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

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MDD123
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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.


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starkid
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11 Apr 2013, 9:02 pm

androbot2084 wrote:
When I worked construction my union officials told me to get a job at McDonalds.


Why?



MjrMajorMajor
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12 Apr 2013, 12:52 am

I see less of this attitude since the job market tanked. I have met some of the smartest people working the most menial jobs for a variety of reasons. In every job, there's a lot of good people doing their best to earn some kind of living, and striving to carve a small niche for themselves.



Meistersinger
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15 Apr 2013, 9:50 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?

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I wouldn't say that about all lawyers. There are some truly honest lawyers out there. For example, my attorney is one of the few honest attorneys in my geographic area (and his specialty is labor law, of all things). I've known him for over 25 years, and I've known his wife and brother-in-law for even longer than that. As a matter of fact, his sister-in-law's father was my Dad's supervisor for one of the major dairies in the area, before they merged with a competitor 40 years ago.



Comp_Geek_573
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15 Apr 2013, 10:11 pm

My first job was, while not McDonald's specifically, along the lines of it.

The biggest issue I ran into? A boss who would routinely order me to do things which contradicted what the training videos told me to do, and which I also thought were unethical. I was also ordered to ignore things going on in the place that I thought needed immediate attention, and that everyone else was, at best, taking their sweet time to get to.

Unethical things I was ordered to do:
- Hold food items for twice or even 3 times the time that it says to hold them for before throwing them away. I know throwing too much food away is bad for business, but what's so hard about changing the "official" hold times if they're too short??
- If a customer is waiting on something that's cooking in the fryer, pull it up to 30 seconds early (out of 3 minutes!) Sure the customer (and anyone behind them in line) only has to wait 2.5 instead of 3 minutes, but FOR UNDERCOOKED FOOD??? THAT COULD GIVE THEM FOOD POISONING????? If you look at the whole customer service picture (not just speed like my boss was apparently obsessed with), it's making a bad situation worse. I would say that was the most egregious thing my boss did.


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nick007
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19 Apr 2013, 12:06 am

I got that from my parents when I was working. I have a couple physical disabilities(a tremor disorder that acts up when doing things with fine motor-skills & a low vision disorder that causes me to be very nearsighted & some colorblindness & glasses don't help much) & dyslexia on top of being as Aspie. The dyslexia was the only thing I had diagnosed when I was in school & I struggled with lots of my classes. Because of my horrible school history I had no desire at all to go to college(I never regretted for a second not going) & I wanted to get a job instead but didn't know what I could do due to my limitations. My 1st job was a dish-washer which I hated but I took it because an employment organization that works with disableds lined it up for me & I couldn't get anything else due to having no job history. I left it after 10months when I got hired on at WalMart to stock shelves but I had problems with that so thy transferred me to floor cleaning & I did that for 2 years. My parents were really glad I had the dish-washing job for a while but they made comments about how they felt I could do better than that. They were rite that that job was not a good fit for me for various reasons & cleaning floors was better when management left me alone to do it. After being there a while my parents started making the same comments about how I could do better than that. I left because management situation got worse & I couldn't handle the stress & I feel like I was forced out because after I left my department was replaced by a contract crew that was helping us out before I left; people in my department were dissolved into others & I would of had problems working in other departments. Sense I left & before I started working my parents say things to me about how I should of went to college because I'm too smart & not completely disabled not to be working& they sometimes made comments like that when I was. My mom sometimes brings up a cousin of her best friend who was born with no arms & can do lots of things including driving because he learned to use his legs & feet instead. It's NOT the same situation with me thou because I'm not just linted by one physical disability & fine mentally like he is. I wish I was because then people would have a much better understanding of my limitations & I could have services to help me more with employment. I think some of the problem is that my mom grew up on a farm. She helped out when she was little so she was brought up to have a good work ethic. She got her 1st real job when she was 17 & moved out at 19. She can not grasp my situation & thinks I'm just being lazy. I think she resents how I've been so dependent on her & dad when she's been working hard most all her life & been so independent. One of the many reasons I'm glad I moved in with my girlfriend is because I felt so trapped there & her misunderstanding & negative opinion of me was not good for my self-esteem or our relationship.


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WestBender84
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19 Apr 2013, 11:35 am

MDD123 wrote:
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.


Which role do you view as more tolerable: waiter or cook?


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mikassyna
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19 Apr 2013, 1:05 pm

MDD123 wrote:
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.


Why is the cook the lowest on the food chain? What's wrong with cooking, especially if the whole business is based on the food? In high end restaurants the chef is the one with the most power and is often is part owner. I guess I don't understand the logic of the hierarchy.



WestBender84
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19 Apr 2013, 1:12 pm

Yeah, my friend who runs the AJV blog worked with me at Pizza Hut as a waiter; I was and am still a cook. I don't know how much he made, but according to the other servers he made more than them or me in a given shift. So waiting tables is slightly better money if your customers tip consistently, but I'll take cooking the food over schmoozing the customers any day.


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mikassyna
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19 Apr 2013, 1:15 pm

Meistersinger wrote:
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."
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?

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


I wouldn't say that about all lawyers. There are some truly honest lawyers out there. For example, my attorney is one of the few honest attorneys in my geographic area (and his specialty is labor law, of all things). I've known him for over 25 years, and I've known his wife and brother-in-law for even longer than that. As a matter of fact, his sister-in-law's father was my Dad's supervisor for one of the major dairies in the area, before they merged with a competitor 40 years ago.


I have worked at firms where there are real sleazebag lawyers and at firms where the lawyers were actually decent human beings. There are others that are the stereotypical ambulance chasers and yet others who are public defenders of the underdog.

Lawyers have to go through pretty rigorous training and education to get their law degrees. They have to pass a bar exam that can be exceedingly difficult. Being smart or educated, however, doesn't: (1) make them interesting people, (2) make them better human beings or (3) guarantee them a job at the end of it. I can certainly respect the hard work and dedication it takes to become a lawyer if the work they did was actual hard work and not skimming by on the personal/political/monetary connections of their parents. But the idea that being a lawyer makes someone "special" simply because of that degree is ludicrous. In fact, in certain segments of society, lawyers are not very respected at all. It is all a matter of perspective.



androbot2084
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22 Apr 2013, 3:31 pm

Since I can't hold down a job my union suggests McDonalds.



nick007
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22 Apr 2013, 4:46 pm

androbot2084 wrote:
Since I can't hold down a job my union suggests McDonalds.
My parents tell me I should get a job there because I like eating there & they would hire someone with little experience like me. I couldn't handle working there thou because of my disabilities & because I don't handle being rushed well; lunch & supper rush would really stress me out.


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androbot2084
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22 Apr 2013, 9:05 pm

My Bosses tell me I have to do a job without even thinking. I guess that means all inventors are a bunch of ret*ds because inventors have to think.



WestBender84
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22 Apr 2013, 10:50 pm

nick007 wrote:
androbot2084 wrote:
Since I can't hold down a job my union suggests McDonalds.
My parents tell me I should get a job there because I like eating there & they would hire someone with little experience like me. I couldn't handle working there thou because of my disabilities & because I don't handle being rushed well; lunch & supper rush would really stress me out.


Pizza Hut is hellish, too, but you could be a line cook and focus on making pizzas and breadsticks instead of dealing with angry customers. The wait staff and cashiers get stuck with that. Avoid delivery driving because you would have to buy your own commercial insurance.


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SilverBear
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29 Apr 2014, 9:28 pm

Quote:
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.


I am new here, and could not agree more.

My whole life was about my brain. Special schools. "Accelerated" this and that. Tests. I was expected to Become Something Great...like a Supreme Court Justice or an astronaut. I studied and agonized, trying to choose a career that didn't frighten and depress me. No luck. I ended up starting my own company and the money is great but I was still feeling incomplete and kind of miserable. A month ago I applied for a job washing dishes in a restaurant and got the job, and although it's been painful adjusting to being on my feet so much, I have to say I love it. I organized the whole dish washing system, the ergonomics of the kitchen, the whole flow so it all runs more smoothly (mind you, it's not my kitchen but nobody is complaining). You have to be efficient. You get immediate results. Perfectly prisitine dishes, sparkly glasses, shining silverware. The chefs talk to the prep cooks, not to me. The customers talk to the servers, not to me. What's not to love?

My company makes me money, so minimum wage does not bother me. I wish I'd just taken a job washing dishes in high school and stuck with that. This is the best job I have ever had. I have time to think. Hours to just work, move and think. That's really all I need. People find it funny. They look at me strangely when they ask what I do for a living and I proudly announce, "I'm a dishwasher!" I don't bother to add that I also own my own company, because it's the dishwashing that's making me happy, not the company.

One of my sons is a lot like me and he has worked at Subway for the past eight years. He likes the routine, the "system". Yes, he could "do better" but could he "do happier"? Could I? I'm not so sure.



zer0netgain
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30 Apr 2014, 6:36 am

Sadly, this is common, even for NTs.

If you are really smart, great things are expected of you. Sadly, being smart doesn't equate to being successful or that seeking out a high-powered career will make you happy.