From personal experience, the majority of people react the same way when you tell them that either you work or have worked in fast food. They almost immediately respond by saying that working at a fast food restaurant is not that hard. Well here is some news for some people: working in fast food is not as easy as you would expect. This past summer I ended up working at the fast food restaurant in my hometown and it was one of the hardest and sometimes worst jobs I have ever had.
Even though I only worked there for almost 2 months I can still say that it had a major impact on me and how I view the fast food industry. It is more than just taking people’s orders and then handing them their food. There is a lot that goes into every single day that a fast food restaurant is open. There is always a lot to do, especially when the restaurant is open 24 hours/7 days a week. What working at a fast food restaurant entails, at least at this particular restaurant, is cleaning the lobby of the restaurant. By that I mean washing the tables and floor, as well as the Play Place where all of the little kids play, cleaning the counters where the registers are, and the floor behind the registers. You are constantly taking people’s orders not only at the front counter but also at the drive thru. Then you have to repeat the process of collecting the money, handing people their food whether it’s at the front counter or through the drive thru window, and lastly and most importantly is making the food. As you can see there are a lot of important tasks when it comes to running and working at a fast food restaurant. A lot of the time people say that dealing with customers isn’t all that bad but the thing is is that not every customer that comes into the restaurant, whether it’s through the lobby or the drive thru, aren’t always the nicest or most friendliest people. Dealing with difficult customers is definitely a huge part of working in fast food and can also be one of the worst aspects of it. You don’t realize how hard someone’s job is (especially in fast food) until you have been on the other side of the counter. Working in fast food takes a lot of hard work and effort that a lot of people don’t realize. It takes having an open mind and strong work ethic to make the most of the experience.