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WhatTheWhatTheWhatHamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:07pm
what the fuck is a first line supervisor?
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  Hamilton NolanWhatTheWhatTheWhat
  7/25/13 5:09pm
  A shift supervisor, basically. The lowest possible level of management.
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  raincoasterWhatTheWhatTheWhat
  7/25/13 5:26pm
  At Starbucks they used to call them "leads." At some point around '98 they switched to calling them "shift supervisors" and that to me indicated the beginning of the end of that company as what it thought it was.
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floorpieHamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:29pm
This is going to sound very cynical, so save your flames: we are returning to the economy and caste system we had over 100 years ago.

In 1900, 90% of the US population was engaged in labor to make their living. Over 80% worked on farms and in factories. Less than 10% of adults were college educated, and the vast majority of those were from wealthy families and were guaranteed employment and support regardless.

If you go farther back, say to the 1850's, there were virtually no institutions of higher learning outside of the Northeast. Education was a privilege of wealth, and an unattainable dream to all others.

We now live in very similar circumstances: post-secondary, university education is well beyond the majority of people, the largest percentage of the workforce is engaged in labor (mostly in service industries), and the sliver of wealthy persons control the largest share of capital.
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  jedifarfyfloorpie
  7/27/13 12:37am
  I live in a city with a larger than average percentage of the work force holding at least a 4 year degree. Even before the recession, places wanted receptionists with a bachelor's degree. It's to the point where your degree is worth far less, and yet almost essential.
  
  (I'm lucky: I have skills I worked on myself and temped into the job I have. That's been my go-to recommendation these days.)
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8193Hamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:08pm
This is kind of a weird criticism without some more numbers and context. Fast food frequently is a low-skill-level first job for teenagers and college students before they leave it to start their real career path in a different industry. Unless you can show what fraction of those front-line workers are doing it as a career, than you might as well be complaining that running a lemonade stand or being a camp counselor is a dead end job.
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  Peroxyacid8193
  7/25/13 5:23pm
  An interesting thing that they could have easily reported and I wish they had is the increase in age among fast food workers. http://www.davemanuel.com/2011/04/21/the…
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  jackdicklessey8193
  7/25/13 5:34pm
  The idea they sell employees on is an important context as well though. My friend was an aforementioned "shift supervisor" at a McDonalds in & right after college & took it upon himself to warn new hires that contrary to the orientation video & pitch they heard there was a very real limit to how far you can advance in that company & almost no one had gone from fry cook to franchise owner or executive since around the 1960s. The reason he warned them was because those classes & schools they'll gladly let you pay them to take pretty much give no better chance of achieving those goals than being really good at your job, being the least incompetent option in-house or in the case of owning a franchise just having the money.
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asocalguyHamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:27pm
I worked at McDonald's for almost five years because there basically wasn't anywhere else to work in the area and I was in high school/community college. I busted my ass to move up in that job because I didn't want to be the burnout working the grill at 45. Work hard, be nice, move up and get out is the only formula that works.

Everyone knows that fast food is a dead end job. That's why it's largely populated by people who are barely employable.
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  asocalguyasocalguy
  7/25/13 5:34pm
  [removed]
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  propernounasocalguy
  7/25/13 5:48pm
  Cool anecdote, bro.
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dickmoveHamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:13pm
I looked into franchises when I was laid off. The only ones that were remotely feasible were Subway and Quizno's. And they still wanted net worth of $350,000 with $150,000 liquid.

I ain't got that kind of liquid.

Off topic question: If I follow a commenter here, what happens? Anything? Am I alerted when they post? what?
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  story645dickmove
  7/25/13 6:16pm
  Their comments show up in your private view->following page (and I think they maybe get to not be in the grays if they're currently grayed, but I can't find anything to verify that).
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김치전!Hamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:14pm
Even the top 2.2% are only making $45,000/year, which considering the right-skew in salary distributions, even the white collar workers are struggling to stay in the middle class.
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Moobot39Hamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:08pm
Most of the fast food places I worked at while going to school constantly tried to sabotage my classes and such.

Got class? Too bad you work now.

NEVER. hand over your schedule to a manger unless you know he will make your schedule around your classes. This happened mainly at mcdonalds, but he will gladly make you work during your classes and keep you going from them. I skipped worked to go to classes and never got fired for (School is more important than 7.50 an hour at Mcdonalds), but he did use it as an excuse to refuse to give me a raise. (Oh man missed that 10 cent raise!)
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  gommerthusMoobot39
  7/25/13 6:43pm
  ...and then he'll find someone else, to fill in all those shift gaps that you wouldn't work on. Transfer the pain.
  
  So yeah I'm not surprised he wouldn't give you a raise, because you were judged as not "making the effort" for the company.
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  Moobot39gommerthus
  7/25/13 10:25pm
  or just not sucking cock for the company.
  
  We had another girl who put out for the manager and she always managed to somehow score 50 cent raises with coming in only for a day of work. Amazes me really.
  
  I found a better job though that pays decently, works around school, and even offers tuition reimbursement.
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Sheeeeeeit-ClayDavisHamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:07pm
Blow me over. I had no idea that there wasn't upward mobility in the fast food industry. I just assumed if I worked hard at cooking fries, they would realize that I should also do accounting and maybe financial forecasting.
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  Matthew McKanye WestSheeeeeeit-ClayDavis
  7/25/13 5:31pm
  This is a thing that they actually tell people, though. That as long as you work hard, you can move up. It's an excuse for why they don't need to pay more - since they're just entry-level jobs.
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  Sheeeeeeit-ClayDavisMatthew McKanye West
  7/26/13 9:25am
  I would assume anyone who hasn't done the independent research deserves not t0 know. Also there is tons of lateral movement. Fry cook, order takers, drive through, and grill specialist are all options.
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LisasaurHamilton Nolan
7/25/13 6:38pm
At work today we looked up how to start a Dunkin' Donuts franchise because there isn't one for miles around our office and we're all addicts. It had the same requirements. Talk about dream killing.
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  Echo-ninerLisasaur
  7/26/13 10:24am
  Fuck it, open up a non-franchise donut shop. Make some good coffee, fry up some dough and cover that shit in sugar. Boom.
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  LisasaurEcho-niner
  7/26/13 10:37am
  Only if I can have a secret tunnel with a pipe stealing the iced coffee from Dunkin' and pumping it into my shop. That's really what we're after, screw donuts...
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The Amazing SneijdermanHamilton Nolan
7/25/13 5:06pm
To be fair, Hamilton, it's pretty damn tough to climb the corporate ladder when you're out of breath by the second rung.
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