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Anyone here ever worked at a McDonalds?
- Thread starter Acid08
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Acid08 said:
Register > grill. At first, it'll probably be a little nerve-wracking dealing with customers who want you to hurry the fuck up because they haven't eaten in three whole hours, especially if this is your first job, but you'll get used to it in no time. Try to have some fun with it and it should be a mostly pleasant experience.
HolyStar said:
Think outside the retail/fast food box.
Do you have any country clubs in your area?
My first job in high school about a century ago, was a bus boy at a country club. It was a great first job. If you've got visible tats or piercings though, forget about that route. They demanded a neat appearance since you're going to be working around wealthy people. It was a pretty damn good first job. I started my sophomore year in high school and worked there until I graduated. The work consisted of cleaning tables after people would leave and resetting them with proper place settings - wine glass on the upper right of the plate. Salad fork on the outside left..etc. I also had to move around a lot of 6-foot tables and chairs and set up the main dining area for private parties/wedding receptions.
My best advice for people in high school looking for their first jobs (if you're wanting to work in or around the public):
1. Neat appearance. Minimal visible tattoos, preferably none. No visible piercings if you're a dude. Preferably clean shaven or at minimum neatly trimmed beard/stache. Don't show up looking like a fucking yeti.
2. Bring your own pen. Nothing says 'I'm unprepared' more than if you show up and start asking to borrow office supplies when you fill out an application or attend an interview.
3. Understand that most of the people who will hire you think that most teenagers are lazy fucks who are undependable and strung out on drugs. They're forced to hire teenagers because of their own budget constraints and a limited labor pool of people who will actually do the kind of work they have. Be prepared to prove them wrong.
4. Smile and be nice to everyone, at least until you get hired. Then you can revert back to being your anti-social self that's full of angst and douchebaggery.
Keylime
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Psht... I showed everyone what's up when I created my own position in the store "Random Tasks" (named after the Austin Powers villian, favorite film at the time).zesty said:
I'd just go around the store doing whatever the hell I felt needed to be done.
- Organize the stock room
- Refill the syrups
- Take out the trash
- Clean up the dining area
- Clean up the parking lot
- Do the dishes
After doing register and grill for so long, you get so retardedly good at it that it's mindnumbing.
Favorite hazing technique is locking people in the meat freezer and shutting off the lights. You're 2 fridge rooms deep, so no one can hear you scream.
Favorite game to play was taking orders while doing anything else but register. I'd grab a spare headset and talk to the customer as they were giving their order while my friend (a girl) would type everything up on the computer. The best part would be when we got to the end of the order and I'd say "Your total comes to", and I'd click off. My friend would click on and say the price. Male voice turns to female voice...
I would take peoples order as I was walking by their car and all that fun stuff.
Was easily a great first job...because I made it one.
Last good story: Girl vomits in playhouse twisty slide. Coworker has to clean-up said vomit in twisty slide. Coworker loses footing and slides down vomity twisty slide. Coworker gets the rest of the day off.
victreeb3l
Member
i grew up with the notions that alot of american kids mowed lawns and stuff like that to earn money when they were young. being in nyc, where we dont have any lawns to mow, have any of you ever done stuff like that as a kid to earn money? assuming that alot of you came from suburban backgrounds..
when it snows here, i like to earn some extra cash by shovelling streets and stuff. you can easily make about 300 bucks within 2-3 hours.
when it snows here, i like to earn some extra cash by shovelling streets and stuff. you can easily make about 300 bucks within 2-3 hours.
Keylime
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My friend and I used to shovel people's driveways.effingvic said:
300 bucks, though?!
We'd usually get anywhere from 10-20 bucks a house for about a 20-50 yard driveway.
You guys banked, man.
My first job when I was 15 was at McDonalds. As a janitor. During the 4am opening shift.
Here is a list of some of my fun tasks:
- Filtering the grease vats under the fries and nugget tanks.
- Cleaning the bathrooms at 4:30am, just to have the senior citizen crowd come in at 5:00am and piss all over the floor.
- Changing the tampon receptacle bags in the women's bathroom.
- Almost individually washing each ball from the ball pit.
- Using a putty knife to clean gum off the parking lot.
- Using a hose to clean bird shit off the GARBAGE DUMPSTER.
- Watching them throw away hundreds and hundreds of food items daily that could have been donated elsewhere. This was way before the whole "made to order" turn.
Here is a list of some of my fun tasks:
- Filtering the grease vats under the fries and nugget tanks.
- Cleaning the bathrooms at 4:30am, just to have the senior citizen crowd come in at 5:00am and piss all over the floor.
- Changing the tampon receptacle bags in the women's bathroom.
- Almost individually washing each ball from the ball pit.
- Using a putty knife to clean gum off the parking lot.
- Using a hose to clean bird shit off the GARBAGE DUMPSTER.
- Watching them throw away hundreds and hundreds of food items daily that could have been donated elsewhere. This was way before the whole "made to order" turn.
victreeb3l
Member
RubxQub said:
Yeah dude. We'd do about 20 bucks per house, and just try to finish it within 10-15 minutes so we can do the rest of the neighborhood before other people set in. It wasn't too bad since I had a buddy with me, so between us, we'd start at opposite ends and just meet at the front.
There's mad competition though :lol
effingvic said:
first of all I can believe the 300 bucks for stoop shoveling. seems nyc reasonable.
second, I used to mow lawns, shovel sidewalks, rake leaves, and pick weeds for petty cash. used to help harvest strawberries and pick apples too. this compounded with the waiter gigs and waffle house dishroom jobs I had as a kid.
I was raised with entirely too strong of a work ethic :/
When I worked there this was my opinion of each job.
Drive Thru - Worst by far. Taking orders, pouring drinks, and handing out food/money. Was far the most stressful, difficult, and boring of all the jobs.
Front counter - Not bad. Customers were more friendly than the drive thru, you didn't have to wrestle with the stupid intercom and was usually a slower pace.
Grill - Easiest of all the jobs. Usually had other people with you too, so you could bullshit while you worked so it was usually not boring. Never had to deal with customers.
What really sucked is when you had to do multiple jobs at once. I one time had to do grill, and drive thru at the same time... god that was horrible.
Drive Thru - Worst by far. Taking orders, pouring drinks, and handing out food/money. Was far the most stressful, difficult, and boring of all the jobs.
Front counter - Not bad. Customers were more friendly than the drive thru, you didn't have to wrestle with the stupid intercom and was usually a slower pace.
Grill - Easiest of all the jobs. Usually had other people with you too, so you could bullshit while you worked so it was usually not boring. Never had to deal with customers.
What really sucked is when you had to do multiple jobs at once. I one time had to do grill, and drive thru at the same time... god that was horrible.
I worked there in High School over the summer and again in college for a summer. It's not so bad- especially if you get some of your friends working there too. Best place to work is "back cash"- the drive thru register that only takes orders and money. You're kind of in your own world, don't have to deal with any food, and you can just shrug when customers bitch about the backup, because it's rarely (never if you don't suck) your fault. I hated working the front though, way too much customer interaction with general douchebags.
When I worked there in HS it was with some friends and we had some good times- we would put small firecrackers in the nugget sauce cups and toss them out the drivethru window. I also got a second degree burn the size of my palm on my forearm when the plate that holds up the fry baskets as they dry fell in and splashed me. It didn't tan for like 2 years, but is pretty much gone now. Good times.
You will smell like fries by the end of every shift though, mark my words.
I learned two very important things working in foodservice:
1.) The value of a dollar
2.) Stay in school
I think everyone should have a shit job like this at least once in your life. Working a shit job builds character and motivates you to not end up with a job like that permanently, and generally helps you appreciate a good job.
When I worked there in HS it was with some friends and we had some good times- we would put small firecrackers in the nugget sauce cups and toss them out the drivethru window. I also got a second degree burn the size of my palm on my forearm when the plate that holds up the fry baskets as they dry fell in and splashed me. It didn't tan for like 2 years, but is pretty much gone now. Good times.
You will smell like fries by the end of every shift though, mark my words.
I learned two very important things working in foodservice:
1.) The value of a dollar
2.) Stay in school
I think everyone should have a shit job like this at least once in your life. Working a shit job builds character and motivates you to not end up with a job like that permanently, and generally helps you appreciate a good job.
So I got back from my first day about an hour ago. I actually kinda liked it. Not much though. I did register all day and after I was on it for about 2 hours I really got the hang of it and was doing orders as fast as any of my coworkers. I also noticed some customers going to my line since English is my first language and it's probably less confusing to talk to me. My coworkers are all pretty hard working though. Only problem is not one of them speaks even semi-good English. They all just speak Spanish to each other most of the time. A lot of customers weren't as shitty as I thought they would be. The only people who even tried to give me trouble were these pre-teen little blonde girls in short shorts and Hollister shirts. Me and this other customer ended up making fun of them while I was taking her order and they got all pissy and left. That was pretty awesome. It was pretty fucking boring though. I'm not allowed to do anything but take orders so when it slowed down I stood in one spot with my mouth hanging open. I work 38 hours this week. I have to balance this with my volunteering at the local animal shelter though. Gotta talk to the scheduling lady that spells my name wrong :/.
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