Ah yes the bitch of all jobs. McDonalds holds a special place in my bowels. It's the place of my first employment. Yes I got the worst of all jobs. But I'm not bitter. It made me realize what a sociological icon McDonalds really is. Being a sociologist in training makes me think back to it. Now, don't get me wrong, I certainly don't take sociology seriously. But it certainly gives me an interesting perspective into what to expect from Society.
Where else can you see such a wide diverse array of people in one place. McDonalds is a microcosm of pathetic souls. It's brilliant. I worked as a Customer Services Representative, which we use to call a Lobby Guy, which is really just a term for Janitor. From my two-year stint at the hellhole I've seen a whole lifetime of experience. Where else can you see white trash, black-trash, even Chinese-trash all communally eating together?
Day after day I've seen countless lower class people flock in like hordes to gorge on the latest amount of grease. Children can defecate on the playroom floor without so much as a blush from their parents. Oh wait, the parents are not there. They're upstairs eating.
At McDonalds it's so common place to scold and beat your pathetic whelp of children. I've seen countless numbers of fat, degenerate, and poorly socialized people in my stay there. Many of the children are slobs just like their parents, they run around with reckless abandon, climb on tables and counters all with their mindless parents munching away. The people initially brought their screaming whelps here to shut them up. If they misbehave they give them a good smack and threaten them in front of everyone. Nobody minds.
McDonalds itself is just as responsible for the condition as are those who congregate there. I've seen children turned away because they only had 47 cents instead of 49 cents for a single soft serve ice cream cone. I've even seen a 3/4" metal bolt baked into a McNugget, and metal nuts fall into the fries. I've seen 8 litres of vegetable fries oil be re-filtered and reused. It's a culture where you can literally take a large scooper and dig out a whole hunk of solidified oil from a solid 1'x1' block and throw it into the frier with people eagerly awaiting their fries. Freeze-dried onion shavings reign supreme. McDonalds is a place that charges you 800% cost for a coke fountain pop that cost less than 15 cents to produce. Or they will charge you 50 cents for a slice of extra tomato. The garbage run off alone is capable of disintegrating the asphalt on the driveway. I've seen it with my own eyes.
Don't get me wrong though. There are good souls at McDonalds. They just tend to get lost in the shuffle, or horde rather; looking for the latest happy meal toy, or monopoly game sticker piece. I'm sure that perhaps the McDonalds down on Bay Street has a few more civil business people. But it seems that McDonalds always has the ability to bring out the worst in people.
McDonalds is a cultural Mecca, a gathering place if you will of all the dregs of society. Next time you go to McD's take a careful look around. If you dare, have a seat. Otherwise get it to go. Why you ask? McDonalds is one of the rare places in which people from all walks of life, income and culture can come together to stuff their faces with greasy cheap food.
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