Like other Americans, I fall in the percentile who work in the dream job of the fast food industry. Although working at your favorite burger joint or ritzy restaurant may be fine and dandy, trust me when I say that, within the past three years, it has a flip side. When I say the flip side, I'm not talking about your favorite blueberry pancake getting flipped over at iHop either, I'm talking about the greasy downside of the workplace. I'm talking about the grime and slime that causes many workers to say “I hate my job.” Below, you'll find just five of the millions of cons to working fast food.
1. The Potty Trainee
While working fast food, I have came to find out that there is always that one co-worker who loves to sit on the toilet, scroll through their phone and avoid work for a solid 10 minutes. Sooner or later, the whole crew learns to dislike this person and avoid letting them even use the bathroom. However, when you've got to go, you've got to go!
2. The Newbie
Once you get acquainted with your work crew, you begin to call them your family. You fight, you argue, and you throw food at each other, but sometimes there's a new person. Who in the world did your manager just hire? Then, the talking continues. Don't get me wrong, getting your friends and family members hired in the same workplace as you is awesome. However, then you've got to teach them. Unfortunately, chances are good that they won't get it the first time. If you're in a rush, needing ice, or want more ketchup packets, it looks like you won't be getting those for awhile. Most likely, the newbie has never heard of an ice bucket before working fast food, much less knows where the stock room is. However, have no fear, after a couple of weeks, the newbie will fit right into your fast food family. Then, you get a new newbie.
3. The Managers
Chances are good that when you work fast food, you're not going to have just one manager. Instead, you'll have multiple. For most, this is a blessing. For others, it's a headache. Each manager is different. You may have all the managers picked out as your favorites in a list.
For example:
-The manager who don't care
-The manager who gives us food
-The manager who makes us redo all the cleaning
-The manager who does everything by protocol
Honestly, the list is endless!
4. Crunch Crunch
What do we have all over the store? It's food. There's unlimited soda, tea, fries, burgers, and pickles. The list is endless! If you're on a diet, you'd better not stick your hand in the fry station. You'll break your diet! Are you thirsty? Try a Coke. Wait, try a Sprite, you haven't had that drink selection in the past hour. Are you hungry? Go fix yourself a burger. The sad part about this is that some of your coworkers (as well as yourself sometimes) go overboard with the food frenzy. Should you be chugging down sodas? No, you'll get a cavity. What about eating all the fries? No, that's against health department standards. When it comes down to it, fast food is crazy, even for the workers.
5. The Crazy Customer
No matter where you work, you're going to have stories about customers that will last for a lifetime.
Here are a few examples.
While taking orders in drive thru, you're going to come across people who can not speak English, at least not well. However, the moment when you attempt to speak their language with them, it's all downhill from there. If they ask for combo uno and you confirm the order in Spanish, you had better be prepared to be very fluent because when they pull up to the window, they're going to want to have a full conversation with you. Another example is when you're in a rush and say, “Thank you for choosing (name of restaurant), I'll be with you in a moment.” However, somehow the thousand dollar intercom system “did not” work so the customer continues to order. So, when you're done and finally say, “Sorry for your wait, what can I get for you?” Guess who is already at the window because they went ahead and ordered, although you told them that you would be with them in just a minute.
No matter what fast food place you decide to grab a burger from and whether or not the worker seems to be having a bad day, just remember that these are just some of the many things that we deal with on a daily basis.
