How hard is it to be a manager of people at McDonalds?  Hard.  Like riding a bike on the freeway hard.

This week found me for almost 2 days at Exit 11 off I-20 in Georgia, stranded because of the South's Snowpocalypse, which was caused because when you don't own a snowplow, salt or sand, 3 inches of snow and ice in hard freeze temperatures can screw things up.

So I got the last room at a Microtel (no lobby restaurant) and bunkered up.  Next door was a McDonald's, and since the wifi at the hotel didn't work, that was my place of residence any time they were open - which is the story here.

Wednesday morning I saw they were open, so I rolled over there and got some coffee and fired up the laptop.  I proceeded to be more sociologist than remote worker.  Here's what I was observing: Mcdonalds

1. When I got there, it was just the manager and someone working the grill.  Skeleton staff to be sure.

2. Most of the rest of the team had called out and said they couldn't get there.  That is, if they called at all, which was a topic of discussion.

3. As it turns out, Wednesday was payday.  The checks had been shipped to this location (day before for sure) and most of them looked to be live checks.

4. Even though the roads were enough to keep most people from work, at least 12 employees (I'm guessing that location has 30-35 people on the payroll?) came in to get their checks.

5. When they came in to get their checks, the manager did everything in his power to ask them to stay and help them.  He asked. He begged. He complemented them.  He said he would take what ever time they could give him.

6. Guess how many people out of the twelve I saw said yes?  One.  1!!!

Think about that for a moment.  You need your check and you go through hell on the roads to come get your check, even though the banks are closed - so you really didn't think that through.  Then, when you're asked to help out, you say no.

I know some of these folks had kids at home, etc.  But 1 out of 12?  Shows you how hard it is to be a manager of people at McDonalds.  If I ever saw my kids in their early adult life and they went to pick up a check on a day where they could do nothing else, were asked to pitch in (in a nice way) and said no to the person who manages them, I do believe I would kick their ###.

Kudos to the 40-ish lady that came in with her 20 year old son and said yes.  I watched her interactions with customers for a couple of hours, and she was money - very good at what she did.  If you're reading this, you are all class.

McDonalds just needs more like you.  Hell, after spending some time watching the interactions, I'm guessing America needs a lot more like you.

I know some emails back to me will say, "but Kris, those jobs use people for low wages and they're disposable jobs, etc."

Guess how you get out of that job?  You act like the lady who said yes.