Why EVERYONE should work at McDonalds
I am appalled by the amount of college students I have come across lately that have never held a job before.
You know the type : They have Mommy and Daddies platinum credit card and are constantly complaining about how hard life is for them. They can’t wash their own clothes. They don’t know how to pump gas. They don’t how to pay rent. They call their parents at the slightest sign of distress.
*Sigh*
I wish I was making this up. If there is anything that I’m thankful for in life, it’s my ability to be completely self-sufficent. From age 15, I’ve held numerous jobs and have bought my own things. In the past, I’ve :
Worked at a plant nursery digging holes. (Yes, it was that glamorous)
Worked at McDonald’s asking “Would you like fries with that?”
Worked at Albertson’s as a courtesy clerk (aka Alberton’s bitch)
Worked at Pita Pit mopping bathrooms.
Worked at a Lavender farm chopping down stuff in a field.
Worked in a Thai Restaurant with a crazy boss.
Worked in another Thai Restaurant with an equally crazy boss.
Worked in my college dorms making sandwiches and washing dishes.
And this is only half.
Yes. Most of these jobs sucked. Actually wait, ALL of these jobs sucked. Even though miserable jobs, when I reminse about my work history, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything. Why?
1.) You Learn How To Work Fast - Run! Grab fries! Go mop the floors! Go make an ice cream cone! Take out the trash! Go! Go! Go! When I worked at McDonald’s, I was in the best shape of my life (ironically). The entire shift consisted of running back and forth putting orders together as fast as you could. From the outside, working at the Golden Arches seems like a picnic. On the inside, it’s a chaotic mess. Working at McDonald’s taught me how to work fast on my feet, deal with irate customers, and practice my customer service ability.
2.) You Learn The Value of a Dollar – There is nothing more gratifying than your first paycheck. You put in the hours, you pushed those Albertson’s carts, and you mopped bathrooms for hours – FINALLY - the reward. Working a minimum wage paying job is the best way to learn how to appreciate money.
3.) You Appreciate People- Learning to deal with various types of people is an art that can’t be throurougly taught within the walls of a school. You have to practice. During my time spent at all of these jobs, I’ve had to deal with customers that were lovely, to customers straight from hell. During my time spent at McDonald’s I remember one cashier getting so frustrated with a customer that he threw the headset into their car yelling “TAKE YOUR OWN DAMN ORDER!”. Fortunately, I was not this cashier. In life, there are times you must bite your tongue, smile, and say “have a nice day!”. McDonald’s taught me this.
4.) You Learn What Not To Do – Some of the businesses I have worked for have been complete train wrecks. They have no systems in order for doing things, their signage is falling apart, and the owner has no clue how to run a business. Lucky you! When you start your own business or become manager – you’ll be miles ahead of the game. By paying attention to what works and what doesn’t work within a start-up can help so much with your own projects. Learn from mistakes on someone else’s dollar.
5.) Co-Worker Relations – I’m not sure what is worse – dealing with irrational customers or dealing with lazy employees. At every single job I have ever had there is always this one guy. You know him. He sucks up to the manager. Calls in late. Doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do. Over, and over again. Learning how to deal with these types of situations are things you’ll have to deal with throughout life. Why not learn it at 15 instead of 25?
From french fries to working in the fields, holding a crappy job can teach more than any standardized type of education. What kinds of crappy jobs have you held?
About The Author
Arianna
...like a boss!
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I completely agree! Young adults need to be prepared for the real world. To me that means things like holding a job, even if it’s crappy, and playing sports.
Due to my parents’religion, I wasn’t allowed to play sports growing up. I really wish I had because I feel, like work, sports teaches young adults so many valuable lessons- healthy competition, working as a team, strategy, how to win AND lose graciously.
As usual, another great post Arianna!
Thanks Jen!
I completely agree – I also did sports in high school. As the worst runner on the cross country team, I did learn how to lose graciously. Over, and over again.
This is a great list. I would also add another lesson I’ve learned in my current work at a coffee shop. I love making espresso drinks, but I sometimes have to do a TON of dirty dishes before I can actually work the bar. In fact, there are days when I work entire shifts doing dishes and taking out the trash without actually making ANY drinks. Even more than your point about appreciating the paycheck, it’s been a great reminder that sometimes the fun and rewarding parts of your job–the parts you actually enjoy–only come after you’ve done the really hard and sucky parts.
Hi Jonathan,
You’re totally right – it makes you appreciate the good parts. I actually did coffee at one point too. That was the fun part. Thanks for the comment.
A
So weird! I don’t know why, but my avatar is a pic of my friend in Maryland. Are you seeing that too?
Haha, yeah – that’s really weird!
Awesome article Arianna! So true!!
This is too funny and right on target, Arianna! I agree that you learn a lot from your first jobs working for minimum wage. I worked for one company throughout high school but transferred to 3 different jobs — all was at a flower shop and I started by cleaning offices, processes flowers, making bouquets for their wholesale division, then (finally) working at the retail store. I saw many faucets of the company and have good memories about what I learned on the job.
One thing I would add to #2 is that you’ll never receive a larger paycheck (in perspective). I remember getting paychecks that were barely $300 or $500 and thinking that I had sooo much money. Sure, when that money doesn’t have to go towards rent and bills beyond gas money
Fantastic post! I didn’t ever work at McDonalds, but I have fond memories of my first job working at a movie theater making minimum wage. It taught me a lot about working with customers and also being a more pleasant customer to serve the rest of my life. My next job was a summer internship at Microsoft. I am soooooo glad I didn’t skip straight to that; I’d be much worse off without having worked an entry level job.
Thanks Kevin! Minimum wage paying jobs definitely make you appreciate every other job you hold after that.
O: finally! someone who understands McDonald’s like i do!!!!!!! ^o^ this is suck a relief! i thought it was only me … i have only ever had one job and it was at McDs. what makes it worse is that my mcds is right next to a highschool and all the factories in town. so …. -sighs- it gets extremely hectic. i do about a million things at one time “take this park out” “make up some fries” “get a case of fries” “go make some sandwiches” “hand out the food” x. x enough to make a person go crazy. but when the week is up you get that awesome paycheck and think it all might be worth it lolz
“What these youngsters need is a cold dose of reality that they can only get in the workaday world, not in the never-never land of the public schools.”
-Thomas Sowell