Fast Food Employee

Meaty Queen, delicious tasty food....

Gallons of gorgeous meaty products and fatty salty fries!!

Yum Yum....at least that's what some would say....but not me!

You see....I worked there....and it may have only been for a couple of months, but that was enough! I started working there in July 2002 - eager to get off the jobseekers money and excited about getting a good pay packet. (Ha, I laugh at that now)

So there I was….young and naïve, expecting an exciting new role, but I ended up being very badly disappointed. My first task was to have a uniform dug out of a cardboard box for me. And then I was presented with 2 black pairs of trousers, 2 ugly-yellow-mustard and black polo shirts and a vile black cap!! I looked at these doubtfully and wandered off to get changed. The changing room was like a box shaped cavern with bags, burger king uniforms and hair all over the floor. The door didn't shut properly either so one girl was always stood by it holding it shut in case a guy came wandering in accidentally...or on purpose.

It was horrible!

Really, the untidiness of the staff area; both eating and changing should have been enough to tell me what the restaurant was like. But my thought was that the restaurant part would be the part that the staff would have took care of the most. The part that they would treasure to ensure good customer satisfaction.

Again….How naïve was i?

After wearing what felt like someone else's uniform for about 10 minutes, I was eager to get it off and get home. It felt greasy and bitty. Not exactly what I would choose to wear myself...but I expected a little bit of cleanliness to the uniform....Alas....it was not to be!

Needless to say, these minging clothes were put on a hot wash when I got home!

Before I could start on my new job, I was taken into a back room (seriously...how many back rooms can 1 restaurant have?) and whilst I sat amongst boxed bread rolls and condiments, I was made to watch a 20 minute instructional video on how to clean the eating area. The video was long, boring and very very OLD! I think it was possibly made in the late 1800's, because the people had atrocious hair! And the look of the video (no dvds) was crunchy to say the least!

After I had watched this, I was given a 10 minute test to make sure I had been listening properly. I passed this with flying colours, but only because the majority of the information that the video was trying to get across was covered in the first 30 seconds. The rest of the tape wasrepetition of what cleaning products to use and when. I would hate to think what the punishment would be for failing that multi-choice questionnaire. Maybe another thrilling watch of the VHS instructional documentary.

So....there I was, uniform on and now familiarised in proper cleaning solution use.

I was then let loose on the public and thrown into the pit! There I was responsible for clearing tables of any unwanted food, emptying the bins and mopping up any spillages. The clientèlewasn't exactly high class, so the tables would often be left with what resembled the remains of a pigs meal! On busy days, then I was constantly cleaning table after table after table. But...being busy was good, because the alternative was hanging around occupied tables as I waited for them to vacate so I could swarm down on their trays hoping for a little bit of a task...anything which would help the time go faster. The customers would look at me worryingly...I could see them hurrying their foods, not wanting me to tidy it away before they had taken their last bite. I was like this because it was better to have things to do...because when that restaurant was empty, then boy it was boring. I would walk up and down the dining part and clean the tables over and over again. They would shine with the gleam from the liquid so much that I would be able to see my reflection in them on passing. I was on the dining part for 3 weeks before I was entrusted with more responsibility!

Next big step into the world of MQ?

The very important role of burger meat cooker! And Sandwich Maker!

Before I took this job, I loved MQ - The Woopper Meal was YUMMY! But now....after I have worked in there and seen how the food is made....I am a bit more wary... :S

The days I worked in the restaurant, I waited impatiently for the moment that I would be allowed in the kitchen. But....when I was in the kitchen then I looked longingly at the newbies (people who had started and had to climb the MQ ladder of success) because working in the kitchen was hard work!

It was hot near the fryers, so the summer time (when I worked there) made it 'murder' to work there. My first task as newly recruited oven-watcher was to watch a 20 minute instructional video! Oh Gawd! It was another killer, but I managed to get the vital information from it before completing my test.

I was then shown around the kitchen and positioned by the bun toaster. My job was to haul big boxes of bread rolls from the fridge (Which was a 'bugger' to open) and after opening them up; popping each bun into the toaster for it to slide through (getting warm and toasty on the way) to the other side where the burger cookers (my next promotion) were eagerly making up sandwiches.

Part of the instructional video TOLD the crew member that an alarm would sound in the kitchen every 20 minutes which would indicate that hands needed to be washed to make sure hygiene was kept to a high standard. Well....this little rule...the one that stopped people from having sickie tummies, was kind of wavered on busy days....such as Saturdays.

Everyones shifts were all over the place. A couple of hours on one day, then a full day the next day and then back to a couple of hours following that. But Saturdays were written into our contract. We had to be there. The town got so packed with shoppers that it was inevitable that the majority would stop off in MQ for a bite to eat, so we were generally rushed off our feet. When I worked in the dining area, it was difficult to keep on top of the untidy tables and I was generally running from one end to the other....in the kitchens, it was another story altogether. All hell broke loose. Not only were people NOT washing their hands when the buzzer went....they were also using food supplies that I wouldn't give to my dog!

Staying at my post, I would be loading bap after bap into the toaster, working my poor back as I bent over each box to fetch them out. And after the box was emptied, I would have to dump this in the corner for destroying before I ran (trying not to flail my arms) into the fridge for another box....and let me tell you....those boxes were NOT light! And not one guy or woman (depending on the butchness of them) offered to help me! Instead I had them shouting me to hurry with the bread loading! Sweat poured out of me, dripping onto the soft cool bap before it was tossed unceremoniously into the giant toaster.

On the other end of the toaster were 4 crew members all crammed together putting just cooked burgers into the toasted baps, their fingers were generally burnt to a crisp off the oil from the red hot meat!

Every hour the meat had to be checked for temperature to make sure it was cooked right....this was also done on a whim on busy days. I remember one instance after I had been promoted to burger cooker when the meat didn't appear to be cooked all the way through (there were unsightly pink bits) - as I went to chuck this to the side, the manageress B*%$£ (bitch) woman came over, shouted at me for taking too long and grabbed the barely cooked meat, whacked it in a bun and served it to an unbeknownst customer. I was horrified. She had looked at the meat, so I doubt she would have missed the pink bits in the middle....But this was the same woman who I had witness caressing the ingredients the day before.

Claire (huh, such a cow - she saw herself above everyone else....) was usually on sandwich making duties and this one time (when it was quiet) she was looking absent-mindedly down the dining aisle whilst her fingers were stroking a piece of pickle that she picked out of the tub. As a customer sauntered up to the tills, she tossed this back into the pot with the rest and made the girl a whopper burger (using 4 pickles).....

From that moment I vowed to not eat at Meaty queen again....Needless to say, I didn't last in the job long. The hours were long, the pay was ridiculous...and the management treated you like dirt. Claire was often shouting people down....

This was not my fave job AT all!