"You're too smart to be working at McDonald's" etc

Page 1 of 4 [ 57 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next

CanisMajor
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 26 Feb 2012
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 271
Location: Miami Beach

11 Mar 2012, 11:13 pm

Just4U wrote:
So I wouldn't be surprised if the people who are judging others for working service jobs are just participating in some sort of bias confirmation behavior. In their minds, anyone can get a "better" job and a "better" job is one that you have to sacrifice pleasure for.


I got one life to live, I'd rather live it poor and happy than rich and miserable. Though I do want enough money to feel comfortable should anything happen (but isn't that how most people feel, if they're honest with themselves?)

As to "You're too smart to be working here..." Ugh, happened all the time at my last two jobs. It's amazing how people can simultaneously be so aware of the horrid financial situation the world is in, yet also completely forget that everyone around them has the same problems they do. "You're too smart to be working here!" says the 60-something year old guy. No offense, but aren't you too old and skilled? Ohh, you got laid off because you were too experienced at your old job? Well, welcome to the this-is-the-only-job-I-was-able-to-get,-so-I-took-it club!



Grebels
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Mar 2012
Age: 83
Gender: Male
Posts: 545

12 Mar 2012, 9:22 am

I guess most of us are good at things which don't pay well. I worked doing a mundane job in an office for some years, but never very good at it. Then I moved to another office job in a high stress environment and did well. If there is a challenge then I can rise up to meet it. If its a dreay day to day job then I'll make lots of mistakes.

I was a freelance graphic designer for 11 years and did good work. Unfortunately I just wasn't good at selling myself.



TM
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Feb 2012
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,122

13 Mar 2012, 6:01 pm

Grebels wrote:
I guess most of us are good at things which don't pay well. I worked doing a mundane job in an office for some years, but never very good at it. Then I moved to another office job in a high stress environment and did well. If there is a challenge then I can rise up to meet it. If its a dreay day to day job then I'll make lots of mistakes.

I was a freelance graphic designer for 11 years and did good work. Unfortunately I just wasn't good at selling myself.


It depends on what the special interest is, Michael Burry is confirmed a Aspie and is a successful fund manager.



Gazelle
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Mar 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,333
Location: Tropical island

13 Mar 2012, 7:58 pm

Yes I do like working 40 hours per work and more if I like the job. It all depends on the job and currently my job is something below my education. In the near future I hope to hear about a better position and may look for a new job also. If you like your job it makes all the difference in the world. Since I have no children I am pretty free. My parents have pressured me to stay with one job and keep moving up, but now I am at a bit of standstill due to various reasons.


_________________
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure."


Kalika
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 25 Oct 2011
Age: 45
Gender: Female
Posts: 219

17 Mar 2012, 12:18 am

My response to that sort of thing is to point out that it would be really hard to find something else which pays the same as what I'm currently making, and would be workable around the bus schedules. (It would also have to be full-time, because trying to do two part-time jobs hasn't worked that well in the past)



ADoyle90815
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 16 Feb 2011
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 325

21 Mar 2012, 6:28 pm

I probably would say that it was the only job I could find in this recession, and that I was lucky to have gotten hired in the first place. As now, the only reason I stay at my current job is that it's better to have something when trying to look for another job, even if it means you're considered underemployed.



edgewaters
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,427
Location: Ontario

22 Mar 2012, 2:35 am

hanyo wrote:
Cyanide wrote:
Would you rather have people say that you can't do better? Frankly, if someone told me I had the right IQ to work at McDonald's, I'd be pretty insulted.


What if it is true that you can't do better? I'd be lucky to even manage to stay at a low paying menial job. People telling me I can do better when what I'm currently doing is a struggle that I can barely do would be annoying.


It's a lie that low paying menial jobs are easy. They're probably the hardest jobs of all in my opinion, with the exception of those jobs where you're responsible for other people (supervisors, managers, etc). They're just easy to get, relative to better jobs. If you actually enjoy what you're doing, the job is MUCH easier, and generally speaking the better jobs are more interesting/enjoyable.

I've never had a "good job" so I've learned this partly from observation but also a bit from experience. I did a stint as taxi dispatcher. Still a menial job, but ... in theory, it was probably the most stressful job I ever had, but in practice - it was a challenge, and not entirely unlike playing a game, so I loved going to work every day and the time just flew by. The easiest job I ever had, in theory, was working overnight at a convenience store. I basically just sat there for most of my shift, reading books and watching TV. In *theory* the easiest, but in practice, it was really hard to motivate myself to go to work, I just hated it.

I can think of an experiment that would easily prove this. Hire a doctor or high end computer programmer or lawyer or something along those lines. Pay them a salary according to that job, on the generous side, a salary they would be very happy with. But then, when they started work, instead of doing what they usually do, have them push a broom all day and see how long they last. I expect, not very long. If the premises we've all been taught were true (that menial jobs are easy, that people "suffer" the better jobs for the higher pay) then they should be overjoyed at doing the "easier" work for such great pay. But I think everyone can readily agree that it certainly would not go like that.


To address the OP: I know the feeling, but to me, the system by which work is assigned is not meritocratic or rational (has more to do with social skills than actual aptitude), and neither is the way in which work is valued. Anyone can do menial jobs so there is justification for the lower pay, but, not for the attitudes and stigma associated with those jobs. People get angry with the unemployed but then when they take menial work, make them feel ashamed. It doesn't make sense.



BigJohnnyCool
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 15 May 2010
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 330

22 Mar 2012, 3:55 pm

Daryl_Blonder wrote:
Does anyone else have this problem? You work a menial job (or jobs) and people give you an attitude, often subliminal, that "you can do better."

They don't understand that for us, keeping sane is a full-time job in and of itself.

When I'm not working on film productions, which has been the case for many months now, I work at a movie theater. It pays barely above minimum wage. But this is what I WANT. Having a "real job" would make it nearly impossible to continue my career in the movie business, because I need ultimate flexibility. College is insanely expensive; even if I could find a job in any given field, which I probably could not, I'd wind up six figures in debt. I have no attention span, and no real interest in any field career-wise; I like my video games and my road trips. Office jobs just aren't FUN. I don't want to devote too much of my life to a job, especially if it's one in which I'm not able to have the freedom to go traveling.

So when people give me this attitude... that I can do better... it really pisses me off! The only difference between a guy that works at a fast food restaurant and a lawyer, is that the lawyer makes more money-- and in this materialistic society, that's what people find most important. Add to this the fact that the lawyer is probably a sleazebag anyway, knowing lawyers.

Anybody with me on this?

****************************************************************************************************

Check out "Problem Child," my memoir of life with autism.


I feel you completely

I initially wanted to work in a field that involves video editting, (something along the lines of Technical Operator/Director seeing as it's like an editting phase, only live.) and because I make videos at my leisure. However the more I've been thinking about it, it seems what I want out of working with videos since not exactly what I had in mind. Also what with the head of my family pressuring me about figuring out what I want for a career (a.k.a. - pulling the "I'm-an-adult-therefore-I-should-know-these-things card) has not been helpful for me in figuring out if I should continue my search for something I like in the field of the media or if I should give up and find something remotely easier.

I currently work at McDonalds between being a prep-person or lobbiest (Janitor during the day,) and the latter of my position is both easy and less stressful and at a time frame I like (usually 2-3 days a week.) And it was stressful for the first month, but as I got the hang of it and got more comfortable with my duties, my family began pulling that card and now I feel conflicted with what I want in life.

I'd prefer stay at McDonalds (or some other blue collar job) and do my part for the family's income while still making my videos (which I'm more comfortable in,) at least until I find some friends who want to live on their own, I could make roommates with them. Unfortunately until then I am stuck with this identity job crisis of mine, and I have no way of know what I want in life without sounding like a bum to some people...



AnnieDog
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 1 Apr 2008
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Posts: 159
Location: New England

29 Mar 2012, 11:45 am

One of the most brilliant women I know spent 40 years working as a secretary. She had to change jobs a few times when a company would get in trouble, but always had great recommendations to a new place. I once asked her seriously, "You could do anything, why do you do this?" Her answer was simple - at the end of the day, she could walk away from it. It paid her enough to afford her serious gardening hobby at her nice little house, buy the occasional theater ticket, etc. Basically - she knew that she needed to pay the bills and this was how she did it. It wasn't soul-sucking, it was simply a way to earn a wage so that she could afford to do what she really enjoyed on the weekends. There is nothing wrong with having a "day job" so that you can keep a roof over your head or keep a flexible schedule that allows you to freelance or go to school or become the world's greatest limbo dancer.

As my mother says: We don't all have to be at the head of the parade. Someone has to sell peanuts. Someone has to clean up after the elephants.


_________________
Apologies if I sound judgmental, preachy, dictatorial, offensive or overly rigid. Constructive criticism via PM is welcome.


ooo
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 8 Apr 2012
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 494

28 Jun 2012, 1:13 am

Cyanide wrote:
Frankly, if someone told me I had the right IQ to work at McDonald's, I'd be pretty insulted.


Bahaha. True.



Sweetleaf
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 34,439
Location: Somewhere in Colorado

28 Jun 2012, 9:16 am

My problem with Mcdonalds is I am too slow to keep up.......I don't really see myself as too smart for specific jobs, its more processing things too slow to keep up with the job that is an issue with fast paced work. And of course I don't do that well around people unless I am comfortable around them...otherwise I just get anxious and worried about all kinds of ridiculous things.


_________________
We won't go back.


Meistersinger
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 May 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,700
Location: Beautiful(?) West Manchester Township PA

03 Apr 2013, 5:10 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
My problem with Mcdonalds is I am too slow to keep up.......I don't really see myself as too smart for specific jobs, its more processing things too slow to keep up with the job that is an issue with fast paced work. And of course I don't do that well around people unless I am comfortable around them...otherwise I just get anxious and worried about all kinds of ridiculous things.


If you think you are too slow to work at MickeyD's you should work for Papa John's Pizza (sarcasm is definitly intended in the last statement.). Working as a delivery driver for Papa John's, or any pizza delivery joint, is the pits. I got fired for going 30 feet the wrong way on a one way street. Papa John's has a zero tolerance policy, when it comes to their delivery personnel. I figured they would find out about the ticket, so I informed them of the incident when I got back to the shop. I was left go at the end of my shift. It didn't matter that I was old reliable

I was also a bit slow. Do you know how hard it is to run when you are almost 400 lbs (that's what you get for working weird hours, and being on psychiatric poisons, that also threw my diabetes out of control? I was also trying to take care of my mother at the same time.). I also couldn't make a perfect pizza to save my soul. I was also starting to sound like Mr. Klaven on Cheers.

That's now all water under the bridge. I'm now on SSDI, due to going bipolar, and suffering from anxiety. I start training for a work-at-home position through a firm that has contracts with vocational rehab on 4/8/13, si I'll wait and sebe what happens with that, provided I don't screw it up like I usually do.



mikassyna
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2013
Age: 51
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,319
Location: New York, NY

04 Apr 2013, 3:22 pm

AnnieDog wrote:
One of the most brilliant women I know spent 40 years working as a secretary. She had to change jobs a few times when a company would get in trouble, but always had great recommendations to a new place. I once asked her seriously, "You could do anything, why do you do this?" Her answer was simple - at the end of the day, she could walk away from it. It paid her enough to afford her serious gardening hobby at her nice little house, buy the occasional theater ticket, etc. Basically - she knew that she needed to pay the bills and this was how she did it. It wasn't soul-sucking, it was simply a way to earn a wage so that she could afford to do what she really enjoyed on the weekends. There is nothing wrong with having a "day job" so that you can keep a roof over your head or keep a flexible schedule that allows you to freelance or go to school or become the world's greatest limbo dancer.


This is exactly my situation. Or at least it was before I got married and had kids LOL



Drehmaschine
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Feb 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 781
Location: Bundesrepublik Deutschland

05 Apr 2013, 2:23 pm

I work at a Factory and people always ask why I downgraded myself to working there. I planned on moving to developing countries and set up legal systems there, but that takes more money than I will ever have, so I decided to do something that involves being with the machines I love. What's so wrong with that? I'd like to see those people doing the operation, programming, processes, quality control and measurements I do all day.



androbot2084
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Mar 2011
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,447

07 Apr 2013, 1:20 pm

When I worked construction my union officials told me to get a job at McDonalds.



MDD123
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2009
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,007

07 Apr 2013, 3:53 pm

I hated fast food, I spent two years at the beck and call of customers. Anyone having a bad day could take it out on the cooks, and nobody wanted to date a cook (lowest guy on the food chain). Sure there was the comforting routine of making orders, but there was no personal dignity. There are harder to learn jobs out there, but harder to lean means less drama from managment.


_________________
I'm a math evangelist, I believe in theorems and ignore the proofs.