The Customer Service Problem at McDonald's Is a Symptom of a Much Bigger Problem

[zipplewrath]

143. Millworker

Mill work ain't easy, millwork ain't hard
Millwork most often is a god damn awful boring job....

'Cause it's me and my machine for the rest of the morning
For the rest of the afternoon
And the rest of my life.

Working jobs in high school, or summers in college is to know you're getting out.
I worked a factory job in college. It was hard, boring, mind numbing work.
I worked with "Zombies", people who had been working the lines as long as I had been alive. They were going to be working there long after I was gone.
My nickname was "college boy", it wasn't a compliment. They knew I was getting out. I knew I was. They knew they weren't.

It's easy to be critical, when you're the one getting out. Empathy made me see things a tad differently. When I first hear this James Taylor song, I knew the person singing, I had seen their face.


Yes, but my life has been wasted
And I have been the fool
To let this manufacturer
Use my body for a tool
I can ride home in the evening
Staring at my hands
Swearing by my sorrow that a young girl
Ought to stand a better chance


If MacDonald's wants better employees, I suspect they ought to instill them with the belief that they'll have a "better chance". That probably starts with a better wage.