I worked at McDonalds. It was an abomination. So much so that I never ate there again, and that was well over 8 years ago. I didn't need the job. I basically picked it up as a second job when all my friends went off to college and I still had another couple months left because our school started late. It wasn't worth the extra cash. I was derided on a daily basis by customers who looked down upon me (despite the fact I was going to be majoring in Physics). When my manager noticed that I was reasonably intelligent, they took off early and left me to run the entire restaurant which was utterly exhausting. No one respected health codes. The other employees were living proof of how destructive the food is to your body. In fact you could almost tell how many years (or months) they had been there just by estimating their weight.
Working at McDonalds taught me a few lessons. 1) Never date anyone who eats at McDonalds on a regular basis. They don't care about their health and well-being. 2) Always treat others with respect. 3) Be happy and grateful for the opportunities you have in your life. There are less fortunate situations you could be in.
My first job was at a McDonald's. My parents made me start working when I was 14, and that was the only place that would hire me. That was almost 10 years ago, and I had a similar experience to what you described, but it appears to me that the quality of most of the chains has gotten better (at least in my area). I still don't eat there, though.
Embarrassing story: Since I was only 14, I was pretty shy when working the counter. One of my managers encouraged me to make small talk with the customers while they waited for their food, provided we weren't busy. I was helping a large woman, and mistakenly thought she was pregnant. I asked her "how long until you have your baby?" and she said "Excuse me!?!?" Turns out she was just fat. Needless to say, I don't ask women about their pregnancies anymore, unless they bring it up first. Sounds like a cliche story, but it really happened :(
The Brazilian labour courts ruled that McDonald's has to offer its employees a proper meal or money so they can eat elsewhere because what they offer does not constitute a proper meal. It's just a snack.
My first job was at McDonald's at 14, I wasn't even old enough to work the fryer.
I had an almost identical reaction, I promptly became vegetarian for a year and didn't eat beef for the next 10. I still can't eat McDonald's to this day. And I definitely learned similar lessons about life.
But the biggest lesson I learned was that McDonald's food is really, really greasy.
A good job for talking with real people is working as a telephone market researcher - basically a poller. You have a huge list of randomly generated phone numbers, and a handful of questions about brands, current events, and politics, and you just call people randomly, asking what they feel and how they like subject X, Y, or Z.
I worked as one for a month. It was a very enlightening experience - actually listening to what people wanted and felt - and answering to the hostile respondents as well. On any given day, I would talk to over 100 of my fellow citizens, and got them to tell me their income, what they felt about politicians and the law, which banks and credit cards they use, how they like their barbecue set up, how often they surf the web, which websites they repeatedly visit, etc.
It was great fun at times - but a hard, grinder of a job - the turnover rate was massive.
The grind and performance targets were the reasons I left. That and the low pay. Every time you hear on CNN or on TV that according to so and so opinion poll or market research company ... it means that a whole army of pollers had to call a ton of people to get that information. The pressure is on to get a statistically meaningful sample, and there are tough time constraints. To make things even worst, you are encouraged to be automatons, and need to follow the script.
It was a total grind.
But it did change my opinion of people, their wealth, and how they know their world. I've spoken on the phone with people who routinely charge hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to their credit cards, and they'd turn out to know not much more about the world than the average joe in a suburban home, with 3 kids and a hospital bound spouse.
The seniors are who you need to watch out for! They're smarter than every other age group, and know what you're after - they make you work for every answer. They don't hesitate to challenge whatever you ask - sniffing out trick questions and assumptions built into the surveys. And also offering the most amount of reasonably intelligent alternatives for tough questions and current events issues.
My personal opinions about the issues at hand usually didn't change, but talking to people did teach me a ton. During the presidential elections, I got a professor of political science on the line, and he basically dissected the entire political landscape and tried to tell me why Obama would win. It didn't help me with the boss though - they were concerned that I was spending too much time on the call.
Yea, that's exactly what he did. He actually says he worked there for a few weeks. Total interview attention whoring in my book. "Oh, I made millions, then immediately connected with with real people by working the grind at McDonald's." BS. No way, did he make any kind of connection in that amount of time other than the ability to score interviews with that "intriguing" introduction.
He does have interesting things to say in the interview, but you can tell the McDonald's thing was relatively meaningless to him. Now, had he done it for a year and lived solely off the wages from working shifts at McDonald's that would be something that likely would have provided a real connection for him. It probably also wouldn't be a story he'd tell in a mere 30 seconds with a smile on his face the whole time.
I'd be more interested in knowing why he quit McDonald's. I had (teenage) friends who busted their asses there...many say it was the toughest job they had.
Sounds like he wanted to experience life as part of the proletariat, but discovered that "American Beauty" was well, just a really good movie.
I worked in a McDonald's (UK) for 3 months during first year at university. It was the toughest job I ever had or have had since.
(Also, my experience of McDonald's is that it is the cleanest, most hygienic restaurant I have ever worked in (I worked in a bunch of restaurants while at uni) more so than people's homes even.)
Working at McDonalds taught me a few lessons. 1) Never date anyone who eats at McDonalds on a regular basis. They don't care about their health and well-being. 2) Always treat others with respect. 3) Be happy and grateful for the opportunities you have in your life. There are less fortunate situations you could be in.