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

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

#591

Post by timwaagh » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:02 AM UTC

stakhanov wrote: post #571

...so this is going to be unpopular and create some cognitive dissonance around here, but I'm firmly convinced that an economic system that will allow for the top earners to earn a lot (in international comparison) can only be enabled if the bottom earners earn little (in international comparison). In the United Arab Emirates, there are price-controls in place for certain low-level services. Like the price that a hai…

Yeah being software engineer in europe is not much fun. It can be worse than just 'not making as much as a bricklayer'. for instance, your house might not be a house, but an appartment in a run-down area of town, much like the McD employee of this story.

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

#592

Post by timwaagh » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:05 AM 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…

i think you're not wrong in the sense her living standard would be higher in a lot of ways in emerging economies. it does leave the question where the us should source its service workers from.

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

#593

Post by plumednom » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:05 AM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #547

mrtksn wrote: post #544

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same can be argued for anybody. For example, Engineers who don't start their own companies are at fault when the company they work for goes tits up and they are unemployed at an advanced age and unemployable because of their outdated skillset. The truth is, I think, nobody perfectly optimizes their prospects. People are people and people like to be in their social groups and compete in their social groups, which…

Not sure why you’re being downvoted as this is pretty accurate. American success has been predicated on the availability of these social goods which can change peoples lives.

Because Hacker News is pretty much the more educated comment section of breitbart, with a ton more Objectivism and just slightly less white-supremacy.

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

#594

Post by dm319 » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:06 AM UTC

cixter wrote: post #577

Coming from Norway, this article is horrendous. I can never understand the mentality that lies behind all of the arguments most you guys are presenting here - defending the employers shit salary and rights. You guys know that McDonalds manages to run in countries with decent wages as well, right? And that maybe a company with a yearly global profit of over 10 billion dollars might be able to afford giving their emplo…

I'm from the UK and I'm shocked at the discussion going on here. Most people commenting here are in vastly different situations to the person written about - probably both in terms of natural ability as well as education, not to mention actual salary or opportunity. Do we agree as a society we need people to work these jobs? Because if we do, it is not an argument to point out ways an intelligent person can manuveure themselves out of it. How can people be so callous and selfish?

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

#595

Post by konradb » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:08 AM UTC

robbiep wrote: post #550

soulofmischief wrote: post #508

I’ve worked in the fast food industry for 14 years—about half my life Can someone give me an anecdotal example of how this could come to be without some fault in Brown's decision-making process? For starters, I've always heard that commute time is inversely proportional to career mobility. I made it a rule not to work anywhere farther than half an hour away. And that is the absolute maximum which was necessary when I…

The danger with this type of response is that it’s perfectly reasonable, but it’s also sociopathic. I’m an emergency room doctor (part of the time). Due to the advantages I had of birth, gender, country of origin etc, I live a great life, most of which has been because I took every advantage; cf. many of my peers from school who squandered it. I also work in emergency departments, in a country where anyone can come t…

When you say slicing the Gordian Knot (and fixing the lack of agency), what would be some examples?

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

#596

Post by apexalpha » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:08 AM UTC

dm319 wrote: post #594

cixter wrote: post #577

Coming from Norway, this article is horrendous. I can never understand the mentality that lies behind all of the arguments most you guys are presenting here - defending the employers shit salary and rights. You guys know that McDonalds manages to run in countries with decent wages as well, right? And that maybe a company with a yearly global profit of over 10 billion dollars might be able to afford giving their emplo…

I'm from the UK and I'm shocked at the discussion going on here. Most people commenting here are in vastly different situations to the person written about - probably both in terms of natural ability as well as education, not to mention actual salary or opportunity. Do we agree as a society we need people to work these jobs? Because if we do, it is not an argument to point out ways an intelligent person can manuveure…

People grow up with a silver spoon thinking they feed themselves every time they put it in their mouth.

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

#597

Post by ed_balls » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:09 AM UTC

systemtest wrote: post #582

cixter wrote: post #577

Coming from Norway, this article is horrendous. I can never understand the mentality that lies behind all of the arguments most you guys are presenting here - defending the employers shit salary and rights. You guys know that McDonalds manages to run in countries with decent wages as well, right? And that maybe a company with a yearly global profit of over 10 billion dollars might be able to afford giving their emplo…

I'm not from Norway but the Netherlands. If you have a fulltime job at McDonalds, the only way to live on that wage is with heavy subsidies from the government. You will need healthcare subsidy, rent subsidy, social housing, various municipal arrangements and perhaps even go to the "voedselbank" (food bank, free food charity). So while you can live on a McDonalds income, it's only because your fellow citizens are chi…

Rent is the main problem. We are not subsidising McDonalds, we are subsidising landlords. If rent price would stay the same, the minimum wage job wouldn't need subsidies from the state.

The problem is that all powerful people own properties and they want to keep prices high. Main voters base also owns properties. It's an unsolvable problem.

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

#598

Post by soulofmischief » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:10 AM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #544

soulofmischief wrote: post #508

I’ve worked in the fast food industry for 14 years—about half my life Can someone give me an anecdotal example of how this could come to be without some fault in Brown's decision-making process? For starters, I've always heard that commute time is inversely proportional to career mobility. I made it a rule not to work anywhere farther than half an hour away. And that is the absolute maximum which was necessary when I…

The same can be argued for anybody. For example, Engineers who don't start their own companies are at fault when the company they work for goes tits up and they are unemployed at an advanced age and unemployable because of their outdated skillset. The truth is, I think, nobody perfectly optimizes their prospects. People are people and people like to be in their social groups and compete in their social groups, which…

The truth is, I think, nobody perfectly optimizes their prospects. People are people and people like to be in their social groups and compete in their social groups, which puts you on a track to a specific future.

I'm not asking for perfect optimization. Getting out of a minimum wage salary in a 15-year span doesn't require much optimization for most people. So I am asking about the cases where it does.

I hear that college is inaccessible for many Americans, maybe they should fix that. Equal social comfort opportunity can create a much more just society.

Some states offer free tuition. However in the state I grew up in, we had to get scholarships based on scholastic merit.

I worked hard and aced my tests which lead to a full 4-year scholarship along with room and board and an on-campus job, plus I qualified for government aid due to my situation (living on my own since 16 due to homeless parents).

Right before graduation a vindictive teacher changed my final project grade from a 100 to a 0, ignored school policies as well as ignored a doctor's note for excused absences, and the school administration promised they would follow up.

Well, they didn't, and on the day I received my final report card I had an F in a class I should have received a B in, and had to forfeit all of my state scholarship money. I ended up not being able to afford college and was homeless and very sick for a year after high school until I was able to get on my feet and pursue my own education online.

This is an example where working hard was not enough, and I got completely railroaded by a system designed to keep the impoverished as such. If I or a family member could have afforded a lawyer, I would have gotten my grade fixed and been able to attend college.

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

#599

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:10 AM UTC

apexalpha wrote: post #589

systemtest wrote: post #582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not from Norway but the Netherlands. If you have a fulltime job at McDonalds, the only way to live on that wage is with heavy subsidies from the government. You will need healthcare subsidy, rent subsidy, social housing, various municipal arrangements and perhaps even go to the "voedselbank" (food bank, free food charity). So while you can live on a McDonalds income, it's only because your fellow citizens are chi…

Dutch here, too. While everyone below a certain income gets benefits like healthcare subsidy you can still live okay on a McDonalds salary. If you make €10 an hour you get €1600 a month. And at that level you pay almost no income tax. While not a lot, you don't necessarily need the foodbank or other subsidies than the regular ones to make ends meet.

[deleted]

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

#600

Post by ollie87 » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:13 AM UTC

dm319 wrote: post #594

cixter wrote: post #577

Coming from Norway, this article is horrendous. I can never understand the mentality that lies behind all of the arguments most you guys are presenting here - defending the employers shit salary and rights. You guys know that McDonalds manages to run in countries with decent wages as well, right? And that maybe a company with a yearly global profit of over 10 billion dollars might be able to afford giving their emplo…

I'm from the UK and I'm shocked at the discussion going on here. Most people commenting here are in vastly different situations to the person written about - probably both in terms of natural ability as well as education, not to mention actual salary or opportunity. Do we agree as a society we need people to work these jobs? Because if we do, it is not an argument to point out ways an intelligent person can manuveure…

>How can people be so callous and selfish?

Quite easily when they've spent their entire lives being told poor people are evil. That's American's for you. There's too much of "I've got mine, so fuck anyone else" going on.