Mcdonalds
I have done whilst I was doing my undergrad degree. Sometimes it was okay-a lot of other people would moan about having to do drinks for our express lane because it meant being stuck in a corner and not being able to chat to anyone all shift, but I loved that, it was so chilled out and quiet!-and sometimes it was awful-we were near a stadium and match days were just endless.
My managers figured out pretty quickly being on tills was not my strong point though, and I usually got put on other stuff that didn't involve having to interact with customers, which was good. Also, I think I was lucky in that the other people working there were all pretty nice, and pretty much accepted me as I was. I only worked 1-2 days a week during uni, then did full time in the summer. I couldn't have worked full time more than that though, it would have been too much. I liked that it was repetitive and there were very set ways of doing things (so once you'd been taught how to do everything, someone says 'wash the floors' and you know the set way to do it), but you didn't often get a timely break, you were on your feet all day, you smell of fast food when you're done, customers can be pretty awful, and the general atmosphere depends on your managers and coworkers. I was lucky that mine were all nice, which made all the difference.
It certainly pushed me to learn new skills and improved my confidence, but it was pretty stressful.
I haven't worked at McDonald's, but I go there at least three times a week and find the staff friendly and helpful in all the branches. They're clearly working under a considerable amount of pressure and do a really good job, IMO.
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I've worked fast food including McDonald's, which was my first job. I didn't like it because it made me very anxious, but I know people who love it and really love their jobs.
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nick007
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I never worked there but I was told by my mom many times that I should cuz I loved eating there. I don't think that means I should of gotten a job there with my disabilities thou. I've known people who worked at one & hated it. The McDonald's I went to the most is in a low income area & the workers there didn't give a sh1t. I tended to have to wait a long time for my food & it was overcooked & not warm. The workers also tended to get my order wrong a lot & had an attitude when I tried to correct it.
I have worked as a dishwasher at IHOP thou & I hated rush hour. I imagine fast-food would be just as bad except I'd have to deal with customers more which doesn't really bother me but would be more of a problem for some others on the spectrum.
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Dear_one
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I work at a restaurant called Newk's. It's fast casual (like Panera) rather than true fast food. I've been there for almost five years (other than a brief period of eight months when I left and worked at a grocery store, but long story short, that didn't work out so well so I went back to Newk's), so I've actually gotten quite used to the job and enjoy it pretty well. We are always completely slammed between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on weekdays, which was overwhelming at first. But now I actually kinda like it, because I always have something to do and have a bit of variation in the tasks that I do (unlike when I was a grocery store bagger and just bagged groceries and went outside to occasionally load customers' groceries in their cars and collect carts...after awhile, that job bored me to tears), but I don't typically have to multitask so much that it's too overwhelming. I do work "front of house", which means I deal with customers, but it isn't so bad. My primary tasks are taking their orders at the register and running the food to their tables. With both of those, it's fairly easy to just follow a script. I don't have to make a lot of small talk. I do know how to make most of the food, and occasionally I've made a sandwich or a salad here and there just to help out, but that's always during slower times. I do feel like I'd have more trouble trying to keep up with all the orders and making all the food so fast like back of house people have to do during the lunch rush. When running food, managers do expect us to keep up with tea, ice, and the round table (basically just a table with all these complimentary condiments) and be checking them periodically so we can refill them when needed. Luckily though, there are usually three runners and each of us are kind of assigned to one, so again, not too much multitasking and having to keep up with quite so much at once. The most difficult thing for me is definitely handling the more "unpredictable" situations with customers (although it doesn't happen too often). I've definitely had some awkward moments, but nothing bad enough to lose my job!
There also are moments that I can get overwhelmed, if there's just TOO much going on...for example, I know that the sweet tea is getting low and I'm about to go and make some more, but first I'm trying to put in a delivery order that we just received really quick. Then, one of the last customers whose order I took comes to inform me that they forgot that they wanted their dressing on the side or didn't want mustard on their sandwich. Of course, I already sent their order though, so the only thing I can do is go to the expo line, dig through the tickets and find theirs, and write down the change that they wanted to make, and make sure to do this before their food actually gets made. So then I'm dealing with that, and knowing that I still have two other tasks that are unfinished, and sometimes I forget what one of them even was. That makes me want to scream! But luckily, this kind of thing doesn't happen often enough to where the job is unbearable.
And I actually used to have an obsession with restaurant menus when I was a bit younger, so I've been able to use that to my advantage. I wouldn't really consider it one of my special interests anymore, but I'm still able to memorize menus pretty easily. I didn't have much trouble at all learning our menu, and now I definitely know it word for word, so I have no trouble working the register or answering costumers' questions about the menu.
And now, they have me opening most days, which I like a lot. I go in at 8, and just get the restaurant ready (take down chairs, make all the teas, set up the round table and grab-n-go cooler). That's three hours (until 11 when we open) of peace and quiet, with no customers, and just getting to be in my own world. Most of the staff is friendly, and I feel pretty comfortable being myself. I have to kind of "fake it" and follow my "script" with customers, but with my coworkers, I'm quite comfortable acting like myself. The managers all consider me a very good and reliable employee, which gives me more confidence in myself. I've thought about trying to move up to management, but I'm just not sure if that's realistic. I know there's way more responsibility with that than what I do now, and I'm not sure I have the executive functioning skills to run a restaurant. Plus, I just think about the times I've had a hard time dealing with customers, and managers have to do that a lot. I'm definitely not good at confrontation, which managers sometimes have to deal with, with both customers and employees. Also, the shift managers and the assistant managers are all really awesome and I've grown quite close to them and feel comfortable around them. The general manager is a bit of a different story though. I know he considers me a good employee, and he doesn't treat me badly, but at the same time, he tends to play favorites, and I'm definitely not one of those "favorites", so I don't know what he'd even say if I expressed interest in becoming a shift manager.
But yeah, in short, I have learned to handle and even enjoy my restaurant job. I even stayed and just worked in Saturdays this past spring while I was student teaching. Partly because I wanted to still make at least some money, but also partly because it was kind of my safe haven, since student teaching was so difficult and stressful for me and work was always a place where I DIDN'T feel nervous and stressed. And again, I've had so many doubts about whether teaching is really something I'd enjoy and be able to do, so again, sometimes I've pictured myself becoming a restaurant manager so I could get out of teaching. But I just don't know if that's realistically something I could do either.
