It just strikes me as a little ironic.
At one point or another growing up in the American education system, we probably all heard some variation of the threat, “You don’t want to up flipping burgers at McDonald’s, do you?” When students slack off or turn in a bad assignment, some teachers even hand out fast food job applications in place of a carefully-explained grade. Basically, from the beginning, the idea of working in fast food is regarded as not only less desirable than other paths, but even less dignified.
And yet when fewer people choose to work at such fast food restaurants, leading to high intensity and stress in these workplaces to keep up with demand- which corresponds, obviously, with slower service- people find reason to get upset.
Let’s think about this. It’s considered less dignified to work in fast food. And yet we expect fast food workers to be there for us consistently. Hmm. Something about that is a little hypocritical, don’t you think?
But this doesn’t come down to rude, pretentious comments, either. Fewer people want to work in fast food restaurants not only because it’s not well-respected but also because the pay is, quite simply, insufficient. And when McDonald’s employees strike and protest their wages, benefits, and contracts, the public’s response tends to be, “Well, get a different job.”
And yet the same people still expect fast food restaurants- all across the country, so that they’re covered even when traveling- to be staffed.
Do you want your restaurants to be well-staffed, and your service fast? Then maybe you should support a federal minimum wage increase. In fact, you should support any effort promoting better conditions for workers everywhere. And on a micro level, you should stop talking down to people following certain career paths. All workers are dignified. All of us.