Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation has confirmed many of my thoughts upon fast food industries. I always figured that fast food resturant were places to work at to obtain quick money during summer. I never thought it to become a career for anyone. Although I never have had a job at a fast food resturant I have heard them to be a place of hell to work at. Because many teenagers strive to get money however they can, they have been subjected to flipping burgers, moping floors, and standing behind counters with a forced smile on their faces, to obtain their desire of having money. Yet some see these occupations as more then just a job, some believe that nothing, not even education, will help them succeed in life. Those who have been promoted, especially to manager positions, remain in these decieveing low waged industries in hopes of becoming recognized and acknowledged.
Dont they realize that these jobs are nothing but a system that, as Schlosser puts it, enforces "obedience"? Jobs that at times creates people into objects? These young teenagers working early and late shifts while trying to keep time for family or school are being abused by their jobs, which take any free time they have. It seems to me that these industries try to promote good customer service and produce an image of delighted workers, but in reality many workers are exhuasted, starving, perhaps uneducated, teenagers, or older failed people, and even students. Behind these counters lie people who are used as assembly lines, as easy accessed workers on low wages .
Thus I find it perfectly fine for groups to gather in unions to push for higher paying jobs, for better benefits, especially for all those people who have no other choice but to stand behind a counter in order to survive. These teenagers need a break. These industries need to understand and face the reality of humanity. Besides in a a few years, I bet that machines will be doing everything, and these people won't even be needed; and sadly everyone of these workers will be out of jobs, in which another industry will gain several low paid workers, and thus the cycle of low paid jobs continues.
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Schlosser's Fast Food Nation is incredibly in-depth look at our American fast food instituition. It's amazing that this book is so popular when it's only based on companies that we see and hear from everyday. Most everyone knew about the definite "dark side", as the book says, of McDonalds and company before the bestseller even came out. Now after this publishing, everyone feels certain about the terrible traits of this cheap food industry.
The part of our reading that I enjoyed the most had to be his Schlosser's discussion on the low wages/long hours of the typically young work force. Perhaps the greatest strength of this chapter was the fact that Schlosser didn't blatantly incorporate his opinion, and by doing that, he left some portions of his evidence up for argument.
For example, he noted that the corporate executives of each company have spent millions on simplifying these assembly line-based establishments. They basis behind this is that the execs want to give little or no training to the workers and management. Therefore, it would increase the output of each store and keep wages low because the employees would lack any real skills. As bad as it may sounds, I agree with the management in the their theory. I think its wrong that their doing it, but if an employee is running a glorified food assembly line, he or she lacks any real skill. Therefore, the wages should reflect the skills at their position. I know, sounds cold hearted.
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