I didn't work in fast food for long—about six months—but I learned a lot about how people act when things go wrong. Most of the time they were kind and understanding that things happen and are sometimes out of the employee's hands. Working in fast food was a lot harder than I expected, you always hear about just flipping burgers but its a lot more than that. This is just a short list on what's is hard when you work in fast food.
1. Getting out at 1 a.m. when you close.
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When the store closes at 12 a.m. the employees have to stay and clean the store. That can go to about 12:30 to 1:30, when ever the store is clean.
2. Dealing with unhappy customers.
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Prices are prices for a reason and I, as just a crew member, cannot change the prices of french fries based on another stores prices. "But I can grab a manger for you."
3. Customers calling you by name and forgetting you have a name tag.
Complete strangers calling you by your first name can be a little strange at first and can make you uncomfortable, but what ever makes the customer happy, right?
4. Rush hour.
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Rush hour is the most stressful part, everyone is all hands on deck, and we wish we could just stuff our faces with the food we are preparing.
5. Grease.
No, not the movie, the food.
6. Loving chicken nuggets.
We get free chicken nuggets? Yes, please! I mean, no thank you?
7. Friends looking down on you.
When you tell people you work at a fast food restaurant they ask you, "How's that working out?" and you have to politely reply with, "It's great, I am making money," even though it isn't going so great.
8. Cleaning everything in sight.
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I know can barely clean my room, but I guess I'm getting paid.
9. Having to put fresh fries down 10 minutes to close.
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It's nice for the customers, but it sucks for the workers because they just cleaned every tool it takes to prepare the fries.
10. Orientation.
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You think orientation would be on the job learning, but nope, before you even start working, you have to sit through hours of orientation videos. And they will make you fall asleep.
