Please, Respect Your Local McDonald’s Employees

Three reasons to keep your cool even if your fries are cold.

At the end of the chess game, the pawn and the king go in the same box. No matter how much power or wealth you have, everyone meets an inevitable end eventually. Death, and sleep, are the great equalizers.

McDonald’s is the cousin of death. Not only because of their systematic slaughter of genetically modified animals and contribution to the obesity epidemic, but due to the diverse demography of its customers. Whether you’re on the Forbes list or the police blotter, McDonald’s provides Big Macs, McNuggets and $1 soft drinks to satisfy the palette of anyone who passes the iconic Golden Arches.

The customers might be a melting pot, but the reputation of McDonald’s employees leans decidedly towards the blue collar. The term “McJob” derogatorily denotes a “low-paid job with few prospects”, and the legion of visored McDonald’s employees has become a symbol of cutthroat capitalism and economic struggle.

The prevailing stereotype is that McDonald’s provides a first job to youth without the skills, experience and facial hair to prevail in the corporate world. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan worked at McDonald’s, along with James Franco and Jeff Bezos. Anecdotally, I’ve talked to many people who have “confessed” that they worked for…