Burger flippers get no respect these days
BBC NEWS reports: “McDonald’s anger over McJob entry.”
“McDonald’s has expressed its outrage over how the latest Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary describes job prospects at the US fast-food giant. In its latest edition, the dictionary defines the term McJob as ‘low-paying and dead-end work’.”
“McDonald’s CEO Jim Cantalupo dismissed the term as ‘an inaccurate description of restaurant employment’. He called it ‘a slap in the face to the 12 million’ industry’s staff.’ ”
“In an open letter to Merriam-Webster’s, Mr Cantalupo said that ‘more than 1,000 of the men and women who own and operate McDonald’s restaurants today got their start by serving customers behind the counter’.”
While these days I try to avoid the cuisine, unless forced to go there to satisfy family members, I am an unabashed supporter of McJobs. My first job, at age 16 in 1974, was at the McDonald’s on East Third Stret in Bloomington, Indiana. It was very hard work, especially on football weekends, but we really had a lot of fun. So much so that when I got together with some old friends last summer, with whom I had worked there, we stopped in at the old store and posed for this photo (that’s me on the right).
I met store assistant managers who were intent on working up through the ranks, and regional managers who had already done so. To them, it was certainly not “dead-end work,” but good old-fashioned American opportunity.
I learned the work ethic through the famous words of revered founder Ray Kroc: “If you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean.” A bio of Mr. Kroc, complete with sound bite, is here.
While I wouldn’t envy anyone trying to support a family working a McJob, I heartily recommend it as a life-stage job for young people, and would hope a good work record at such a job is viewed positively by persons making hiring decisions for higher-paying jobs as well, rather than as a sign of lack of ambition.
