Why do people think working fast food is easy?

[Neomega]

Has anyone worked or trained people to work in fast food?

I worked at McDonalds in the grill for 13 months. One of the hardest and most stressful jobs of my life. I think most people who have worked Mcdonalds would say the same.

 

[JerichoHill]

I will flat out state that working as crew chief at McDonald's was the worst job I've ever had, mainly because I cannot stand stupid people who cannot follow directions, or unmotivated people.

That's all I dealt with. The chiefs on up to the managers, we weren't bad, some modicrum of intelligence. The regular employees...yeesshhh

 

[newfangle]

I feel for anyone that works in food service.

From the lowliest fast food to the finest of fine dining, its all stressful hell.

 

[VoodooAce]

kingjoshi there is NOTHING hard about fastfood....

Hhmm. And you say you've experienced it? First hand, Fifty?

Because I can tell you there is almost nothing EASY about fastfood or food service in general. My Mom owned a small cafe when I was still at home and for quite a few years after. And I was a franchisee for a certain chain known for their hot dogs for a few years.

The only thing easy is actually making the food....if you're not too busy. The problem is, at what you can afford to pay, you can't expect to have the best employees.

Its a nickle and dime business in the truest sense of the term. You need 10 people during peak hours but you can only afford to have 6 or 7.

And if you've spent any time at all in a restaurant you know damn well that cr@p happens.....regularly, constantly, always and in bunches. You have a running list of people or equipment related problems

If its easy, then the business is circling the drain already.

If you do it, get out. If you don't, don't even think about it.

 

[Abaddon]

ok, theres nothing to challenge the ol' grey matter, but the job such is hard in the sence its;

degrading,greasy,low paid,manually repetitive.. etc .etc.. there is NOTHING redeaming about the job.

 

[Che Guava]

Never did the fast food thing, but I did work as a dishmonkey for about a year. That job nearly killed me....

 

[MobBoss]

Used to work McDonalds for several years while going to college. Opened in the morning and usually worked breakfast through lunch.

To me once you got a routine down the job wasnt very challenging. Everything is on timers that tell you when to act. So cooking was essentially slapping a bunch of meat patties down on a grill, hitting the timers, pressing them with a piece of metal when the timer told you, flipping them when the timer told you, pressing them again, tossing some reconstituted dried onions on the patties that required it..and then removing the meat when a timer told you too.

Wash, rinse and repeat about a gazillion times.

Sweep. Mop. Take a break. Eat something and do it all over again. Opening was basically being mature enough to show up on time sober. Pulling all the bread out, filling condiment containers and preping fryers.

Now, is all that hard? No. It could get hectic at times. But certainly not hard.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

I've worked at McDonald's for almost 2 years now, simply because when I was looking for jobs McDonal'ds was the only place opened to fifteen year olds in search of jobs. Its not a very tough job, the tasks are easily learned, but the key to fast food is learning to do things as efficiently as possible. So far I've gotten a $100 in bonuses and have become a crew trainer. Right now I have an application pending at Wegman's so hopefully I can get myself out of the fast food industry.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I've worked at McDonald's for almost 2 years now, simply because when I was looking for jobs McDonal'ds was the only place opened to fifteen year olds in search of jobs. Its not a very tough job, the tasks are easily learned, but the key to fast food is learning to do things as efficiently as possible. So far I've gotten a $100 in bonuses and have become a crew trainer. Right now I have an application pending at Wegman's so hopefully I can get myself out of the fast food industry.

Where in Pennsylvania are you? I don't know how far Wegman's has spread these days, but it started in Rochester, my home town.

 

[IglooDame]

Easy? No. Requiring very little in the way of intelligence or people skills? You betcha.

 

[Sidhe]

Wow, your friends SUCK! I would expect my friends to support me!

My friends have been guilty of that in the past but when they grew up they stopped doing it. Now they are good friends.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Where in Pennsylvania are you? I don't know how far Wegman's has spread these days, but it started in Rochester, my home town.

Doylestown which is in Bucks County, PA. The store is being built in Warrington which is a 8 minute drive for me.

 

[Aegis]

The hectic pace of a McJob should not be confused with being "difficult," Only "hectic"

 

[AVN]

The hectic pace of a McJob should not be confused with being "difficult," Only "hectic"

But not everyone is able to handle "hectic".
And IMHO that makes such a job (extremely) difficult for a person who can't handle "hectic".

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

McJobs show people this is not what you want to grow up to. get smart and move on. BTW, been there, done that

 

[CaptainF]

tis funny how the replies contrast greatly.

 

[diablodelmar]

the food business as a whole is known to be very stressful.

I know someone who very nearly died from turning to alcohol as a result of the stress of being a chef. It happens that he was (and is) one of the most respected chefs on my whole island.

 

[punkbass2000]

McJobs show people this is not what you want to grow up to.

Not necessarily.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Hm. Take this as you may, but the only person I've known who's worked at McD and not expressed a wish never to get near such employment again has Down's.

 

[punkbass2000]

Well, I don't know that I technically qualify for fast food at the moment. I worked at "McDonald's" for a while. I then worked at "Curry in a Hurry" for the past two years, which would appear to be a "real" restauratn to the casual observer, insomuch as there is wait staff, but I would call it fast food from my kitchen perspective, since almost everything was in little containers that you simply microwave and put on a plate. I now work at a "legitimate" "real" restaurant, with both wait staff as well as things like oven, pots and pans, etc. I think it still qualifies as a "McJob" as defined by Coupland, who I believe coined the term.