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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)

#61
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is working the counter at McDs something you add to a LinkedIn profile? Do people moving from the counter at McDs to BurgerKing use LinkedIn?

Why not? Its a nice PR story about early life struggles.

He wasn’t struggling. He had sold his former company properly. He was just more or less taking a break by working at McDonalds.

Some people said it was a bit disrespectful at the time because he didn’t need neither the money nor the experience and was only doing it for the kick of it. I tend to agree.

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

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've seen, it's not the same. I worked at McDonalds in high school and college. It was fun for the most part. But most of the employees were like me. Young, not really adults yet, pretty carefree. The people I see at McDonalds today are not the same at all. Mostly older, disinterested, no energy, no spark, marginal care for personal appearance. You rarely see a high schooler or young person working there. I…

That's interesting. I wonder if it's related to the corporation. My local McDonald's hires people who seem to be mostly in their early 20's. OTOH, the Dairy Queen that's just a few minutes down the road seems to rarely have anyone older than 19 or so working there. Average age at DQ seems to be around 16.

McDonalds probably has more hours to cover per week, all hours of the day and more year round need.

A DQ may be open early and year round too, but really needs people in summer evenings and weekends when high schoolers are most available.

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

#63
post #13

If his timeline and application are true, he was technically still the chairman of his company while working at McDonald's, if in name only. > 10/99-10/01: chairman, i-traffic (an agency.com company) > 10/00-10/00: counterperson, mcdonald's (4th & broadway, nyc) I sometimes think about going back to work at food service jobs after I retire, just to keep busy. I enjoyed those jobs as a high school and college student,…

I'm around the service industry daily/nightly, used to bartend, lots of my friends still bartend. Apart from the social aspect of actually enjoying working with your coworkers, cool regulars, general night life fun, etc, the world has collectively lost it's mind since 2020 and there is not a chance I would ever do industry again. The amount of drama, fights, and just people in general being rude assholes since 2020 i…

I think its just a huge burden that certain states are putting on people along with dramatically increased cost of living due to insane govt spending. People are really hurting right now and tempers are short.

- Housing has gone up 50-60% in the past 3 years.

- Groceries have also gone up 30-40% along with restaurant prices.

- Despite the job market for professionals being the worst its been since 2008 you have the media gaslighting everyone talking about a "vibecession" and saying the economy is the strongest its ever been.

- Crime and lawlessness has been out of control, we are approaching 90's levels of crime in a few short years.

- Interest rates are the highest they have been in 30+ years, all loans etc are now very expensive(see housing costs as house prices have shot up).

- Arsonists running wild in California/Oregon/Washington causing record wildfires and releasing tons of CO2 into the air.

- Homelessness hit record high (up 12% from 2022 to 2023)

- All these things are causing a huge drop in quality of life and pushing people to the brink. So many people in my circle of friends - engineers, scientists and mgmt that are out of work I have never seen anything like this.

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

#64
Honestly this is something I would like to do once I feel "financially ready." I want to be a barista, at least for a little while. Like this CEO outlined, it's really easy to be detached from the real world when you're working super high paying jobs.

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

#65
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm around the service industry daily/nightly, used to bartend, lots of my friends still bartend. Apart from the social aspect of actually enjoying working with your coworkers, cool regulars, general night life fun, etc, the world has collectively lost it's mind since 2020 and there is not a chance I would ever do industry again. The amount of drama, fights, and just people in general being rude assholes since 2020 i…

> the world has collectively lost it's mind since 2020 Covid causes brain damage. The common symptom of "loss of smell" was found to actually be due to covid infection of the neurons in brain & cranial nerves. Obviously "brain fog" (or memory issues, fatigue, lack of focus, however people articulated it) is due to damage to brain. I wonder how society moves forward. We didn't get the movie-horror-story virus that tur…

> I wonder how society moves forward.

I'm nervous about this generation of kids who had to grow up locked in a house.

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

#66
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've seen, it's not the same. I worked at McDonalds in high school and college. It was fun for the most part. But most of the employees were like me. Young, not really adults yet, pretty carefree. The people I see at McDonalds today are not the same at all. Mostly older, disinterested, no energy, no spark, marginal care for personal appearance. You rarely see a high schooler or young person working there. I…

It's a franchise; so how each restaurant and region hires will vary. In 2004 I drove between MA and Chicago, and found a very stark difference in every one. In Chicago McDonalds was hiring people who were coming out of poverty and helping build work experience. In PA, the McDonalds were well oiled machines and run with pride. In MA the McDonalds have always been first jobs for immigrants / refugees.

Yes I'm mostly going on local observations. Sometimes on a road trip I'll still run across a McDonald's that's well run, clean, and the employess act like they care at least a little bit. But it's much more rare at least in my experience.

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

#67
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…

I used to work in software sales in a call center. I hated my job and the highlight of my week was the Monday burrito special down the street at a place where the employees shouted "Welcome to Moe's!" whenever customers entered. When thinks ultimately fell apart at that job, I went to Moe's and somehow managed to get a job despite a lack of food service experience. I lasted a while—months, I think—but eventually got fired.

I don't know that there's a moral to that, but I guess I tend to look at the urge to bail and go to unskilled (or really, differently-skilled) labor less as a virtuous thing and more a sign that some in-place re-evaluation is needed with mental health in mind.

I still occasionally say "I should become a farmer" but take it more as a sign that there's something I probably need to address within my current situation and/or I need to get back on the wagon of going on morning walks.

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

#68
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He worked there for a few weeks: https://www.businessinsider.com/scott-heiferman-startup-care...

Well that explains why he felt nobody appreciated his efforts. The first few weeks at a job like that you are pretty much just in the way. It takes some time to learn the routines and operate the equipment so you can work quickly without thinking.

Agree that’s kind of *^%% move, I’d have too much self respect to start working somewhere for a few weeks than bail.

Doesn’t matter if it’s a food service job or a FAANG. McDonalds was doing him a solid by offering some kind of employment for a person presumably down on their luck with zero experience. Hiring people is a huge expense and risk even for a small franchise.

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

#69
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…

I used to work in software sales in a call center. I hated my job and the highlight of my week was the Monday burrito special down the street at a place where the employees shouted "Welcome to Moe's!" whenever customers entered. When thinks ultimately fell apart at that job, I went to Moe's and somehow managed to get a job despite a lack of food service experience. I lasted a while—months, I think—but eventually got…

Maybe you needed to work with your hands for a while.

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

#70
post #7
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…

Is working the counter at McDs something you add to a LinkedIn profile? Do people moving from the counter at McDs to BurgerKing use LinkedIn?

Such a classist comment
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