Over the summer, students began applying to minimum-wage jobs to use up their free time while also saving money for future expenses. However, once school came back in session, some students found it hard to balance schoolwork while also focusing on their job due to the changes being made to their workplace.
Before the end of the year, I managed to secure a full-time job working customer service at local fast food restaurant. I worked many days of the week and earned lots of money, while also being able to take two vacations. During that time, my manager hired lots of employees. By the time school started, there were so many employees that my manager had to give me shorter shifts, ranging from two to three days per work week.
Junior Benjamin Hass said his shifts haven’t really changed, stating that instead of getting shorter shifts, he’s been getting longer shifts. Hass said he juggles making pizza for his customers and the school.
“We get busy during football games, and it’s nuts trying to make sure I get the hours I need, but I just work for a different day than what I’m used to,” Hass said.
On the other hand, senior Ashlee Crawford said she’s been getting shorter shifts and has mixed feelings about it.
“It’s kind of nice because, like, with school, it’s not bad, but for like, what I’m wanting to make, I don’t like it because I would want to make more money,” Crawford said.
When August started, my manager hired five new employees, one after another. I was in charge of training all of them for a majority of my shifts that month. Usually my manager would not tell me who I am training and when, so it would cause a lot of tension because I was unaware of what I was supposed to be doing in that moment. Often times I had to train my coworkers during rush hour, making me more stressed because juggling getting orders out and teaching them was not easy.
“I feel like when going in there, I know that I have to work my butt off just getting on the phone,” Hass said. “Like, whenever you go into the work you’re just like, ah, because, like, last night was just crazy. I mean literally. I was supposed to get off at 8. Now I got off at 9:30 so, it’s like, depends on the night.”
His shifts tend to drive him bonkers because of all of the orders being taken and not being able to clock out in time. Prior to getting interviewed, Hass explained how his old manager handled his work environment, stating how his manager slacked off during his shifts and left everything up to his coworkers to figure out. Eventually his manager was fired due to his poor decision making and now the business struggles to find people to take the manager role.
“It’s like, can we find good management? That’s the problem,” Hass said.
Deep down, I wish customers were nicer to me when experiencing difficulties at work and just communicating in general. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had rude customers yell at me through the speaker just because I asked them to reiterate what they said or to speak more clearly. A lot of times customers seem mad before I even give them their food, so I never try to bother as much.
On the other hand, it does irk me when customers know that what they’re doing is annoying and disrespectful, but still continue to act that way. From holding up the line to fix their order to remaking their entire meal because it’s not fresh to their liking really frustrates me.
I don’t think many adults realize how their actions affect fast food workers, especially minors. All in all, I just hope that in the future students have a better time working at their jobs and not worrying about the people around them.
