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

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

#181

Post by throwaheyy » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:38 PM UTC

derg wrote: post #144

duxup wrote: post #112

I worked a pizza (among others) job through high school and college. I've been overworked at many professional technical jobs in different roles before. I'm paid a great deal more now, and yet I was never more tired or worn out or found it hard to study than when I worked the ovens at the pizza place. I often work with people who have never worked such jobs. They're upset that they're 'overworked' and spend their tim…

>I often work with people who have never worked such jobs. They're upset that they're 'overworked' and spend their time in the fancy break room with all the perks. Many I suspect have no clue. Not that it's a realistic idea but damn if everyone had experiencing working in the demanding, underpaid, crappy jobs in the service industry, we might be more empathetic and better off as a whole.

I’ve always thought that working in a retail/fastfood/service job of some kind should be a necessary requirement for graduating from childhood to adulthood.

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

#182

Post by dv_dt » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:38 PM UTC

ambicapter wrote: post #169

sebringj wrote: post #32

Before I had a programmer job when i was younger, i completely 100% empathize with her in having those types of thankless jobs and constantly being tired. I can't imagine being trapped in that going forward. I bootstrapped my situation but I had a nice parents, a middle-class upbringing and a decent school to start everything, and a knack for programming... but I know/met so many who do not have this leg up in whatev…

I have the cushy upper middle class programming job and I'm still tired every day. I must be doing something wrong.

Do you snore, snort, or startle awake at night? Consider if a sleep quality/apnea test might help you.

(ugh, this sounds like a commercial...)

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

#183

Post by carty76ers » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:39 PM UTC

nickthemagicman wrote: post #178

jonnycoder wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully Trump's new federal policy of requiring hospital groups to disclose prices will help answer these questions and put pressure on that industry.

"Hospitals could be fined $300 a day by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services if they don’t comply with the new disclosure rule, officials said." https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/trump-releases-rule-requirin... The stick is not big enough.

Is that per non-disclosure event?

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

#184

Post by ska » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:39 PM UTC

tj-teej wrote: post #111

throwaway07Ju19 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the U.S. there is one presidential candidate championing a UBI of $1000/mo. It would be paid for by a VAT tax. Typically VAT tax is unpopular because it is regressive. But the UBI more than compensates for the extra tax burden.

It is not a UBI as it is not U. The McDonalds cashier is likely getting subsidized housing and food stamp benefits. Yang's plan would require that the cashier has to choose between the "UBI" or her existing benefits. I asked his campaign why they designed it this way and they did not have an answer, I was told to ask the candidate directly, which was disappointing.

FWIW, the article says she has no benefits like that.

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

#185

Post by echlebek » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:39 PM UTC

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…

You've already been dunked on by plenty of other people, but I don't think they did a good job of explaining why you are wrong.

The USA has a labour shortage problem. There aren't enough people that want to spend their lives picking fruit, doing maid services, working fast food, and just generally taking care of all the problems that wealthier people pay to have taken care of.

You can pay immigrants rock bottom wages to do this work, which is the status quo in the USA today. They accept it because it comes with the promise of a better life one day. If not for them, then for their children.

If you want to send all those people packing, then get ready to pay $10 for a tomato. No, robots aren't going to help, either.

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

#186

Post by mrguyorama » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:40 PM UTC

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.

Meanwhile those ordering kiosks still require about the same amount of cashier staff as before since they are such a terrible and confusing experience to use. Just another reason to not go to mcdonalds I guess

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

#187

Post by RcktMan77 » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:40 PM UTC

jumbopapa wrote: post #90

davidcelis wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 saying she puts it in and takes it out as soon as she can. This gives her more disposable income. The only issue I see is the time it takes her to make the first distribution, but then she shouldn't have any issues with lagging income if she budgets it properly. It's not that out of touch. She doesn't have to work at McDonald's. I know there's opportunities out there that pay better and are in LCOL areas, but the…

The 401K administrators wouldn't allow this scheme of yours to be feasible. When you open a 401K account and start contributing to it, you can't just keep withdrawing from it at regular intervals like you suggest. At most you can make a one time loan against a balance that exists in your account if you want to keep using the account without closing it. You have to pay this loan amount back with interest--you're paying yourself back with interest, but still when you're in poverty paying anything back in excess of what you started out with is just another hardship.

If you opt to take a loan against your 401K, then you will be required to re-pay back the loaned amount through regular paycheck deductions until it is paid back, and you aren't permitted to take another loan until this first loan is repaid in full. Furthermore, a number of 401K plans that have employer matching typically have some form vesting requirements before those funds can be accessed; often a year or more.

Regardless, in this scheme withdrawing any amount (i.e. making a loan and not repaying that loan, or withdrawing funds and closing the account) will end up losing her money in the end given that McDonald's is only matching up to 7% while withdrawing early from the account incurs a mandatory 10% early withdrawal fee that 401K administrators are required to levy and report to the IRS.

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

#188

Post by larrywright » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:40 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #88

larrywright wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it’s closer to $15 (depending on what you get), which is still too high to be tenable here. https://www.aussieprices.com.au/mcdonalds-prices/

That page indicates a Big Mac meal (which includes a drink, too) starts at $9.80, which is US$6.70. The cost for this meal appears to be US$5.99 in the US - quite similar. That's not close to $15 (or $20) by any stretch of the imagination.

I was basing it on the other meals, which were on the order of $11-13. A Big Mac meal isn’t $5.99 where I live so the gap feels larger to me.

Either way, I think that the assertion of “this thing worked over there so it will work the same way here” is overly optimistic. But ultimately I don’t much care - I rarely eat there, so if McDonald’s got very expensive or went out of business, it wouldn’t have much impact on my life. If they want to unionize, more power to them.

I’m not a fan of unions overall. I recognize that they’ve done some good things, but the people I’ve known who were in unions or worked in union shops don’t describe places that I’d want to work in.

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

#189

Post by gregkerzhner » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:40 PM UTC

oh_sigh wrote: post #46

lwf wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's mentioned once, in the context of her not having affordable insurance options. > At 29, Brown works approximately 40 hours a week, splitting her time between a McDonald’s in Durham, North Carolina, and a food-service gig a local hospital. “It’s still not enough,” she said. Both jobs are part-time, and she doesn’t receive health insurance through either employer. She can’t afford insurance on her own, either…

I just put her stats into the healthcare.gov calculator. She can get a bronze plan for $370/month, and she qualifies for a $370/month premium tax credit - meaning she can get a bronze level plan for $0/month. Seems affordable. What am I missing here?

Obamacare bronze is useless for someone super poor. Even the HMO Obamacare plans like kaiser charge $100 dollar copays for a doctors visit, which is clearly out of reach for someone like this.

Sadly, I think the most cost effective approach is often not to use insurance at all but instead go to the free / community clinics which could provide a subset of care at a lower price.

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

#190

Post by venatiodecorus » Thu, Dec 05, 2019, 9:41 PM UTC

lurquer wrote: post #164

thinkloop wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no bigger lie than hard work = prosperity. It is literally the exact opposite. Think of the hardest shittiest jobs and they are almost always the least paying. The richer you get the less hard work is, until you're able to reach the pinnacle of doing absolutely nothing but managing your money and taking advantage of discounted cap gains taxes. I grew up rich with every opportunity and never had one of these…

>There is no bigger lie than hard work = prosperity. It is literally the exact opposite. Hard work leads to prosperity. That's not the same as equating prosperity to hard work. Most prosperous people achieved prosperity due to earlier hard work and sacrifice of themselves (or their immediate ancestors.) Clearly, the 'value chain', as you put it, exists as evidenced by the numerous posts on this thread of describing t…

the lie is working :)