and the consumers are going to see a value-add.

> They will be replaced by machines and the consumers are going to see a value-add.

This is tech fantasy, like Musk promising that Teslas will be fully self-driving any minute now.

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

#103

Post by ceejayoz » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:17 PM UTC

jumbopapa wrote: post #84

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you did say it would be "not that hard".

Does that not imply a degree of hardness?

Playing dumb doesn't really help the argument.

If someone says "c'mon, it's not that hard" they don't mean it's difficult, and I suspect you know that.

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

#104

Post by SolaceQuantum » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:18 PM UTC

bradley_taunt wrote: post #97

outworlder wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

"Pan frying an egg and some veggies (using food item examples above) takes less than 5 minutes."

Which includes: 1) Owning a pan 2) Owning a cooking surface 3) Selecting, cleaning, and cutting vegetables 4) Dishes, or owning a dishwasher

vs 1) access to food 2) access to disposal of wrapping material

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

#105

Post by threatofrain » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:21 PM UTC

CharlesColeman wrote: post #102

threatofrain wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most powerful tool in any union is a strike, but McDonalds is okay with that now, and won't be bringing in any scabs to replace those who are gone. They will be replaced by machines and the consumers are going to see a value-add.

> They will be replaced by machines and the consumers are going to see a value-add. This is tech fantasy, like Musk promising that Teslas will be fully self-driving any minute now.

By tech fantasy are we talking about the kiosks which are already providing a value-add to customers?

Similarly, sometimes when I see a restaurant use Yelp for check-in, reservations, and queue management, I imagine that's a sizable fraction of a job.

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

#106

Post by codedokode » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:22 PM UTC

Frondo wrote: post #29

These questions like "why doesn't she simply x or y" make me sad. The person in the article is poor, not dumb. She likely can't move. It's expensive to move, no matter who you are, and since she has two jobs, it seems like she's going to spend a lot of time on the bus no matter what. She definitely can't demand McDonald's pay for a taxi, or she can ask, be turned down, and have her hours cut for next week. They'll cu…

But if she and her boyfriend work full time even for $9.50/hr, they still earn 9.50 x 320 = $3040/month and that's not a little sum. With such income, do they really have to live in some rural area with poor public transit and job choice? Something doesn't add up here.

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

#107

Post by CharlesColeman » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:26 PM UTC

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #20

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"

> You can't just eat 3000 calories of junk food a day and expect the doctor to "fix it" What you're saying is true, but that's not what everyone believes. If you watch any episode of My 600 Pound Life, you will realize just how unwilling some of these people are to help themselves because it's hard work (and many people featured on the show die as a result). Yes, those are obviously extreme examples, but they're all…

> If you watch any episode of My 600 Pound Life, you will realize just how unwilling some of these people are to help themselves

Please don't use point-and-gawk trash TV shows to make generalizations about the world.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9al-mpqXjc

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

#108

Post by codedokode » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:29 PM UTC

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.

She doesn't live in the city because according to Google Maps Durham, NC is 15 km across and you can walk to almost any part of the city in less than 2 hours.

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

#109

Post by CharlesColeman » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:30 PM UTC

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #104

bradley_taunt wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"Pan frying an egg and some veggies (using food item examples above) takes less than 5 minutes." Which includes: 1) Owning a pan 2) Owning a cooking surface 3) Selecting, cleaning, and cutting vegetables 4) Dishes, or owning a dishwasher vs 1) access to food 2) access to disposal of wrapping material

>> "Pan frying an egg and some veggies (using food item examples above) takes less than 5 minutes."

> Which includes: 1) Owning a pan 2) Owning a cooking surface 3) Selecting, cleaning, and cutting vegetables 4) Dishes, or owning a dishwasher

It's also worth noting that food deserts are a thing, and they make it much more difficult to eat healthily.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert

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

#110

Post by CharlesColeman » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 8:37 PM UTC

threatofrain wrote: post #105

CharlesColeman wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They will be replaced by machines and the consumers are going to see a value-add. This is tech fantasy, like Musk promising that Teslas will be fully self-driving any minute now.

By tech fantasy are we talking about the kiosks which are already providing a value-add to customers? Similarly, sometimes when I see a restaurant use Yelp for check-in, reservations, and queue management, I imagine that's a sizable fraction of a job.

> By tech fantasy are we talking about the kiosks which are already providing a value-add to customers?

No, we're talking about the making and packaging diverse types of food to order. That's why people go to McDonalds, and it's something that's surprisingly difficult to automate. McDonalds workers will be able to strike effectively as long as that's true.

Also, I don't consider ordering kiosks a value add for a customer. I've used them, they've been little to no benefit over ordering in person. It's just futzing around with yet another flaky touch screen, and who knows if the last person who used it had a cold or something. Their handling of process exceptions is like Google's customer support: non-existant. They're just a cost saving measure for business owners. It's not about "providing a value-add to customers" at all.

Remote ordering is a small value add, since it does permit some level of customer multi-tasking.