[Reader-list] fast food chains

[Khalid]

Let me begin this piece of writing by stating a universal truth in the form of a poem:

“I bargained with life for penny,
And life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
 
For life is just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages
Why ,you must bear the task.

“I worked for a menial’s hire, 
Only  to learn,dismayed,
That any wage that I had asked for life,
Life would have willingly paid.”


But in McDonald’s you don’t ask.You follow instructions.Instructions which are in the form of scripts and which are to delivered to customers by Actors-employees.

Its all standardized, across the counter.
Jokes, compliments, advises,questions. “Questions”??.Certainly!!

Let me share this.

I was at McDonald’s,the other day. After my routine observations (and my routine burger ..which is, by now ,has become a ‘kickstart’ for all my research observations) I went to the counter and asked for some French fries.I t was a charming lady in her early twenties.She looked up, smiled and in a clear confident accent asked,’ Big ,small or medium,Sir?

‘Aaa..Medium,may be.” I said.
She glanced down at her computer, punched in few things and again,in the same confident manner,looked back at me and said,” Sir,would you like to have some fries with it?” 
    
And there I was realizing the power of standardization.

But I am running ahead. I will come McDonald’s little later.

Let me tell you about this dance-thing in Pizza Hut.

In PizzaHut, workers at the service counter dance.Everytime there is rush, especially during weekends , when the kitchen guys are burdened with loads of Pizzas to make and service guys are burdened with impatient customers, they stop serving Pizzas.I nstead they dance!! This not only entertains the customers ,it also gives time to kitchen guys to do their work.

Dance prevents lot of workers from other stations to come to servicing.
For dance is not a dance ,it’s a part of work.Its an instruction from the the manger.usually a team of 7-8 crew members forms a dance group.And it’s a known fact who’s a good dancer and who’s not.A good dancer is one who knows those steps..those standardized steps, on that standarized tune.

Let’s come back to McDonald’s.

By and large there are three stations: fries station, veg station and non-veg station.

Fries station: Fries are made here.Obviously.This is usually the first- front for a new comer.He’s  paid.18 rupees per hour.He can work part time ,full time or only during weekends.
Full shift is for 8 hrs appromately.But if you work for 6 hours,you get a lunch free.Luch means 60 rupees. Whatever comes in that.If your shift goes beyond 6 hours,you get “75 rupees lunch”.Breaks are not fixed.And on working hours ,let me quote McDonald’s Crew Handbook:” Your hours of work cannot be permanently guaranteed because the number of staff we employ depends on how busy the restaurant is.Sometimes it is necessary to increase or reducethe number of hours you work to take these fluctuations into account”.


Part-timers are allowed “ flexibility”.There is a global debate here: Why flexibility??, which I will talk about soon.

Any way, what does a new guy gets? A uniform, a cap and a batch: first green batch and a locker to keep all this.You are also required to buy a black,leather,laced shoes.This must be self-financed.You wear all this,with a continuous’pleasant’ smile, when you make fries.Pleasant,as I have experienced, is highly subjective in fast food chains.It varies from manager to manager!! But ‘you’ objectively follow the manager.

Fries must be ‘crisp’ and not ‘limp’.Once they are made,they must be served within 5 minutes, otherwise they must be thrown. Throwing is your job,  and so is making.But manager will ask you more questions if you don’nt throw them.And he always keep an eye on you.He also ensures that when you are salting, you are doing it thrice making a big M.
THREE TIMES.MAKING AN ‘M’.
Anything else will be an invitation to a big scolding.

To make fries 2 kinds of oil are used, in two separate steel containers.These two are are mixed in 3:1 and then fries are fried in it.What oils are these
God knows.
In next few lines I will prove that I am GOD!! 

At a time,there are 2-3 workers at the fries counter.And at all times there has to be one.Continuously making and throwing.

Let me also mention,that at almost all McDonald’s outlets there is this women called chaprone.She wears skirt, and a top, that’s her uniform.She also wears a ‘nicer’ shoes..a kind of ‘slip-on’.This lady is dedicated for organizing the b’day parties.So majorly handling children.And hence her basic qualification is that she must be font of children.This job is reserved for women only.
Of course,unofficially.  
            
O.K, lets go back to the history of French fries.

“The french fry(was)..almost sacrosanct for me,’’Ray Kroc,the founder of McDonald’s corp.,wrote in his memoirs, “ its preparation a ritual to be followed religiously.” The success of Richard and Mac McDonald’s hamburger stand had been based as much on the quality of their French fries as on the taste of their burgersThe McDonald’s brothers had devised an elaborate system for making crisp French fries ,one that was later perfected by the Restaurant chain.McDonald’s cooked thinly slicedRussett Burbanksin a mixture of vegetable oil and beef tallow ,using epecial fryers designed to keep the oil temperature above 325 degrees.As their retaurant chain expanded, it became difficult ,and yet all the more important ,to maintain the consistency and the quality of the fries.J.R.Simplot met with Ray Kroc in 1965.Switching to frozen French fries appealed to Kroc, as a way to ensure uniformity and cut labour costs.McDonald’s obtained its fresh potatoes from almost 200 different local suppliers,and its employees spent a great deal of their time peeling potatoes.Kroc agreed to try Simplot’s fries but made no long-term commitment.

The deal was fianalized with a handshake.

And in fast food chains when ever there is a handshake,there is a milkshake, a burger and a critic.

I will talk more about working conditions, work norm and culture ,quality (..philosophy )of food, and their personal narratives in my subsequent writings.All of which will,for sure ,prove one thing: If you work for McDonald’s, you “Live McDonald’s”.

I often think if you cut a McDonald’s employee he would bleed KETCHEP!!      




wishing you happiness and health.

Khalid
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