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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

#271

Post by eyepea2007 »

jackhack wrote: post #207
derg wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 agree wholeheartedly with this. Everybody needs a &^%$ job once in a while to reset their empathy scale. Walmart does something interesting for their software development process. Say a developer is working on a warehouse automation system -- that dev. is then trained and works in the warehouse for a month. Same goes for checkout/cashier, or customer service, or whatever. You WORK that job for a month and you'll un…

...and imagine if the moonlighting software devs were only getting paid what the warehouse workers were receiving, instead of their normal developer pay.. the work becomes a lot "harder" / more thankless when your pay is 1/3 or 1/4 as much.

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

#272

Post by dekhn »

I was a McDonald's cashier many years ago in high school. I could not figure out any possible way to make it work (in the sense of being able to rent a minimal apartment and feed myself). At the time I think my salary was $5/hour and they wouldn't schedule more than 20 hours a week ($400/month). the managers (all of whom had gone to "hamburger U" in Chicago) didn't seem to be doing well, either- they worked 80 hours, often driving between multiple stores all over the state every day.

The only person who seemed to be doing well was the person who bought the store as a franchise. When I quit the manager said "I couldn't cut it as a cashier".

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

#273

Post by Scoundreller »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #226
sh1mmer wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered contributing your technical expertise to something like Code for America? Their two flagship projects (GetCalFresh and Criminal Justice) reform both started off as simple web forms to make it easier to file for SNAP (food stamps) and sealing eligible marijuana convictions respectively. However as they gained traction they were able to engage state and local governments as collaborators and signifi…

> Have you considered contributing your technical expertise to something like Code for America? You can't fix everything with a website.

While true, it’s great to find someone else has done all the legwork on how to cancel a shit ISP and switch to a better and cheaper one.

Or pre-wrote everything one needs to complain to the regulator about a bull-shit charge and get their $ back.

It certainly takes a certain mindset to take advantage of the above, but making it easier encourages it.

The above are two things I’ll be publishing tonight. There’s a few hundred thousand people in my mom’s town that suddenly have a decent internet option.

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

#274

Post by k-godwin »

whack wrote: post #267
k-godwin wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Should we be completely immune from minimum wage increases just because we can afford to pay for the finer things in life? You aren't immune. Minimum wage laws impact the supply chain that feeds Whole Foods and nice restaurants by increasing the cost of rural labor. https://www.indeed.com/salaries/farm-worker-Salaries A quick google will show you that farm workers are well below the $15/hour goal most progressives…

You're right that the "trickle down" effects of minimum wage laws will impact everyone in society to some extent. But it seems like a fairly obvious conclusion that people eating at McDonalds and shopping at Walmart, will be impacted more than someone who only buys premium organic food and spends the majority of his income on other luxuries. > you are really talking a negative income tax or UBI. At which point, you a…

> I do support UBI too but it seems like an extreme stretch to say that is easier to sell than EITC. Especially when you consider that EITC already exists today as a federal law, and UBI does not.

To do what the person I'm replying to wants, it would be on the scale of UBI/negative income tax. Otherwise, its not the equivalent to $15/hour when they are being paid $10/hour.

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

#275

Post by agumonkey »

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 heard they even have toilets at workplace.

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

#276

Post by Cldfire »

monoideism wrote: post #209
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…

Having worked several years in both retail and waiting/busing tables (full-time, not just as a part-time college job), I have a great deal of empathy for folks stuck in these minimum wage jobs. That said, if I could get a retail job that paid what I make as a dev, I’d definitely consider it. Retail was grueling, but at the same time much less psychological pressure, and much less mentally exhausting. I always say I’m…

I share this view myself, neat to see someone else feels the same way.

I'm a CS student and I've been working at a Panera for about a year now. I love my particular store and the work environment is great; I genuinely look forward to going to work every day. I'll miss my coworkers when I have to quit soon to start my programming career.

That being said, I understand why those jobs could never realistically pay anything near what a good software dev job can. If you could make the same amount of money working a job like that, why would anyone put in the effort to get stressed out as a programmer? It wouldn't make sense.

The solution is to fix dev jobs so they're more balanced and less stressful :)

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

#277

Post by ipnon »

dekhn wrote: post #272

I was a McDonald's cashier many years ago in high school. I could not figure out any possible way to make it work (in the sense of being able to rent a minimal apartment and feed myself). At the time I think my salary was $5/hour and they wouldn't schedule more than 20 hours a week ($400/month). the managers (all of whom had gone to "hamburger U" in Chicago) didn't seem to be doing well, either- they worked 80 hours,…

Your labor was freed for more productive means, presumably.

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

#278

Post by sokoloff »

jumbopapa wrote: post #221
sokoloff wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does putting in $100, getting a $7 match, and immediately pulling it out and paying a $10.70 penalty on the withdrawal leave her with more disposable income? (She avoids income tax on the $100, but then pays tax on the withdrawal so if they happen in the same year, that’s also a wash.) I literally can’t see how this tactic helps her in any way.

It's a dollar for dollar match on up to 7% of pay. Let's say she makes $100. She puts in $7 and her employer also puts in $7. That's $14, and upon early withdraw she would pay $1.40 (penalty) + income tax (likely $0). She would come out with an additional $5.60.

Additional note: Only plan participants 59.5 or older are eligible to make in-service withdrawals (as are terminated employees, of course). Probably not a viable income augmentation plan for most.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/63908/00011931251820...

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

#279

Post by to1y »

matz1 wrote: post #150
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…

Everyone is different, I have plenty of friend who work in food service, they wouldn't want to trade for my developer job.

Perhaps you have some interesting friends, but to me this sounds like it is based in no real-life experience. It's a very stressful job for little reward that leaves you completely depleted at the end of the day to do anything to dig yourself out.

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

#280

Post by Hoasi »

slavik81 wrote: post #251
derg wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

You might be disappointed. Sometimes the least sympathetic people are the ones that have been there before. Shared experiences don't necessarily translate into compassion.

> Shared experiences don't necessarily translate into compassion.

Good point, it explains why well-traveled people often end up being insufferable racists.

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