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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

#331

Post by stevenwoo »

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

also, covered under 3(selecting -> fresh produce lasts from 1-28 days, so one has to shop often for some items, constantly manage, plan and cook and note inventory and refresh, her struggles to just make ends meet and stay awake just makes this sound impossible. If I were working full time, there's very little chance I would be eating/cooking as well as I know I should without using money to just buy meals, the work/commute part of the day would wear me out and I'm in a much better position than her.

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

#332

Post by slg »

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.

It is the hazing mentality. "I had to survive through it and so should you." In the end, some people are just unsympathetic assholes regardless of their experience.

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

#333

Post by noer »

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…

That's a great idea. Buffer, the social media automation tool, does (or did) something similar. IIRC, every new employee spent a week doing customer support. Doing customer support work is a really good way to figure out customers issues & pain points very quickly.

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

#334

Post by nlfwhulsdhouv »

nerdponx wrote: post #266
nlfwhulsdhouv wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree that something needs to happen. The way we treat less-fortunate people is shameful and undignified. My biggest concern with UBI specifically is that it will be absorbed by landlords and other societal rent-seekers. My personal opinion is that we should democratize workplaces, through unions in the short-term and co-ops in the long term. McDonalds cashiers should have a say in their working conditions beyon…

Keeping people constantly tired and "on the edge" might be a deliberate strategy. Or at least a very convenient coincidence. If they're too tired and too reliant on their current jobs to protest or quit, they'll stay quiet and politically compliant.

While I wouldn't be _surprised_ if it's a deliberate strategy, I think it's more likely that the incentives just align in, as you said, a very convenient coincidence for the political elite and bourgeois interests in society.

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

#335

Post by stevenwoo »

bradley_taunt wrote: post #147
SolaceQuantum wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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

So we are going under the impression that this person is homeless? Renters/home owners would have ovens, simple cooking equipment. If the person doesn't have access to ANY of those things - there are bigger issues than food.

From the article she had an apartment years ago, but due to rising rents and stagnant wages over the years in the same area now she lives with in her boyfriend's parents' home and she and the boyfriend contribute rent back to the parents. I imagine part of it is her schedule is not the same as anyone else in the home, also due to her dietary needs, so possibly if she cooked it would be a lot of single serving meals/cooking.

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

#336

Post by abecedarius »

justinsaccount wrote: post #28

> It’s 8 p.m. and my scheduled shift is over, but they asked me to stay later > The bus stops running at 10 p.m. on Sunday, but McDonald's asked me to stay until close at 1 a.m. They asked me to stay because they need my help. Thats not a job, that's an abusive relationship.

I agree. It's worth noting that successfully getting high minimum wages enacted can be expected to make more jobs more abusive in this way, because rationing by willingness to take abuse would substitute for rationing by wages.

A more humane and less distorting way to help poor people is to just give them money.

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

#337

Post by rconti »

archeantus wrote: post #314

The higher I climb the corporate ladder, the higher my salary goes. This is all well and good, but the expectations and stress climb with it too. I like working and applying my brain to solving problems, but I sometimes pine for a job that pays little and expects little. I can’t afford to make that change now and there is a good chance I wouldn’t actually enjoy bagging groceries at the store again, but it’s nice to d…

Sure you can. You can afford it more easily than the folks who are currently in those jobs, in fact.

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

#338

Post by rconti »

larrywright wrote: post #219
sterkekoffie wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2017, McDonald's had 235,000 employees and paid its shareholders $7.7 billion. Compelling argument, all right.

The restaurants are almost entirely owned by franchisees and run on fairly tight margins. You can argue that the corporation makes too much money or whatever, but they’re not the ones who will be screwed if I’m right.

Are you arguing the franchisees are hurting as well?

Or are you just arguing that the franchisees are also getting rich by paying people as little as possible?

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

#339

Post by rland »

whack wrote: post #215
excalibur wrote: post #133

Everybody seems to be latching on to the McDonald's part of her story, the author included. But it's the hospital part I find mortifying. McDonald's is pinching pennies left and right, it's their key to success. The hospital is not. How much would you guess they're charging per day for the average patient to stay there? I bet it's enough money to cover full-time employment and benefits for their food service workers.

I find it very interesting that most people assume it should be the employer's responsibility to provide for the employee's wellbeing. Call me naive, but I think it should be society's responsibility. What about Hedge Funds, Technology companies, Law Firms and every other company that hires primarily 6-figure white collar employees. Should they be completely off the hook, just because their business model only requir…

The level of control employers exert on society essentially equivocates the two.

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

#340

Post by gnu8 »

oh_sigh wrote: post #69
gnu8 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She doesn’t have the extra $370/mo in her budget to pay out in anticipation of a $4440 refund next year.

The government knows that this is a common state for people, and would allow her to pay her estimated tax credit monthly directly to the insurance company. So that isn't it. Any other guesses? https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-fami...

You and I are capable of finding, reading and understanding that document. I don't know if it is realistic to expect that from someone who spends all of their time and energy on mere subsistence.
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