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I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

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Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#111

> Nobody thanked me. Do you think this is still true? This resonates with me. I used to work in tech, but I recently joined my family's brick-and-mortar business. No one says thank you, no one appreciates you. I find it amazing that this culture of thanklessness exists even in the US (I'm in India) in non-tech jobs. P.S. I worked at all fronts of the business before joining the management. Worked at the counter, as a…

Here in England, there's a very significant cultural divide between North and South. One of the key symbols of that cultural divide is whether people thank the bus driver when disembarking. In London, thanking the driver would make you a bit of a weirdo; in Newcastle, not thanking the driver would make you dreadfully antisocial. I imagine that there's a huge difference in this respect between a McDonalds in Manhattan…

In Dublin, thanking the bus driver is such an ingrained thing that Dublin Bus use it in their job ads (“Get thanked for a living” was a recent one). The switch to two-door buses has complicated this, obviously.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate on that? Altering caloric intake and sleep schedule as a reaction to what? And how would you change between the two regimes? Increase/decrease how much? etc.

Not GP, but being on your feet all day will lead to needing more calories and sleep for proper recovery.

I can't speak to sleep, but you are wrong about the calories.

Kurzgesagt has a really interesting video on it: https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s

The caloric part quite blew my mind. I know its not the most scientific source but digging deeper in it it does seem to match up.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#113
post #99
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm haven't worked at McDonalds for 20+ years, but I think that the top manager at each store is making $200k, and the top 4 are over $150k - it goes down fast below that though. I'm reasonable sure that if I had stayed at McDonalds I'd have never had a year where I made less than I made in tech. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be out, but they pay those they care about well enough, and there were some good things I…

> I think that the top manager at each store is making $200k, and the top 4 are over $150k Curious what this range is based on? According to ~3.8k self-reported salaries from Glassdoor, the McD manager salary ranges from $37k-$64k with a median of $48k.

The top manager. The shift managers make about that, but the top managers who mostly do paperwork and are rarely seen on the floor do better.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#114

Honestly, I think he’s living the dream — no tech headaches, just flipping burgers and taking it easy. Really makes me think...

I think when you work low paying jobs you quickly learn that the worst part is how most people treat you. Customers, managers, etc. We in tech take for granted how we’re treated.

The baristaFIRE fantasy seems to miss this part.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#115
post #2

"10/[20]00-10/[20]00: counterperson, mcdonald's" Does that mean he worked there for one month or less? I checked his Linkedin, the job isn't listed. Jan 2002 he started a new photo startup ("50M+ members posted a billion photos"), then co-founder&CEO of meetup. It's a good time capsule of what his thinking was in 2000 but I wonder if it was more than a break. At my office job I, too, often think I should drive an Ube…

We, the internet people, should all work a regular job for 2-4 weeks year. I think far too often that I'd like to experience being a truck driver before I die.

Why there are no companies that arrange this? We need a Kidzania for adult nerds.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#116
post #2

"10/[20]00-10/[20]00: counterperson, mcdonald's" Does that mean he worked there for one month or less? I checked his Linkedin, the job isn't listed. Jan 2002 he started a new photo startup ("50M+ members posted a billion photos"), then co-founder&CEO of meetup. It's a good time capsule of what his thinking was in 2000 but I wonder if it was more than a break. At my office job I, too, often think I should drive an Ube…

We, the internet people, should all work a regular job for 2-4 weeks year. I think far too often that I'd like to experience being a truck driver before I die. Why there are no companies that arrange this? We need a Kidzania for adult nerds.

Therein lies the problem, as you'd expect a company to arrange for this, via just go ahead and .. do it?

But I guess as a society we are constantly inventing higher level of first world problems that's probably the result of echo chambers that has stratified the society.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#117
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not GP, but being on your feet all day will lead to needing more calories and sleep for proper recovery.

I can't speak to sleep, but you are wrong about the calories. Kurzgesagt has a really interesting video on it: https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s The caloric part quite blew my mind. I know its not the most scientific source but digging deeper in it it does seem to match up.

Herman Pontzer, an anthropology professor, talks quite a bit about a study he did on the calorie needs of people who are highly active on this podcast: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-podcast/examining-energy-evoluti...

Spoiler alert: you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#118
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak to sleep, but you are wrong about the calories. Kurzgesagt has a really interesting video on it: https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s The caloric part quite blew my mind. I know its not the most scientific source but digging deeper in it it does seem to match up.

Herman Pontzer, an anthropology professor, talks quite a bit about a study he did on the calorie needs of people who are highly active on this podcast: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-podcast/examining-energy-evoluti... Spoiler alert: you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active.

> Herman Pontzer, an anthropology professor

> you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active

Can you provide more evidence for this, because it sounds entirely bogus. Perhaps you mean one's base metabolic rate? If you are physically active, you will consume more calories than sitting all day - because, you know, you are exerting yourself.

Also, an anthropology professor is not a credible source on diet, exercise, fitness and health.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#119

Honestly, I think he’s living the dream — no tech headaches, just flipping burgers and taking it easy. Really makes me think...

You've never worked in fast food have you? "Taking it easy" is not how it works. You're on the clock 100% until you clock out, no rest, no breaks, if a burger takes more than 60 seconds to land on the customer's tray the boss is on your ass. If you miscalculate how many patties to slap on the grill and either run out or you have to toss some because they've sat in the steamer for more than 15 minutes you are in for s…

My fast food experience

* Worked ~9 months at a dunkin donuts

* Start of shift generally 4 a.m.

* End of shift generally 1 p.m.

* 7 days per week although Sunday would only work 3 hr - this was because my boss could provide much more compensation because we were paid 1.5x hourly above 40 hours. He would illegally manually adjust my hours downwards in the computer system to ensure it didn't get too much out of hand :)

* Was promoted to "shift manager" after 6 months (meaningless title)

I agree with nearly all of your points:

* no breaks

* boss monitors waste, quality (customer complaints), service time per order

* regional competitions

* cleaning in downtime

* constant churn training new recruits who would suddenly quit

Your conclusion fast food is difficult seems off to me. The work is repetitive so each individual step requires little thought. To make a sandwhich you put the bread in oven 1 and click button 2 then you put the patty in oven 2 and click button 7. When it comes out you wrap, bag, add napkins, and hand it to the customer. Crucially when your shift is done you go home and don't care. There are no objectives that line employees care about at a quarterly level. You were able to move around the entire day and interact with people rather than being sedentary behind a screen. You didn't have to have any education or work experience beyond completing ~9 grade (compared to CS where the most common path in the US is 3 years of highschool, 4 years of college). Most employees at my location were young, more social, less attached, and better looking than my colleagues in big tech (ok myself included).

I would trade my new line of work for my old in a heartbeat if the compensation and career prospects were comparable.

Re: I was a 20-something dethroned dotcom ceo that went to work at mcdonald's (2000)

#120
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not GP, but being on your feet all day will lead to needing more calories and sleep for proper recovery.

I can't speak to sleep, but you are wrong about the calories. Kurzgesagt has a really interesting video on it: https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s The caloric part quite blew my mind. I know its not the most scientific source but digging deeper in it it does seem to match up.

What kind of reference is a "Kurzgesagt" video please? Not only has the this channel been in more controversies than needed, they seem to also spread missinformation
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