In January 2011, I started as a crewmember at McDonald’s. After only five months of working, I became employee of the month. For the almost three years that I worked there, I moved up to crew trainer, I learned how to work grill, I became employee of the month again and if I had not chosen to move away for college I would probably have been promoted to a shift manager.
No, I am not bragging but I am proud of my achievements. But this did not come to me because I sucked up to my superiors; all of this came to me because I did what I had to do and then some. I got to work early, I always came with a ready to work attitude, I took all the shifts I could get, I stayed late, I took it upon myself to learn grill even though I was originally trained on service and I took pride in the job I had.
One day, I asked a manager for something (I forgot what it was) and she said yes. Another employee told me that I was a manager’s pet and that I got whatever I asked for. That statement really pissed me off. I’m usually not the one to fuss at work, but that day I gave her a piece of my mind. Of course a manager will let me do things when I ask because I actually do my work! I don’t show up to work late, half way dressed, wearing the wrong uniform with piercings all in my face and an attitude. I don’t stand around and wait to be told to do something. I don’t try to cheat the system. But what I do have is an excellent WORK ETHIC.
The point of this story is that young people today have horrible work ethic. McDonald’s was fun when I was 16, but as soon as I got to college, working with people who didn’t care about their jobs got old quick. Young people nowadays hop from job to job, expecting things to just be handed to them. They want everything but don’t want to put in work to get it. And it’s a shame because there are so many people out there who are unemployed and you busy playing around.
I think that’s why people always look down on fast food workers. When people think of McDonald’s, they think of poor, slow service. They think of employees with bad grammar and even worse attitudes. They think they won’t get what they ordered because no one really pays attention. And guess what, they’re right! From first hand experience, most of the people I worked with had bad attitudes, didn’t follow correct procedures and cared more about what they were doing when they got off than the task at hand. The only two fast food places I can say that I actually don’t mind ordering from are Cane’s and Chick-fil-a.
I was blessed with parents and grandparents who taught me to take pride in my work and do my best at everything I do. I don’t care if you work at McDonald’s or if you’re the CEO at a Fortune 500 company, you have to have a good work ethic. You have to start from the bottom and work your way up. But you’ll never get to the top with a stank attitude. People notice good workers. Good workers get promoted. Bottom line.
*photo from Instagram
