Jan 29 2009
Memory Lane
I started reading Fast Food Nation last night. It definitely brought back some memories (my first job was at McDonald’s when I was 16). It’s funny, because back then, I didn’t think twice when I was told I had to punch out, because we would get in trouble if I was on the clock past the time I was supposed to be…and yet I was suppossed to stay to finish my work, even if that was another hour or two after we closed.
I didn’t get paid for that time.
Apparently, that’s very common in the fast food industry, and there have been lawsuits over unpaid overtime wages. As a teen who wanted to prove I had a strong work ethic, it simply didn’t occur to me that I should speak up.
The thing is, in the US, those type of workplace “ethics” extend way beyond the fast food industry. I worked at a job that went back and forth between whether or not we should be hourly or salaried. They paid people for 8 hours a day, even if they worked more…but if you worked 9 hours (but could log 
Monday through Thursday, and then had to leave 1 hour early on Friday…you would only get paid 7 hours on Friday. It sucks, because people will put up with that when the job market isn’t strong. I worry now that more and more places will take advantage of their workers, because these people will be so happy to just have a job, and they won’t want to jeopardize that.
I don’t know what the solution is. I see so many things in our society that I would like to change, but other than changing my life, I’m not sure much is possible beyond that. I’ll have to keep thinking this over.
