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fast food
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2020-03-24
COVID-19: but make it McDonalds.
March 2020 When the pandemic began, I was two weeks into my first job at McDonalds. At this point in the pandemic, masks cost $700 for the case we got at work. One day, when I walked into McDonalds, the manager called me back to the office. I thought I was getting fired since we were overstaffed, and I was trained to work at the kiosk in the now-closed lobby. To my surprise, she didn’t fire me. She explained that we have a new part of our uniform: a McMask. If I said I laughed, that would be an understatement. People were wearing them upside down, so they made a sad face. Even the customers laughed at us. I was always the first person to show my McSpirit, but the McMask would not be seen on me outside of a McWork setting. I noticed other changes at work aside from our spectacular new dress code. Since we were drive-thru only, customers started acting crazier than usual. Due to supply chain shortages, our menu was somewhat limited. While some customers took it for what it was (we’re in a pandemic, yanno?), some were not so understanding. I had money, drinks, and some very hurtful words thrown at me. Some may wonder: Did McDonalds take the proper precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19 within the restaurant? The short answer: McNo. During the beginning of my McWorking career, I stayed on the customer service side of things, so I wasn’t in the kitchen. However, the people in the kitchen rarely wore masks, since the lobby wasn’t open, and the customers couldn’t see them. Since we were during peak Shamrock Shake season when the pandemic began, there was rarely time between orders to change gloves or wash hands. In conclusion, McDonalds had quite a few McChanges during the pandemic. Although, none of them sacrificed the Mac’s dirty nature, it was quite the experience to hop into this new way of life with all my filthy McPals by my side. -
2020-09-30
No Room for Activities
I am not overly social. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic’s stay-at-home orders were not a big deal to me. However, the mandate meant no after-school activities for my kids who had a very hard time with it. My ten-year-old son took it the hardest as it meant no soccer, no chess, and no playdates which also meant no touching, no tag, and absolutely no wrestling. After classes, I would pick them up and chauffeur the kids around town to all their activities. If we had time we would sometimes stop by the mall and grab a bite to eat. If we had an hour to kill, we would run into the arcade for a quick game or two of Mario Kart. But all that stopped once COVID struck. There was no room for the kids’ activities—no sports, no music lessons, no mall eateries, no more Sbarro on the run, no arcade—so in essence, no more fun. Due to COVID constraints, my boy developed a small case of depression from not being able to play with his friends and soccer buddies. Seeing my son miserable affected me, especially after reading some children were committing suicide due to these restrictions. I forgot just how much bonding with friends and socializing meant when you are ten and surrounded by thirty other kids for five days a week. While the pandemic gave parents like me a respite from all their children’s after-school extracurriculars, it was not worth seeing my son sad like that, and socializing was not the only aspect affected. My kids really missed getting their hands-on activities with other kids at the playground and soccer field. Kids simply love playing anywhere and touching everything, so not being able to do so hampers their growth through play and touch. Soccer was an outlet for all my son’s pent-up energy and once it and the other sessions were taken away, he felt trapped at home. We would play in the backyard, but it was not the same for him. Although he may complain about school now, he still needs his friends. Luckily, the pandemic is over, and soccer and their clubs are all back on. My son is back to his normal rambunctious self again. My children are back to being full-time kids again! -
2021-01-30
Local McDonald's Reminder of Mask Policy
Signs such as this one found in a local McDonalds have become commonplace during the pandemic. -
2021-03-30
Weekend
March 30, 2021 Over the weekend, I went to my house in St. Francisville with my dad and sister. We made a last minute decision to go on Friday evening instead of on Saturday morning, which turned out to be a great decision because we woke up early on Saturday morning around 5:30 in the morning to go turkey hunting. Within about 30 minutes, I had shot my first turkey. My dad was so happy for me because I had been trying to kill my first turkey for so long, as it is just about the only animal we have on our property that I had not shot yet. After shooting it, we brought it to our cousin for him to breast it and take off the tail feathers. After that, my dad took me to Burger King, which is one of my favorite fast food places. I got my usual order, but just like it almost always is, the ice cream machine was broken, so I could not get a milkshake. Then we went to our house and at night we watched Alabama play our Sweet 16 game against UCLA. the game was very close all the way through, but with four seconds left, UCLA scored to put them up by three, and we inbounded it and our point guard Jahvon Quinerly sprinted up the court and passed the ball to our center Alex Reese who was standing almost on the mid-court logo, and he drained a deep three as time expired to tie the game and send it to overtime. Sadly Alabama followed up that great shot, probably one of the best shots in bama history, with one of our worst performances ever in overtime, as UCLA pulled away to win the game, and I was very frustrated because of how poorly we played in overtime. -
2020-12-14T22:05
HOW SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTES TO HIGH COVID RATES
We are submitting our group project from class which covers the affects Covid 19 has had on specific communities and groups of people. -
2020-03-25
Whataburger Employees Considered Essential Workers
This is a short post from someone that works at a Whataburger in Texas. This story is important because while I believe fast food to not be essential, but rather an expensive convenience, it is important to keep in mind that some customers were not able to get their regular groceries at the stores during the pandemic. There was a panic that ensued amongst not only the nation but the globe as COVID-19 spread. Although fast food would not be something we would view as essential normally, during the pandemic, it may have been vital for some people as their shopping abilities may have been limited. -
2020-06-10
Virtual Talent Show
The whole summer I had this looming inexplicable fear that time was running out, and I guess that was really embodied by my job search. I feel like I applied at every fast food place on the westside of Albuquerque and the south side of Rio Rancho and I had gotten a call back from only a few. All in all I got 5 interviews from different places and none of them were for jobs I ended up getting. This was because there were so many downsized companies and competition for the jobs that they had. I was driven to madness by the midpoint of the summer and I felt like because the summer was halfway over that I was running out of time. By the end of the summer I didn’t start working until the weekend after the second week of school at Sonic. -
2020-08-10
Customer Service in a Global Pandemic
I have been working during the COVID-19 pandemic at a beverage/fast food restaurant. When all the news about the pandemic first started coming in, a lot of my co-workers just said that it was not a big deal and that it was basically the flu. However, there were also people who felt the complete opposite. I, like most people, try to gauge how I feel about something by listening to how others feel and researching the issue. Since it felt like there was not much true information going around, I felt I had to rely on other people's opinions in the beginning. That was a rollercoaster! I feel like in the beginning, there was no inbetween! People were either incredibly opposed to the fact that this virus is actually killing people, or they were terrified by it. I did not know how to feel. Eventually, I began to realize how serious this situation was. In these past months, I have been through many different mindsets. When I really started to realize how serious this situation was, I decided I would not leave my house. And I didn't. I took a month and a half off of work and stayed inside all day fearing the outside world. Little did I know, this was when there were very few cases in my area. After that, I began working again. My next mindset was that I needed to do all I could to keep myself safe because I needed to work. I began to think, if I get it, I get it. All I can do is try my best to stay clean and safe. But that didn't stay for long because my mindset would change constantly. I am writing this for my english class and I am required to add the hashtag -
2020-06-30
Three Months without Fast Food
Fear of COVID-19 has kept us from ordering any restaurant food, even take out or delivery, since March. Then, during the second week of June, my kids won a contest at (virtual) Sunday school where the prize was the children’s pastor delivering dinner of the kids’ choice to our house, and my husband’s work gave everyone Grub hub credit for their virtual end of the year party. Worn down by hunger, I relented and we got McDonald’s (for the kids’ prize) and Cali Tacos (from Grubhub). Not having either for so long, we may have gone a little overboard with our orders. It did take 20 minutes before we ate, because I removed all the wrappers wearing gloves, transferred the food to plates, threw all trash outside, and washed vigorously hands before we ate. It’s been two weeks, so I’m hoping it was safe. It’s a strange experience, we were used to having 85 Degrees or Starbucks at least once a week. It’s like when I was a kid and restaurant food was a special treat. -
2020-05-30
San Francisco Street Photographer Captures Essential Workers in Masks
Street photographer, Alex Stemplewski, is working to capture photographs of essential fast food and retail workers across San Francisco during the COVID-19 pandemic. These TikTok videos show Alex visiting a variety of fast food and retail stores in San Francisco and capturing stunning images of the people he encountered at each location. -
2020-06-04
No touch delivery against spreading
Many other deliveries like Doordash, Amazon, and different sellers are using this policy to protect people from the virus in this special period. -
2020-05-10
Covid-19 Grocery shopping
I was at the Shoprite Vernon, CT. area for groceries. One text them for the order. And is brought out to the car. -
2020-04-09
Treatment of Essential Workers: Fast Food Strike
This project aims to document the treatment and reactions to the treatment of the essential workers during this pandemic. This is the headline of an article describing how fast food workers are outraged at the lack of benefits and protection of the virus that they are getting. This comes during a time when many other companies are providing pay for workers who can no longer go to work, while the workers considered essential are not given the same benefits but are at a higher risk to be exposed to the virus. -
2020-05-01
Working in a pandemic
A meme describing customers crazily ordering food, stressing out employees at a part-time fast-food job. -
2020-04-11
Chick-fil-A stays open to serve guests while obeying government restrictions.
while the pandemic is going on, many stores had to close as to follow the restrictions and guidelines. But, Chick-fil-a is still working hard to serve guests during this hard time. They must wear there masks and gloves while staying 6 foot away. -
2020-05-04
Being an essential worker
Being an essential worker Covid-19 otherwise known as the Corona Virus, has affected almost every single life in America. I remember when the virus first started nothing really changed for me or my job at the fast food restaurant, chipotle. Then slowly but surely things began to change in my job. At first less and less people were coming in to receive food, and I was given less hours. Then we closed our dine in option as did the entire state of Arizona. Our Governor Doug Ducey then released a stay at home order, but I as a fast food employee was still considered “essential”. What this meant was that I was still allowed to work, but at what cost. For many being allowed to work can be seen as a blessing or a curse. I was still allowed to work despite all the chaos happening in the world. Everyday more people were losing their jobs or just not working, but I, being an “essential” worker was still working. Things continued to change at my job as we were given questions on Covid-19 and are now asked every workday a series of questions to take precautions against Covid-19. We also now wear masks to cover our faces. Working at chipotle or any fast food restaurant is not the same. Covid-19 has changed the way we operate for a safer environment. This can all be seen as a positive turn of events for fast food workers and other essential workers. For we are being allowed to work. Also many companies are being more precautious in the way they handle things. At the end of this global pandemic perhaps all these changes will have been in a positive light. Overall, in my point of view I see this as a disadvantage. On one hand I am very grateful that I am able to work while others cannot, but I see the disadvantages outweigh the good. For example, the hours I received were already cut and I get paid minimum wage. One of my coworkers even jokingly stated he could make more money quitting and filing for unemployment. We are going to work while this pandemic is happening and are at a higher risk of contracting the virus than others. In the end, I do not believe fast food employees should be essential. This is because the pay simply does not account for the risk these workers are taking to serve food. That is why I am profoundly grateful for the real essential workers like doctors and nurses. -
2020-04-28
Fast Food Worker
A personal account of a fast-food worker during the pandemic. -
2020-04-27
A College Student Fast Food Worker
A personal account of a fast-food worker.