I was standing in line at McDonalds and taking in all the commotion behind the counter. My thoughts floated to the summer of 1968, when I worked at a McDonalds. If I remember correctly, the only items on the menu were a hamburger, cheeseburger, French fries (one size), fish sandwich, Coke, Sprite, an orange drink, vanilla and chocolate shakes. Ketchup cost a nickel.
Payment is for sure different. Now the counter tops have all kinds of computerized equipment. When I worked there, one person took the order and tallied the total with pencil and paper while a second worker rounded up the food for the order. Our goal was to have all the food on the tray by the time the money transaction was done.
I always felt sorry for people who made a special order. We had to write their request on a piece of paper and set it on the grill. Many times the request sat there a long time before being picked up. Variety was not the order of the day.
The dreaded shift was the closing crew because you had to keep pouring boiling hot water through the milkshake machine until it came out the spouts totally clear. We were told it was necessary to kill all the bacteria, and if we didn’t do it, people would die. When you’re 16, you don’t want to cause people to die. I’m glad to report we were faithful in the discharge of this duty.
iTunes Ruth Marshall
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