Being employed in any fast food job has its ups and downs. One of the downs being that the job title has a really bad reputation. People say it's not a real job, while others say only lazy people get employed at fast food restaurants. One of the most famous comments I have heard is something along the lines of, "Be sure you go to college, or else you'll be flipping burgers at Mcdonald's." It's as if they're saying someone who wants to make a living at McDonald's is automatically unsuccessful.

As someone who has worked in the fast food industry for almost four years, I have to disagree. Of course, I am only twenty-two years old. I do not wish to work in any sort of fast food industry for the rest of my life. Not because I dislike the idea of it, but because I have other passions and hobbies that I wish to put into my main career in the near future. However, I have witnessed co-workers and managers who enjoy their jobs enough to want to make it their career. And that's OK.

I'm honestly sick of society trying to put a bad name to fast food jobs, especially when fast food restaurants are extremely popular here in America and are usually the number one hang out spot. I find it funny when the people who say fast food jobs aren't real jobs turn around and complain about every little detail about a certain fast food place they visited.

Of course, you do get some places that have employees who don't take their job seriously and let the place get gross and run wild. But I'm not talking about those places. I'm talking about the ones that care about their job enough to work with the customer if they have had a bad experience. Even when the manager or coworker is kind enough to work with the customer, I have still seen the said customer stomp all over them and say that the service is horrible as if they were in some sort of fancy five-star establishment.

Working in fast food take so much strength and self-control even when times get tough. Like I've said before, I don't wish to make it my career. However, working in fast food has helped me be better equipped for the real world.

When working in any fast food job, you can come across some hateful and challenging people. Not just customers, but even managers and employees at the restaurant. Before I had any kind of job, I was so shy. I let people step all over me even if they were the one that was in the wrong. It wasn't until I worked my first fast food job that I started to grow a back bone. Of course, it took a while. There were lots of tears and frustration when trying to cope with difficult people in the field, both customers, and co-workers.

I think once I was working my third fast food job, which I am in right now, that was when I began to realize how much stronger I had become as a person. When people were doing me wrong, I wasn't letting them step all over me like I usually do. Of course, I was sure to handle in the most professional and polite way when necessary (for example, a mean customer). Instead of running away and crying like I would have done in the past, I stood my ground and handled it like an adult.

Even if I don't work in fast food my entire life, I will for sure always appreciate what the field has done for me as I grow and learn how to better handle the real world. If it weren't for these kinds of jobs, I would still be the shy little girl who ran away crying and let people bother her. Now, I have become much stronger and I know I still have a lot more strength to bring in as I continue my job.