Sunday, June 27, 2004

I Work For the Clown Now...

Well, as of today I'm officially employed, at my friendly neighbourhood McDonald's. My second interview went relatively well, and by that I mean I didn't poison anybody or leave them with food they didn't order. Really, all I did was handle the beverages by the drive-thru window -- pretty simple once you get used to it. I was promptly hired and asked to attend an orientation meeting -- a meeting I attended today. I was subjugated to the usual video propaganda and tour of the building. On the plus side for McDonald's, as compared to Safeway, is that they handle the material of their recruitment videos with a heavy dose of humour. They realize that their tapes deal with silly instructions, so they go out of the way to make them even sillier. It's almost as if say, "Hey, we know most of you have the common sense to understand these concepts, but we have to teach them to you anyway. So why not have a good time while you learn?" Safeway, on the other hand, handles their training with the utmost seriousness that borders on irrational. As a result, their force-feeding of the Safeway doctrine comes off distinctly cult-ish, more like a brain-washing and less like a brain-tickling. "Obey us! Obey the UNION! Or PERISH! MWAHAHAHA! Your soul is ours!"

On the point against McDonald's, the area is cramped. I've seen bathroom stalls that are larger than the "crew room that is provided for our benefit". One TV, one microwave, two McDonald's square tables, and three ratty chairs. At least Safeway had the decency to provide its workers with a working fridge. Ah well. The pay's pretty much the same, and the atmosphere of McDonalds is great deal less isolating than the work of a Safeway cashier. I was pretty much the youngest person working at Safeway, and that left me feeling rathing uncomfortable as a relatively wealthy, pampered girl with a future surrounded by bitter adults who checked groceries for A CAREER. McDonalds was brimming with teenagers. The applications in the store were targeted for youngsters. So, all in all, I'm looking forward to working in the Clown's service. On a sadder note, Kevin the Hot Manager proposed to his girlfriend recently. I really hope they don't decide to hold the wedding reception in the restaurant, as some weird couple chose to do in the McDee's commercials we had to watch...
As of today, my obsession is: "Spider-Man 2", starring Tobey Maguire. AAAH! I have to see that movie! Spider-Man is King!

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