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Bingley
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I heard that the other day! Meant to post about it, and, typically, the thought went right out of my head. This is an excellent ex. of how words make it into a dictionary. I'll bet M-W leaves it in.
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Exactly! While it's true that McDonald's encourages the career track (and even has a Hamburger Univ), it has no control over what the term McJob has come to mean and and saying it ain't so don't make it not so.
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I can remember when McJobs were hard to get.
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Just this past summer, for one.
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This is amazing (from Bingley's link):
The definition "is not only an inaccurate description of restaurant employment, it's also a slap in the face to the 12 million men and women who work hard every day in America's 900,000 restaurants," Cantalupo said.
Think about that! 12 mil employees at McD's in the US. There are approximately 300 mil people in the US. So, this means that about one in every 25 people you meet works at McD's over here! This is truly amazing. This means that one student in every high school classroom will work at McD's--perhaps even more if you consider the fact that people probably don't make life careers at McD's. McMazing!
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McMazingyou want fries with that? totally inconsequential tidbit: this is my 1962nd post, and I was born in 1962... 
formerly known as etaoin...
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continuing your line of thought, Windy, as there are maybe 50 regular posters here at present, that means that at least two of us have worked at Mac&Don's. c'mon, you two, 'fess up.
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I knew someone who had a brother who worked at McD's.
This brother, who is now deceased, God rest his soul, scrubbed floors at McD's. He used to complain about the teenagers who would come in late on Friday and Saturday nights. For fun, they would throw open packets of catsup up to the ceiling and see how long the catsup packets would stay tomato-glued up there. Keep in mind: These are the creative efforts of the youth of America, whom I am proud to teach.
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More than 1,000 people who own McDonald's restaurants got their training serving customers behind the counter, he said,
The math's all screwy. In the report Bingley posted, there are 12,000,000 employees. Right. Then there are 1,000 people who own restaurants. That would mean each owner would employ 12,000 people. I ain't buyin' that.
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i don't think so, tsuwm,
Re--The definition "is not only an inaccurate description of restaurant employment, it's also a slap in the face to the 12 million men and women who work hard every day in America's 900,000 restaurants," Cantalupo said.
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Notice tha cantulupo doesn't say 12 million men and woman work at McDodo's restaurants,, just at restaurants..
so, WW's math, while correct (well i presume its correct!)
Think about that! 12 mil employees at McD's in the US. There are approximately 300 mil people in the US. So, this means that about one in every 25 people you meet works at McD's over here!
just means that one in 25 have worked in restaurants, and is suspect, Cantalupo also is including truck drivers for mcDodo's, and others, includeing staff (vs. line) employees.
what was more telling was his claim that 1000 owners of franchizes (and if you consider that the franchize has been around almost 50 years) are owners.. not really a very high percentage have gone from slinging burgers to being burgermasters... and the ones he named got in 'early' when the franchize is was still young, and rapidly expanding...
the percent of people who have worked at McDodo's at some point in their life might even be higher than 1 in 25, i doubt we'll find many here, --though i do know some who worked part time in HS at McDodo's-- and the percentage of worker, who have gone on to become franchize owners is i think an excedingly small number. not many are going to earn enough to purchace a franchize costing close to 1 million dollars on their McDodo's salaries.
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well, I didn't work at Ron's Place, but I did do a stint at http://www.hardees.com/... boy, them were good times...
formerly known as etaoin...
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don' blame me, ot; I wuz jus' followin' up on Breezy's math.
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Then there are 1,000 people who own restaurants. That would mean each owner would employ 12,000 people. I ain't buyin' that.
I ain't either. I interpret the number as: Of all the MickieD restaurant owners in the US, a thousand came up through the ranks.
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thousand came up through the ranks
that's how I read it, too.
formerly known as etaoin...
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... boy, them were good times...
Are fast food places very different in the US? I seem to remember the food was better in them when I went to America when I was a kid. I worked in KFC a few years ago and it was badword awful. Twelve, thirteen hour shifts for Ł3.31 an hour, getting home at six in the morning, abuse, physical and verbal. One customer threatened to rape me, then waited outside for six hours with a screwdriver. I got boiling oil thrown over my arms, and then had to wash up for four hours. I thanked god that time there was no hot water or detergent. No staffroom, used syringes in the toilets, which we had to clean in between preparing and serving food. No adequate washing facilities. When the HSI came round the manager just gave him Ł50, and he ignored the fact that the drinks machine had broken and we were wading through 2 inches of apple tango syrup. Eeeerrggh, gives me shivers just thinking about it, I hate fast food places.
**edit** not including chippys, kebab houses, chinese,and curry houses
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That's a tough post to follow, dody. A bad experience no doubt. Hope life's jobs has been better since then.
On another note : In the 1980s a seasonal McDonalds opened at Hampton Beach. I believe it is the first - perhaps only? - McD that is seasonal. There were some nay-sayers but turned out the beach McD ended up among the company's top producers ... not bad for a 10-week season.
My favorite fast food place is Jack In The Box...the curley fries are yummy and they do a breakfast pita stuffed with scrambled egg, bacon and cheese that's to die for. Thankfully there are no JIBs on the east coast - anyway none tha are near me. So aside from a trip to Hawaii where I know where they are all located (!) I am saved from my FFF (fast food fenzy)urges.
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dody, about your comments..
cleanthlines depends on a lot... most 'inspections' and Health departments in US are State/local issues.
in fact, that is a big difference here--STATES(which started as independent entites,) still have a lot of power, very few thing are nationalized--mostly interstate things are nationalized. (so states issue driving licences, but all states have to honor each others licences, but major roads, that go from state to state, are 'interstate' or (Federal --WashingtonDC) based national roads.
the Feds operate CDC (center for Disease control) but--local stores/restaurants are under local state control.
often the franchize issuer is stricter and inspects more than the local authorities! -- and they(franchize issuer) are very strict.
some locales (notable cities) have good health departments, (and it was health departments in NY, and SF that 'started' noticing, tracking, identifying AIDS, (they soon brought in CDC) but much of the work was done by local authorities.
same goes for schools... there are no national tests (ie, federal governent tests). SAT's are done by a private company. each state gets to say what is in its curriculum, what teacher requirements are, how teacher's qualifications are measured. even the number of days in a school year, and when school starts/ends, vacations (christmas/spring/easter)are local issues (often with state guidelines). only preschool (HEADSTART) is extensively federally regulated.(there are some federal regulation for federal programs, but schools do not have to enter federal programs--most do, but not all)
sometimes, localities have strong regulations, NYC, because its was (and still is) a port of entry to US-used to be boats, now its planes--has a very strong active Health Dept. (its been gutted, in recent years, but its still better than most.)
--for similar reasons, SF, Boston, and others east and west coast cities also have strong HD codes, and enforcement.
In 'traditionally rural areas' (much of south and west) there is less regulation, and enforcement.
as for graft--small and large, it exist, to a small and large degree everywhere, (in NYC, there is lots of graft in building inspections, much less in health inspections, there is lots of graft in construction, but much less in traffic/police (except for some in drugs.. but even there not as much as you might be lead to think by movies/tv/ect.)--
its hard to talk about generalites, because each is state regulated.--and since salaries, and codes varie, from place to place, graft tend to varie too. two examples:
NYC fire code exceeds requirements of 'Insurance undewriters group', and electic code exceeds Underwriters Laboratories(these are independant private organizations) --many localities use these groups recommendations as code.
Note- the WTC (towers that were hit, and 7 other building on WTC 'site')were build by STATE authority, and did not have to comform to NYC code. surrounding building were build to NYC code. NYC code buildings(while not directly hit by planes, did get hit by debree, (both from planes and WTC collapes) some sustained massive damage, but survived, some have 're-opened'. None of WTC buildings survivied. codes do make a difference.
2nd) the movie Chinatown (circa 1970's) is about corruption and graft in 'water rights' and 'water sales' for city of LA. the West coast of US is arid (east coast is water rich) --
graft, reguarding water works are almost unknown on east coast, but have been an issue all over western US. (again, some place very bad, some places, almost none)--
Now, much of (west coast)water is Federally regulated (because FED's built interstate dams (like the big one seen in "National Lampoons Family Vacation(Los Vegas)--but not all of it. and 'water rights' are still a source of greed/graft.(most east coast water works are local or state controlled.--all of NYC's water is 'collected' in NYstate-
(so all is under state and local regualtaion and control)
and it sometimes pisses me off, i pay water tax for local water works, entirely build and maintained by NYC, and i pay federal taxes, to pay for Californians to have water...and for much of the south (TVA is federal program for water managment in south) even the water rich states of oregon and washington have Federal dams that i help pay for...so i get to pay 100% for the water i use to drink and wash, etc, and and get to pay X% more for others water...
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a tough post to follow, dody. A bad experience no doubt
It was in some ways and it made me dislike faceless corporations. I learned some good lessons, so not an entirely wasted time. I was working two jobs at the time and I eventually quit KFC and did more hours at the cafe. The caff was scrupulously clean, paid more and had a respectful and hardworking atmosphere. That experience particularly highlighted the different working practices of a small locally run business, and a one-size-fits-all, implacable conglomerate. The idea of a seasonal McDonalds is a curious one, being at odds with my image of an entirely inflexible system. I think this image is reinforced by the buildings the US chains house their business in. They are just like the ones in America, which makes them look rather as if they have been carried over by some freak hurricane and plonked in the middle of a 400 year old high street. Down the road from me there is a little cluster of these buildings, a MakkyDs, a KFC and a Blockbuster huddled uncomfortably round a traditional pub, on the end of a lane that runs down to a village green complete with lychgate, squatter terrace and timbered pub. It's all a bit...incongruous?
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just to clarify, what do you mean by graft?
m-w gave me this
Main Entry: 5graft
Function: noun
Date: 1865
: the acquisition of gain (as money) in dishonest or questionable ways; also : illegal or unfair gain
is this your understanding? i have only ever heard
graft-to work hard
graft-to attach living tissue
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Pooh-Bah
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In Paris, I walked right past half a dozen McPoison outlets with out ever realising that I was doing so. Nice to see the golden arches subdued ...
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>In Paris, I walked right past half a dozen McPoison outlets with out ever realising that I was doing so.
And I spent nearly an hour and a half actively looking for the McD's in Venice (hoping that it would have handy tourist maps like the one in Florence), and must have walked past it more than once. The arches were only on a portable sandwich board.
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Oh, my math was ok--but my reading was not. I misinterpreted the 12,000,000 as belonging to McDonald's. Just as of troy noted, the 12 mil were for restaurants at large, and that makes sense. And it makes sense that one in twenty-five would work at some restaurant.
So, I do apologize for misterpreting that reading.
(Math: 12,000,000 divided into the 300,000,000 population would be 25, or 1 in 25 (as I mentally calculated) employed by restaurants, not surprising at all; but 1 in 25 employed by McDonald's is what I thought when first reading the information.)
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My son was the only American working at the McD in Slough, shortly after it opened in the early 1980s. I think it was about this time that the franchise really took off in the UK, producing a McD at Marble Arch, amongst other notable locations. Around 1973, while stationed in Spain, we went on leave to London, and at that time there was only one McD in the entire country. I don't recall the location, but we spent the better part of a day hunting it down.
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In reply to:
I don't recall the location, but we spent the better part of a day hunting it down.
Why?
Bingley
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yes, dody, 'graft and coruption' are code word of offering and recieving bribes, both are crimes.
not always the case with some actions, ie, during prohibition, selling alcohol was a crime, but buying it wasn't!--or was it the other way round?--no, i am sure its the first.. illegal to brew, transport or sell.. so when a 'speakeasy' was busted, only the owner (if he could be found) and the bartenders were 'criminal'--all the patrons got off scot free-- and went off to another speakeasy.
i don't know how long graft has =bribery in US, but it does.
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Pooh-Bah
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Why look for McD's in Paris?
Because the tea is hot and as good as any resaurant but doesn't cost $4. and because the washrooms are free and clean. I will admit to using more McD's than I have eaten in.
For all their bad press tho they do support some good charities better than the better restaurants do.
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"I don't recall the location, but we spent the better part of a day hunting it down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why?"
In 1973, McD had not yet become universally despised for its corporate success and the caloric content of its food. It represented a bit of home to Americans serving overseas.
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A slight diversion from an early Goonshow (radio of course – the TV versions were total disaster). I *always think of this when someone mentions burgers.
Harry Secombe, I think, was telling the tale of a middle European country with a revolting population. The ruling family had been the Eidelburgers for generations past and now the people wanted a change – they didn’t want an Eidelburger on the throne any longer …. Oh well, I liked it. Perhaps you had to be there.
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