1. The McDonald's in my home town recently installed self-order kiosks so you can order your food without having to deal with counter people. Well, I happen to like dealing with counter people. (That way, if they fail to say "Thank you" I can tell them that they should appreciate me because I could have gone to Burger King or Wendy's.) I was concerned that the addition of these kiosks would mean that counter help could be all but eliminated. (I figured it might be a corporate backlash against all those people demonstrating for a $15 minimum wage from McD's.) But supposedly, that's just not true, as described in detail here. Well, goody for McDonald's. I still won't use these kiosks.
2. I finally got to see The Founder, starring Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, the guy who took a restaurant run by two brothers (named Dick and "Mac" McDonald) and turned it into a thriving franchise. It's quite a fascinating story, although it plays fast and loose with some of the details, as almost all Hollywood biographies do. I'd recommend it. It's interesting to watch Kroc start as sort of an underdog and end up being kind of a prick. (Excuse the expression.)
3. Every McDonald's I'm aware of has two drive-through lanes, so I assume that's the case pretty much everywhere. Anyway, they have two lanes, which gives customers the impression that they're getting served twice as quickly. But there's only one cashier taking the orders from both lines. So the company is fooling you into thinking you're getting faster service while making their drive-through cashiers work twice as hard.
Thanks for your time.
mmm My son (Gerardo) is working in a Mac Donald for weekends but is only by a time. He is in summer vactions.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a coincidence!
DeleteWow, Gloria, you commented three minutes after this posted!
really ?? haha good one
DeleteHa - I have noticed having two lanes never really seems to move any quicker. An illusion has been created. They have those Kiosks in the local Panera's as well. I refuse to use them as I do feel it has the potential to eliminate jobs and in reality it does. During off peak hours some places cut their staff since customers can use the Kiosks.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you, too, True!
DeleteI thought The Founder was pretty good, but yes, it played fast and loose with the facts. I had no idea that Mickey D's had introduced self-order kiosks. The last time I went to a McDonald's was in October, 2015. I was on my way home from Georgia, where I'd adopted Penelope at a rescue. I was starving and went in the drive-through. The burger I got didn't even taste like food to me. I tried to share it with Penelope. She wouldn't touch it. She was terrified and spent the entire trip huddled on the floor of the backseat. Now she sleeps peacefully right next to me, wearing the red jacket of which she's so proud.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Boy, that was quite a McDonald's horror story! I can't recall ever having had a truly unpleasant experience at one.
DeleteI think it had been so many years since I'd had a McDonald's hamburger that it tasted strange to me.
Deletehaha yep, the two lane thing is a crock. I watched The Founder a few months ago, he really did turn into quite the rich prick. I guess they want to keep up with Wal-mart and their auto teller things.
ReplyDeleteI watched a PBS documentary on Kroc and he was a real S.O.B. I felt bad for the McDonald Brothers because Kroc did everything to ruin them. I bet that McDonald's will slowly get rid of some staff and have only P/T for the most part because of these kiosks. I haven't stepped foot in a hamburger joint in years
ReplyDelete