Sad times at Mickey D's

[Atman]

Last edited Sun Dec 2, 2012, 02:41 PM - Edit history (1)

First of all, I rarely step foot in a McDonalds. The only thing more rare is buying gas at an Exxon/Mobil or buying anything at Wal Mart. But I was out and about yesterday morning, doing some errands, and I stopped in for an "egg" and cheese biscuit. Long line at the drive through, so I went inside. Holy crap! I was waited on by a woman that had to be 90 years old. No joke. She was a very sweet lady, but really had no business working here.

The kitchen wasn't keeping up, so she had three orders on hold (my simple "egg" and cheese biscuit request among them). She couldn't keep track. The poor woman would walk back to the serving station, then have to walk back up the register to check the receipts to see what she has gone back to the serving station for. Over and over again. Seriously, half a dozen times, she'd check the list of waiting orders, then walk back to the serving area and appear to forget what she was there for.

It just made me very sad that this dear old woman was having to bust her hump for $8.25 an hour (CT's minimum wage) at her age. She should be at home having someone wait on her.

(semi-rant off).

[onehandle]

1. Next lifetime, she should choose to be born in a non-budding third world country. nt

[still_one]

2. Perhaps that person wanted to work? I am not saying it is, but I can tell you that I have seen

people working at McDonalds that other companies would not hire in a million years, and these include people with handicaps

[femrap]

22. I believe that

McD gets a tax credit for hiring those who are disabled.

And if you believe that person wanted to work....well, then believe that I am the Queen of England.

[still_one]

30. Actually I didn't say I believed that person wanted to work. I suggested "perhaps"

[bitchkitty]

23. At McDonald's? Get real. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Assuming that she has to do that is not really the same as knowing that she has to.

I hope you know that.

[Atman]

4. Of course I know that.

Sure, maybe she just wanted to get out of the house. But seriously...if you just want to keep busy, who the f**ck would choose to work at McDonalds?

[onethatcares]

6. more to the point

why the hell would anyone want to stand on their feet for 5 to 8 hours a day on concrete floors? Especially after reaching the fine old age of 65?

I'm on your side Atman.

[magical thyme]

8. Exactly.

If I'm ever able to retire, if and when I want to get out of the house I'll go volunteer at the local animal shelter.

There is plenty of work that actually needs to be done, that is far less stressful, is truly important and is *rewarding* in non-financial ways

[tex-wyo-dem]

54. No kidding...

Most people her age who want to get out of the house and work or do something volunteer for a food bank, church charity or other high-minded non-profit entity. I'm quite sure she wasn't working at McDs just to keep herself busy, but sadly must in order to make ends meet.

[robinlynne]

12. I think it is a fair assumption that no senior would work at Mcdonald's unless they had to. .

[Nikia]

15. I worked fast food with an older woman who didn't have to work

She was in her 70's. Her husband had recently retired from a job making 6 figures in a low cost of living area. She retired from teaching several years before. She told me that working there was getting too much for her, but she was still discussing it with her therapist. Her time at the restaurant was the only time that anyone at the restaurant said thank you or appreciated her. I agree that volunteering may have been a better choice for her.
On the otherhand, we had a 70 year temp doing somewhat heavy labor where I used to work because his pension fund, from the company he retired from, suddenly disappeared.
Really, there are both types of working seniors.

[JDPriestly]

16. That is why it should be a choice.

Some can and wish to work until they are very, very senior.

Some really can't and shouldn't work after they are 55. There has to be a way to let people choose.

[RKP5637]

29. A guy in his 80's with arthritis once installed carpeting in my house. He came to the door with part

of a huge carpet roped and slung on his shoulder. I was amazed, and he looked his age but was thin and muscular. He worked for the local carpet shop.

I said something politely to the effect that did he want some help. He said no, he had been a longshoreman, also had been a merchant marine and did this because he wanted too. And he did an incredible job. He wanted to work because he wanted too and enjoyed the exercise and carpet laying. He was an amazing individual.

[Odin2005]

37. I have a co-worker who is 83...

And doesn't look a day over 70! He works to help keep himself sane because his wife is in a nursing home with Alzheimers.

[RKP5637]

40. My dad kept working 'till he was about 83. I think he only stopped because his memory was

slipping a bit and one of the aggressive ones that wanted his job kept pointing out his minor errors to management. So, he gracefully quit (I think) while he was ahead, but we never talked about it ...

About a year or so after that he had to have a pacemaker put in and that seemed to start his downhill battle. I think the job had kept him going and healthy. I don't think he would have that chance today to work in administration 'till 83. He was very very sharp, frankly brilliant, but today that doesn't seem to matter.

[Thav]

50. Kinda like farmers.

I see lots of farmers that are in good health until they retire, then all the sitting around gets to them and their health starts to fade.

[RKP5637]

51. Yeah, much the same. It seems to be that and also maybe recognition, probably unconsciously,

that the end is near, something like that. When young or old and still working there might be something to look forward to, but when the plug is pretty much pulled on your whole life of work, that, can be hard.

[coalition_unwilling]

5. Emphatic K&R for this little vignette. We will probably never know

for sure this person's reasons for working there, but there are many seniors who subsist entirely upon Social Security and many for whom SS doesn't cover all their expenses.

[Scuba]

7. I stop at McUrinals often while travelling ...

... hey, what did you think those golden arches were supposed to signify?

[RKP5637]

41. LOL, so do I !!! Sometimes I'll pick up just a simple burger while there. n/t

[Scuba]

43. Once in a while I'll get a plain burger ...

... 'cause for some reason my dog likes them.

[RKP5637]

45. LOL

I feed my cat their fish-burger.

[liberal N proud]

9. Last time I stopped at McDonald's I had similar experiences

And they had changed their menu since the last time I was in McDonald's 1999 maybe.

I was not impressed!

[dogman]

10. I really don't think it's about McDonalds.

The same goes on at Walmart and other low wage employers. The thing that should impress you is the failure of our society to help these people. At least McDonald's offers her something, what are her alternatives?

[99Forever]

14. I never would have thought...

... this once great nation would sink to the level it has. That it treats it's own with such callousness in the part of our lives we should be delighting in our grandkids, we are instead, left to figure out how to survive in a world that just plain doesn't care about anyone or anything except feathering the nests of the few that already have far more than they could ever need.

[RKP5637]

42. In USA, Inc., all that counts is $$$$$ feeding the cornered wealth. We need a society that

works for everyone, instead, the politicians and those with authority often work tirelessly to see what they can take away from others. In short, it's often pretty fucked up.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

11. When I moved to Florida in 1987

I was amazed at how many of the fast food employees were retirees...or should have been. Things have changed since.

Also back then retirees worked as baggers at Publix. At one time a kid of 14 could get a job as a bagger at Publix, then they changed their policy, raised the age to 16 and all of a sudden half of the baggers were senior citizens. I was raising 3 young children back then and other than feeling badly that so many seniors had to work, never gave it much thought. Several years later one of the long-time 'senior' baggers announced he was leaving.... It turned out he had been collecting 2 pensions while working, one from the military and one from the Post Office. I thought of all the kids with whom my children went to school, who could have used those jobs.

Not all working seniors need to.

[jberryhill]

13. Some do it just to get out of the house

I was chatting with the pizza delivery guy the other night and he had a pension and SS and said, "I just do this for some 'fun money'"

[Sekhmets Daughter]

17. That seems incredibly selfish to me.

I have a pension and social security and while I could use some extra cash, there are so many others who need those jobs. If the economy ever improves (here in FL that's always an iffy issue) I would consider something part-time, but while things are like this and as long as I have enough for everything I need, volunteering will suffice to get me out of the house. I have neighbors who get social security but haven't any pension...they need the jobs they hold.

[tabasco]

25. More than likely a falsehood, IMO.

The guy was probably delivering pizzas to survive.

It's a dangerous job.

[jberryhill]

32. Not so much in this area

I'd consider doing it again. It was the best job I ever had.

My mom did a similar thing. Generous survivor benefits from my father's pension and SS, along with rental income... she got bored and took a job tending bar for a while just for kicks.

I know a few retired folks who do stuff like that. Not all of them are excited by the prospect of playing bridge at the senior center and they have a work ethic that makes them get depressed if they aren't out doing something.

My sister's father-in-law was a PHD chemist with a large corporation for 30 years and had everything he could possibly want. He kept busy earning $55 a day as a substitute teacher.

This is also true of a lot of people with military pensions. You can retire early from the military and do lots of other things than hang out in a mobile home park in some sunny place.

[SoapBox]

18. I figure that the story is a mirror image of what my future will look like

if the Pukes and Baggers, Banksters and other miscellaneous Crooks, Creeps and KKKoch Brothers...have their way with America.

[RKP5637]

44. Same here. At one time this country was about people, no, it was not perfect, but

there seemed to be some caring attitudes. When I was young and in corporate life, for example, we were always told how we the employees were the corporations' most valuable asset, now, employees are told they are the corporations' biggest liability, if not directly, indirectly.

The model for economic fairness in this country is really fucked up, and many citizens are brainwashed by propaganda to make them feel it's their fault. If this does not change, most of us are truly fucked down the road, it's just going to happen.

[SheilaT]

19. Somewhat more to the point of this story,

it seems to me, is that the McDonald's you're describing was seriously understaffed. I wonder why.

Some very large percentage of people in this country have at some time in their lives worked at a McDonald's. My older son did for a year or so. It was at a time in his life when he'd flunked out of college, and I told him he had to work. Every day I sent him out with a list of places to apply. On the third day he came home with a dazed look on his face. He'd been hired on the spot at the McDonald's half a mile from home. I can't recall anymore just how long he worked, but after a while he got back to school. Several years later he was getting food at another McDonald's in our city. His old manager was now at this one, and told son that he'd hire him back immediately if he ever wanted a job.

Even though my son is now well past needing that kind of a job, and even though I never get food there any more, I do feel kindly towards them.

[Curmudgeoness]

20. I am also saddened by the reality many seniors face.

Although some of the posters here may be right that this woman had chosen to work at McDonald's, I would be like you and figure that this is not the case. And I also see the point that some make that it is good that McDonald's will at least give people of this age a job. But....

My heart breaks for all the old people who are forced by circumstances to work at difficult jobs. This may be a reality for more and more people.....if the stock market eats all their savings up in a downfall, if interest rates stay so low that savings will not produce any income, if Social Security and Medicare are chiselled away.

[Initech]

35. I'm 33 years old. I'm really worried by the time I turn 65 retirement will not be possible.

The Republicans have done everything in their power to destroy that possibility and what makes matters worse is that we keep electing the same assholes. It really sucks that people that age have to work shitty minimum wage jobs.

[RKP5637]

46. As long as many in this country keep making the choice to be STUPID and vote for the same

assholes that want to take everything from them, this country will continue to go downhill. Around here they elected the most right wing teabagger assholes they could find. I don't know what makes some people tick, but it's sure not brains.

[Initech]

55. Well you know the textbook definition of insanity...

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We're the insane nation. We keep electing the same assholes over and over and nothing gets done. Sure what Reagan tried with the southern strategy- it was radical and different in the 80's but it doesn't work now. And the freepers and teabaggers refuse to change with the times. That's why they lost and will continue to.

[RKP5637]

56. It is weird, really weird. Often I think we must look like damn fools to the

rest of the world. And their arguments are ALWAYS the SOS and so tired. It's like you pull a string on them and the same message comes out. Like the people in class that ask the same stupid questions over and over again, because they didn't bother to study the night before the class.

There is an insanity in this country. I never realized it was so large until over the past decade +.

[Initech]

62. Sometimes I really wonder what the rest of the world thinks of us.

Yeah we noticed a lot of insanity during the George W(orst president ever) era. We had a lot of the same criminal billionaires and the religious fundamentalists coming out of the wood work and they all kept spouting the same bullshit. I hope this election will tell them that they need to shut the hell up.

[cosmicamerican]

21. As long as we're jumping to conclusions . . .

She's probably working for bingo money.

[leftstreet]

24. ...

[femrap]

26. I simply

adore flippant people. You are just what DU wants and needs.

She is obviously suffering from sort of dementia/severe memory problems.

Just think someday you'll be old....and with all the chemicals and GMO foods you have absorbed into your body, you probably won't even know your name and someone will have to diaper you.

Old age is NOT fun. I have a great amount of empathy for the elderly and what they have endured in this shithole that has become the US.

[RKP5637]

47. People get old and some just don't get it, like they're not going to get that

disease called old age. This country is pretty fucked up to get old in, in many ways the same struggle goes on, and you are sooo correct, this shithole that has become the US. What a shame. When young I saw a bright future, now I see some type of dystopia ahead.

[femrap]

58. I had my first encounter

with 'The Old Age Industry' this past summer. My mother, 85, has never been sick in her life...then all of a sudden she fell and fractured her pelvic bone and tailbone. There isn't a damn thing to do about it....physical therapy and pain meds. She was in a Nursing Home from HELL. I thought I was going to smack the administrators in the head. Instead I put the State on their ass.

Others in the nursing home told me they wished they were dead. I'll kill myself before I go into one.

Mom is recovering slowly....but she is recovering. She is walking much better....from walker to now a cane.

Never ask when the patient will be able to go home. Ask when Medicare will send them home. It's a horrible health system.

I've been so angry and sad all year. How the hell did it come to this? Life has become torturous. Pure torture...not just unfair, which I can accept.

People who have no empathy (or a minimum of sympathy) for the elderly are doomed to live a long, long, painful life.

And the people who work there....the techs are paid NOTHING. As a result the elderly are given crap care....it's a vicious circle. And if the patient doesn't have a family member there to watch out for their care, they will shrivel into skinny and weak people. It was beyond my ability to watch this without SCREAMING.

[RKP5637]

59. And in 'la la land America' it is glossed over in "ain't we the most wonderful country in

the world" America. It's sick and disgusting, and much of it's out of sight and out of mind. There is a disease in this country and it's often swept under the carpet. Sadly, live healthy and long and hope to die quickly when sick and the end is coming.

[femrap]

60. I bought a gun

just so I could end it if needed....and because my neighbor has threatened my life. Oh yes, America, the land of the FREE. Shit.

If I were young, I'd move to Germany or France.

[RKP5637]

61. This country has changed drastically in my lifetime. I've worked in both

Germany and France. I could live in Germany nicely' I think. I know the language, although rusty now. When I look around America often anymore I wonder what are we trying to do, the country has gone so far off the tracks. We have three rifles here, old, in need of going over, haven't been used in years, but one day I think we might get them serviced for protection

[Honeycombe8]

63. I hear ya, fem. I have a relative in a nursing home.

Incapacitating stroke, then broken upper leg by hip. She will never leave there. Medicaid, too. So you can imagine.

Relatives cannot care for them. They have to be attendants 24/7, and they have to be lifted and taken anywhere they need to go. It's not possible. I guess in the old days, the whole family would gather 'round and lift her. But these days, we don't live an entire multi-generational family in one location.

I've been thinking about what to do to avoid going into one. There will be no one to watch after me (no kids). With any luck, I'll just drop dead from a heart attack.

[femrap]

64. Same here...

no kids. I'll take a massive heart attack. Or maybe Mother Nature will hit The Reset Button and millions will go at one time. And I have my stand-by....the gun.

If this country's health system is going to be so cruel, I think Assisted Suicide should become a common and daily occurrence. I refuse to give Big Med the last of my money so they can shove me out onto the curb. No f*cking way. I'd like to leave a bit to the SPCA and Wildlife Foundation.

These people running the nursing homes...some may be decent, but from what I experienced, they are going to have Karma bite their asses HARD!

[Honeycombe8]

33. That's seriously insulting to our seniors. It's stereotypical, degrading, insulting, & disrespectful

It is a reflection of how your brain works. I feel sorry for you, to think that everyone else, but yourself, works to get money to blow on gambling (or booze, or prostitutes, or drugs).

It must be nice to be so arrogant and above everyone else. You will probably not live to be 90 (few men do), but when yu hit 80, I hope you come face to face with arrogant a-hole younger people like yourself who are are disrespectful and stereotype you not in a good way.

[Curmudgeoness]

36. Don't worry, all old folks are faced with arrogant youngsters.

It will happen.

But with that said, I do think that Cosmicamerican was making a comment that required a smilie. I believe he was on the side of "we don't really know that this woman had to work"....so as long as assumptions are being made, he was making a point by trying to be funny. Maybe poorly, but I will give a pass on this one.

[Skittles]

57. that's how I took it too

yes INDEED

[Evoman]

27. I know some old folks who LOVE working at McDonalds.

I think that their flexible hours and pretty good treatment of employees contributes to it. One of the ladies loves flirting with the older male customers that come in and they all know each other by name. It's kind of rude, but I call that McDonalds "Geriatric Central" before noon, lol.

Some of them are doing it for the extra coin, but it's not always a bad thing. Working a half shift every now and then for a little extra spending cash. Getting to provide service and engage with people. I hate to think of older people working when they don't want to, but some of them do. Things arent the same as they used to... older people used to stay home and maybe help with family and grandkids and things like that......but with lots of families separated by long distances, being a retiree can be boring.

[femrap]

28. Atman, why not go

back to McD's and simply ask her why she is working there....or if she enjoys it. I would have asked her immediately...she might have enjoyed the interaction with a person. It sounds like she has dementia or sever memory problems. Very sad.

I not going to go thru drive-thrus anymore....wastes energy and POLLUTES!!! And I'll get to see who is working there and ask them about their employment. So, hello Taco Bell and Wendy's. Maybe I can stir up some interest in Unionizing. No McD in my life....even though their sausage mcmuffin w/ cheese on an english muffin is tasty.

[Iggy]

31. AGE has nothing to do with it

I've had plenty of young people screw up my orders at various QSR restaurants. it'called not caring/not paying attention.

[Honeycombe8]

34. Some seniors work to stay connected, feel needed, get some spending money....

and have a place to go on some days. I think it's wonderful that that fast food place hired her; I hope they keep her. I have no problem waiting a couple of minutes for an older person, or a mentally-challenged person, or a disabled person, to get my order. Ain't nuthin' THAT urgent in a burger.

Having said that, I will add that I do NOT eat at burger joints or other fast food places, except for Popeye's Fried Chicken or Albertson's fried chicken in the deli (I buy fried chicken several times a year, or less). I do eat at some places near my office that prepare food quickly, but they are not what I think of as fast food places (Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald's, Arby's). They have slightly healthier fare.

[sarcasmo]

38. The new America.

[Utopian Leftist]

39. I worked at McDonalds in high school . . .

They scold or punish you like a child if you are ever caught by a manager, standing still.The policy is that you must always be busy doing something. They would even stand behind me sometimes and yell, "faster!" It is absolutely a horrible place.

Maybe the elderly woman was just trying to look busy so that she wouldn't have to go empty the trash or something. Regardless, she should not have to be in such a place. And it's a terribly cruel country that would necessitate her working there.

[virgogal]

52. You're blaming the country for necessitating her working there? As many earlier posts said,

maybe she wants to work.

Lots of seniors do.

I'm a senior,and have been one for quite a while.I know people my age who WANT to work.(I don't.)

What the hell does the country have to do with it?

She could be a senior in Calcutta and be a tad poorer,we are very lucky here in the U.S.A. .

[SoCalDem]

48. The ridiculous thing is that these types of jobs have always been with us, BUT

they USED to be done by TEENAGERS.. These were the jobs young people took to teach them about work, and to help them earn their own money,,

They clerked at dime stores, pumped gas, did yard work, waited tables, worked fast food, babysat..etc

These were always jobs, that because of the low skill set needed, could be flipped regularly with new workers coming in as the "summer" teens left for school, or as they graduated to better jobs..

These jobs were never intended to be family-supporting-jobs ..or even jobs that supported the worker. These were "extra-money" jobs.

[Egalitarian Thug]

49. K&R The desperation to deny how fucked we are in this thread is just sad.

[Systematic Chaos]

53. Your comment wins this thread.