Work is a culture. When you take a job, you accept a ready-made family with its very own quirks, customs and skeletons in the back room. The fast food business has a culture that rivals that of any cutthroat corporation or gossipy office. Rumors reach the outside world, but can seldom be confirmed. The spit in the hamburger, a stray pubic hair in the burrito. Unconfirmed rumors...
For two years, thirty hours each week, the most important items in my wardrobe were a baseball cap with a logo on it and a smile. The customers were always right (until they turned their backs) and a quality product brought immeasurable joy to my face. Some said I had a job. And yet, I knew it was much more than that. Behind the windexed sneeze guard and bright yellow linoleum counters, another dimension lay hidden — thrived.
As a junior in high school I set out to look for a part time job. My first interview took place in the food court of a mall five minutes from my house. I came a little too well dressed, a little too eager and much too naive. My enthusiasm somehow sparkled off the dingy plastic table top in the bustling mall and the manager that sat across from me fed off my innocence.
“Okay Andrea,” he folded his hands across the worn paper which held the long ago memorized interview questions, “let’s talk about why you want to work here.” The next thirty minutes were filled with my polished answers to what I would later learn were considered “Mike’s bullshit questions.”
As we sat there Mike would occasionally turn his head to check up on his color coded employees as they stood at attention behind the counter. It was a rainbow hierarchy. Mike wore a purple shirt, symbolizing the royalty of management. The assistant managers wore blue and the rest were relegated to wearing a red that faded after the second washing. All wore hats that matched and cold plastic name tags stamped with bold black letters advertising our names.
“Well, it looks good Andrea. I’ll let you know in a few days after I have completed the rest of my interviews.” Mike and I stood up from the table and a janitor who had been buzzing around the food court looking busy quickly stepped around us and made a beeline for the employee exit.
Etzioni states that when people work at fast food businesses, it sets an nonacademic standard of working conditions. Workers are being taught specific roles in the workplace that are mapped out for them the way it is required to be, which leaves “[...] no room for initiative, creativity, or even elementary rearrangements” (Etzioni). Etzioni shares his idea that fast food industries are training “robots”. These “robots’ follow commands mindlessly, whether it be cutting into homework or family time, dropping out of school, or doing whatever it takes just to keep a job that is supposed to be the initial training ground in work experience.
CBT helps the person learn the symptoms of PTSD and help them understand how it affects the person’s life (Hawk, 2012). A person’s emotions, thinking and actions are not separated, they overlap with each other. This approach is used to change the client’s way of thinking and behaving into a more positive and healthier way of thinking and behaving (Corey, 2013).
Death is something everyone is familiar with and at the same time very much afraid of. It is no different when it comes to the character in Everyman. When God is observing the people walking on earth, he sees how they are only serving themselves and not serving him. People are living as if there is no Heaven or Hell, or if there is even a judgment day after they die. Yet they try and are even content living out their own lives, depending on all the riches the world has to give, giving no thought to death. Like the writer of Hebrews said, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb 9:27) so it is with Everyman. Everyman is like people today, living like there is no tomorrow, not thinking about the judgment that all of every man will face when death comes knocking at their door. God sees everything getting worse, year after year and decides to “Have a reckoning of every man’s person;” (45).
In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser goes beyond the facts that left many people’s eye wide opened. Throughout the book, Schlosser discusses several different topics including food-borne disease, near global obesity, animal abuse, political corruption, worksite danger. The book explains the origin of the all issues and how they have affected the American society in a certain way. This book started out by introducing the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station beside the Colorado Springs, one of the fastest growing metropolitan economies in America. This part presents the whole book of facts on fast food industry. It talks about how Americans spend more money on fast food than any other personal consumption. To promote mass production and profits, industries like MacDonald, keep their labor and materials costs low. Average US worker get the lowest income paid by fast food restaurants, and these franchise chains produces about 90% of the nation’s new jobs. In the first chapter, he interviewed Carl N. Karcher, one of the fast food industry’s leade...
Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson’s Chew On This explores the dark secrets of fast food. The authors first describe the background of fast food and their tactics with customers, and then elaborate on the impact of fast food on society today. Their view on fast food is a negative one: through describing various aspects of fast food, the authors ultimately reveal how the greediness of businessmen has caused the loss of individuality and the growth in power of corporations. They explain the effects of fast food on health, traditions, and animals, clearly showing fast food’s negative impact.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
In Eric Schlosser book ‘Fast Food Nation’ he discusses his findings of the fast food industry and exposes it for what it is. Fast food has been an American tradition for over half a century and it’s not a mystery why. Fast food is the most convenient, quick, and cheapest way to get a meal. Not only is fast food cheap and convenient, it’s also loaded with grease and fat to make sure it keeps you coming back. Fast food has become almost more common than eating at home with “about half of the money used to buy food spent is at restaurants, mainly fast food restaurants.”(Schlosser) Fast food is causing problems because of the unsafe slaughterhouse conditions, questionable quality of food, and its advertising towards children.
The American life has been transformed by the fast food industry not just changing the American diet but also the culture, workplace, economy, and the landscape. “Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-mainly fast food restaurants.” (Schlosser) This could be due to the fact that about two-thirds of working women are mothers. The impact of fast food on the American culture is transparent when just looking at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become the world’s most famous brand; the golden arches are more known than the Christian cross. “A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald.” (Schlosser) McDonald’s is responsible for 90 percent of new jobs in The United States. The landscape has changed due to the fast food ...
... inability to make a decision lands him in the middle. His unwillingness to pick a side does not affect his moral compass however, he believes that regardless of what the Arab did he deserves the right to choose and be free from societies laws because they are flawed.
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser writes about the fast food industry. However, his book is not merely an expose of the fast food industry but is even more a consideration of how the fast food industry has shaped and defined American society in America and for other nations as America exports its fast food culture to others. Schlosser describes a great deal of American culture to the fast food mentality, and he finds that globalization is taking the fast food culture around the world at a rapid rate. Schlosser addresses a number of specific issues related to food production and distribution. He connects the social order of a society to the kind of food it eats and the way it eats that food, with American society very much defined by the fast food culture that has developed. Schlosser tends to represent the theory stressing the importance of interdependence among all behavior patterns and institutions within a social system, as can be seen from how he connects fast food to other social processes and institutions.
McDonald’s Golden French Fries, KFC’s Tender Chicken, Subway’s Scrumptious Subs, Taco Bell’s Mouth-Watering Tacos, all of which and more Americans devour on a regular basis. Though food items such as Tacos and Hamburgers were introduced in the late 19th century- early 20th century, fast-food restaurants however did not come into existence till’ early 1920’s. The first fast-food chain was opened in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. They opened up selling burgers, fries and cola all for a mere price of 5 cents. Fast-food restaurants however did not become popular until after World War 2, when America officially becomes a fast-food nation. White Castle’s founder Walter Anderson’s business model was to have limited amount of choices in immense volume at a low cost. On top of this, the new hamburger restaurants were to serve their customers at lightning quick speed. All of which that creates the business models of fast food franchises, all over the world today. On the other hand the McDonald brothers introduced the method of making food at a low production cost. Making the food the customer eat low quality but still be giving costumers mouths tastes of heaven. Millions of Americans everyday munch on fast-food; although a vast number of Americans detests the fast food industry argue it has led to obesity and frailty in America. On the other hand numerous Americans argue saying that the Fast-food chains have boosted the unstable American Economy and continues to produce jobs compared to many America corporations who outsource their jobs. This brings up the question, is the fast food industry a devil or angel to this fast food nation?
For millions, fast food restaurants are the source of positive associations with birthday parties, play dates and accessible comfort food. For others, they represent a lifeline meal on a busy day, or the secret to quieting a cranky toddler on a long trip because hurrying residents of cities have no time to cook a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner. Fast food presents even in the lives of people who are trying
Fast food outlets actually have been existed from millennia in China, India and ancient Europe. In the past, many people cannot afford to have a kitchen and this becomes the main reason they buy their food in fast food outlets (Reverse Your Age, 2013). The perception of fast food started to change in twentieth century. The first company that change the culture and perception of fast food was McDonald’s, followed by their future competitors such as KFC, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Subway. As they get a good appreciation from the customers followed by the impact of the globalisation, almost all of the fast food companies have been expanded their restaurant chain in many nations (Wojtek, 2013). Nowadays, with our busy life schedule and the increasing trend where women entering workforce promote an opportunity for the fast food industry to grow bigger. We can see the significant growth from the fast food industry as the industry itself has been generated over $160 billion in 2012 compared to their revenue in 1970 which only around $6 billion (Franchise Help, n.d.). With this significant growth, it does not mean that every company in this industry are successful. Some company has to closed some of their stores due to the lack of environmental research and preparation in entering a new country which commonly lead to the poor selling rate. The deeper explanation and points that is mention below will be also represent as the industry current state.
I realized that I was looking directly at Michael Vincent, my interviewer almost the whole time. Nathan Copey also pointed out the fact that I did not just read my answers, but went in more detail to explain them. Nathan said,
In America, many are not aware of the inequalities that exist in the Food Service. The food service sector has at least 125,951 companies and approximately 12 million employees with almost 7 million foreigners. This sector includes individually owned restaurants, mid-priced chains, quick service (fast food), hotels, and beverage establishments. Food service plays a major role in institutional establishments like schools, hospitals, prisons and meals on wheels. They cater to the tastes of their particular customers and are often leaders of food innovation. In the food service, we find: bartenders, wait staff, hosts, busboys, chefs, cooks, managers, and dishwashers .The food service workers perform a variety of customer service, food preparation and cleaning tasks, all that which are very important to keep a business running. More concerning , some of the major working conditions that foodservice workers face with daily is no health benefits and significantly low wages. These employees working in the food industry make it possible for millions of people to enjoy food in restaurants but are not being treated or appreciated fairly.