My friend, Carlos, was a recent victim of corporate downsizing after losing his job to budget cuts. He debated on either going back to school and learning a new skill or just trying to find another job in his field.
He chose the former.
In the meantime, Carlos needed a job to pay his bills. He began applying for positions that would be flexible with his school schedule. After submitting a few applications, he found a new position. Although he was embarrassed to tell me about his new job, I eventually pried the details from him.
Carlos became a grill cook at a local McDonald’s. He couldn’t believe he would be working at a Mcjob.
So what is a Mcjob? It’s an actual dictionary term given to someone who works at a dead end job.
The word was demeaning enough for McDonald’s to file a lawsuit to keep it out of the dictionary. McDonald’s was eventually overruled in a court of law and the definition remains unchanged.
I told Carlos not be ashamed to work at McDonald’s. With our bad economy, he is fortunate to have a job. He had concerns about people looking down on him for working in a fast food restaurant. With the exception of his boss, I told him not to worry about what anyone else thought.
I also reminded him that McDonald’s was just a temporary position because he was going back to school to get a higher paying job.
After a few days at work, Carlos discovered he was in the same boat with several of his co-workers; he learned that many of them had also been laid off. I told my friend that I would have no problem with joining him on the grill if I suddenly found myself unemployed.
At an early age, I learned that pride will go out the window when it comes to survival because there is no shame in earning an honest living.
I told him about some of my past jobs which included newspaper delivery and cleaning commodes. I told him that if I could survive cleaning a few dirty toilets in a factory, he could survive making a few burgers.
Maybe it’s time for the great thinkers who work for the dictionaries to consider revising the definition of the word Mcjob.
Instead of referring to it as a dead end job, they could change it to “a position that can sustain one with a means of financial support during a financial crisis.”
Carlos and his co-workers would appreciate it.
1 comment:
I just had a conversation with my 15 year old who thinks life is going to come to him easy. He wants to get a job. I told him not until his grades improve. I also told him in today's economy not only will he be completing with other high school kids who get good grades, but also with professional adults who have been laid of from their high paying jobs. I asked him who he thought McDonald's would hire first...a kid who is just getting by or a laid off production manager who is trying to feed his family. I hope it was a wake up call for him.
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