First and Last Job by Dan Winkelman
Andy was excited about his first day at work at McDonalds, until his bike got a flat then he was just terrified about being late. It was his first paycheck job, in his mind he had already spent that paycheck a hundred times over. He quickly pushed his bike down the dusty road, wondering why they never built sidewalks on this side of town?
As he punched in for the first time, he was given a stern stare by the manager, who always seemed like he was mad and scared at the same time. When the manager told him during his interview that his name was Ronald, Andy had hard time not laughing. Ronald now instructed him to work with Zac who looked about 100 years old and looked like he had seen better days.
Zac who spoke with a deep gravelly voice showed him the ropes, “if you can lean you can clean” he said with a sly wink. He started on the grill; everything was timed, light goes on do this, light goes off do that, he felt like a gear or part of the machine. Later, as the lunch crowd started to shuffle through the bright greasy doors, Zac put him on the register. It was fun once I got used counting change in front of people. Then he screwed up an order for this tall dude with cracked glasses who smelled fishy and had duck-tape on his shoes.
Andy felt that this man knew he was just learning the ropes, he smelled weakness, so even after he got the order sorted out he would not back off. Andy got scared, started looking for Ronald who was busy in the back sorting out a new machine that was being delivered. The line started to get longer while the fishy man's voice got louder, insisting on “his money back, his food and an apology from the manager for wasting his valuable time”. Zac shuffled around the counter quick as a cat, got in close and tried to talk him down, when that did not work he slipped around his back, grabbed his arm and duck walked him out the door! The fishy man started come back in, but Zac backed him away from the door, got in close again, whispered in his ear something that gave the man pause, after that the man slunked down the road.
Zac smiled, which made him, for a moment look a decade younger, then back to business “next customer please”. I closed my mouth which had been hanging open and followed his direction, we worked the line down while I kept watching the door. We both got a break after the lunch rush and decided to go outside for some air.
I had to ask Zac “where did you learn to fight like that” as we walked over to the Walmart to pick-up a bike tire repair kit. “I was in the Great War where we had to learn to fight to survive but more important was getting him to walk away; anybody can slam a punk but when you are my age you want things to run smoothly, like my bowel movements or the service line”.
After the lunch crowd was done some new people showed up to work each looking like they would rather be somewhere else then starting a long shift. Zac had seen me push my flat to work so he suggested we walk over to Walmart to get some supplies to get it fixed.
We spent a little more time in Walmart than expected, it was hard to tell who was crazier the people who worked at Walmart, who were clueless about where anything was located or the customers; the lady ahead of us bought 20 different kinds of canned cat food and had coupons for each type, spilled coffee all over the place and blamed the poor cashier who seemed half asleep. In the end I bought the repair kit and Zac picked up a tire pump which he said, “he would return after we got the bike fixed.” We headed back to finish our shift, as we noticed them setting up big machines in the store, Ronald seemed pleased with himself but also refused to give us any details.
As our shift ended Ronald called us to a side table. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those machines are replacing you, they are order takers. I must let go of the last two people hired and that's both of you. It seemed the minimum wage increase has made it cheaper to replace you. I can offer you both a good job recommendation and Andy I am sorry since you just got hired but I did not get instructions for the layoffs until after the machines were active.” We both were a little shocked, as we were escorted out the door and so just like that my first job lasted one shift!
Zac has some tools in his car and helped me change the bike tire, I asked him what he was going to do, and he said, “well Andy to be honest I didn't really need the money, I just got this job to get out of my apartment which was starting to close in on me. It’s tough getting old, slowly you start to lose your friends and your family has less time for you as they build their own lives, so the days start to blur together. I think I am done with the back to work itch and will likely head to the local college to find something new to keep my brain moving”.
He asked me what my plans were, but I had none. Zac looked me directly in the eye and said, “concentrate on your schooling boy, you can be the one who gets replaced by the machines or you can be the one who makes the machines, it’s only going to get worse, especially in America where there is no safety net.” which seemed to be the lesson of the day.
After we got the bike tire pumped back up Zac was getting ready to return it to Walmart and I put on my helmet to head home when I got an idea. I asked Zac to come inside with me and we looked over the new order machines. I ordered a big mac with no beef patties, no pickles, no special sauce, no lettuce, no onions and no sesame bun. The machine seemed to take a while to process this then just crashed, the screen going black and showing computer code, Zac and I laughed out loud as we headed out the door. I did not care about losing this dumb job, jumping on my bike I realized there are many bumpy roads ahead but I am up for the challenge!
As he punched in for the first time, he was given a stern stare by the manager, who always seemed like he was mad and scared at the same time. When the manager told him during his interview that his name was Ronald, Andy had hard time not laughing. Ronald now instructed him to work with Zac who looked about 100 years old and looked like he had seen better days.
Zac who spoke with a deep gravelly voice showed him the ropes, “if you can lean you can clean” he said with a sly wink. He started on the grill; everything was timed, light goes on do this, light goes off do that, he felt like a gear or part of the machine. Later, as the lunch crowd started to shuffle through the bright greasy doors, Zac put him on the register. It was fun once I got used counting change in front of people. Then he screwed up an order for this tall dude with cracked glasses who smelled fishy and had duck-tape on his shoes.
Andy felt that this man knew he was just learning the ropes, he smelled weakness, so even after he got the order sorted out he would not back off. Andy got scared, started looking for Ronald who was busy in the back sorting out a new machine that was being delivered. The line started to get longer while the fishy man's voice got louder, insisting on “his money back, his food and an apology from the manager for wasting his valuable time”. Zac shuffled around the counter quick as a cat, got in close and tried to talk him down, when that did not work he slipped around his back, grabbed his arm and duck walked him out the door! The fishy man started come back in, but Zac backed him away from the door, got in close again, whispered in his ear something that gave the man pause, after that the man slunked down the road.
Zac smiled, which made him, for a moment look a decade younger, then back to business “next customer please”. I closed my mouth which had been hanging open and followed his direction, we worked the line down while I kept watching the door. We both got a break after the lunch rush and decided to go outside for some air.
I had to ask Zac “where did you learn to fight like that” as we walked over to the Walmart to pick-up a bike tire repair kit. “I was in the Great War where we had to learn to fight to survive but more important was getting him to walk away; anybody can slam a punk but when you are my age you want things to run smoothly, like my bowel movements or the service line”.
After the lunch crowd was done some new people showed up to work each looking like they would rather be somewhere else then starting a long shift. Zac had seen me push my flat to work so he suggested we walk over to Walmart to get some supplies to get it fixed.
We spent a little more time in Walmart than expected, it was hard to tell who was crazier the people who worked at Walmart, who were clueless about where anything was located or the customers; the lady ahead of us bought 20 different kinds of canned cat food and had coupons for each type, spilled coffee all over the place and blamed the poor cashier who seemed half asleep. In the end I bought the repair kit and Zac picked up a tire pump which he said, “he would return after we got the bike fixed.” We headed back to finish our shift, as we noticed them setting up big machines in the store, Ronald seemed pleased with himself but also refused to give us any details.
As our shift ended Ronald called us to a side table. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those machines are replacing you, they are order takers. I must let go of the last two people hired and that's both of you. It seemed the minimum wage increase has made it cheaper to replace you. I can offer you both a good job recommendation and Andy I am sorry since you just got hired but I did not get instructions for the layoffs until after the machines were active.” We both were a little shocked, as we were escorted out the door and so just like that my first job lasted one shift!
Zac has some tools in his car and helped me change the bike tire, I asked him what he was going to do, and he said, “well Andy to be honest I didn't really need the money, I just got this job to get out of my apartment which was starting to close in on me. It’s tough getting old, slowly you start to lose your friends and your family has less time for you as they build their own lives, so the days start to blur together. I think I am done with the back to work itch and will likely head to the local college to find something new to keep my brain moving”.
He asked me what my plans were, but I had none. Zac looked me directly in the eye and said, “concentrate on your schooling boy, you can be the one who gets replaced by the machines or you can be the one who makes the machines, it’s only going to get worse, especially in America where there is no safety net.” which seemed to be the lesson of the day.
After we got the bike tire pumped back up Zac was getting ready to return it to Walmart and I put on my helmet to head home when I got an idea. I asked Zac to come inside with me and we looked over the new order machines. I ordered a big mac with no beef patties, no pickles, no special sauce, no lettuce, no onions and no sesame bun. The machine seemed to take a while to process this then just crashed, the screen going black and showing computer code, Zac and I laughed out loud as we headed out the door. I did not care about losing this dumb job, jumping on my bike I realized there are many bumpy roads ahead but I am up for the challenge!