Managerial Staff

McDonald's is a corporation like any other, and with that corporation comes shift managers, restaurant managers and owners, maintenance managers, etc. I think everyone can agree with me when I say that some managers are good, and some managers are not so good. Here's what I think a good manager looks like, and I think this can be transferred into any business, whether it be a restaurant or a major corporation.

1) If something isn't going correctly, it's okay to jump in and fix the problem yourself. Everything at McDonald's is time sensitive, since it's a fast food establishment. So when problems arise or things break, some managers will yell at the crew members and tell them to fix it instead of fixing the problem first, then explaining the process to them. A good manager actively helps instead of yelling at other people that don't actually know what they're doing.

2) Yelling doesn't solve anything. You want something changed? Be calm, cool and collected about it. More people will respect you if you talk with them, not at them.

3) Make it a priority to build relationships with your employees. People don't want to work for a manager that doesn't want to get to know them. Make small talk, learn about their lives outside of work. Making connections like these build good relationships and make people want to come to work.

4) You're a manager, not the second coming of Christ. You may have more power than others, but you are just as replaceable as the crew members you are harassing. Just a little something to remember!

Of course, there's more that goes into being a good manager, in both the McDonald's workplace and any other establishment. These are just some of the attributes that stick out in my mind as I work at the McCrib. Let me know what you think, does this work for the managers you have met?

Perspective.

Life's all about disappointments.

Yesterday I worked a five hour shift. No complaining, it was pretty uneventful. Nothing too extreme or out of the norm for the standard McDonald's shift.

Today, Boston was bombed.

No one knows why, and two people have died so far, with 141 others injured.

Like I said, life's full of disappointments.

A friend of mine was actually at the bombing in Boston, not in the middle of it, but a close enough witness to this horrible tragedy.

Today, my fellow McDonald's employee said a woman yelled at her because their wasn't a sufficient amount of whipped cream on her shamrock shake. Is it disappointing? Maybe, for a moment.

In the grand scheme of things, none of this matters. McDonald's, and your experience dining at one of the millions of fast food locations, doesn't matter. Your life can be taken away in a moment, are you going to spend it yelling at the part time teenage workers at a fast food chain?

Food for thought.

Madness and Mayhem

It's never fun to work at McDonalds.

Never.

After the first hour or two of your shift, it's like you're a zombie. You just start going through the motions of what you've always learned. Hi, how are you? Would you like barbecue sauce with those chicken mcnuggets? No sir, I can't replace a mcflurry in a drink in any value meal. I'm sorry. Have a great day.

The time starts going by so slowly, and you start getting excited when a minute has passed and you can say to your coworker, "ONLY THREE HOURS 46 MINUTES AND 7 SECONDS UNTIL I CAN GO HOME!"

I realized today that I am always on the register when the crazy customers come in. ALWAYS.

Last week, my friend was on register and I was taking orders, and right before I was taking over register and orders and she was going home, she got the nicest lady ever who bought my friend a cup of coffee for "great service." Then I got on the register.

The next customer to come in while I'm on register is this cranky old man who can't hear anything and insists that it's my fault that his day is going horribly. He changes his order five times, holds the entire line up, and then when he's finally gone, I'm left to deal with the ten angry customers behind him.

It's like I'm some crazy person magnet, like the universe suddenly says, "oh, is Bridget working today? Excellent. Lets send every cranky insane person to her window. This'll be fun!"

A little McDonald's tip: if the line is taking forever, it's usually the person at the second windows fault, the one who hands you their food, not the person at the first window, because it's usually because your food isn't ready. Unless someone truly stupid is taking your order, or is clearly a new employee, seldom is it their fault.

Also, if your crazy, I request that you come inside to get your food. A girl can only take so much.