Golden Lessons in Labor and Work
The day had been long and fruitful, but darkness would come in about an hour as I traveled west on Interstate 90. I had been traveling at the limit of the Minnesota Highway Patrol’s good humor for the last few hours with the hope of not having to travel flooded terrain in the dark, but I was tired, hungry and in need of... a return to my favorite McDonald’s in Fairmont, MN. That oasis of cleanliness, good cheer and perfected Quarter Pounders with Cheese I last wrote about for Labor Day in 2021.
That trip impressed me by the professional nature of the entire crew, but especially one fleet-footed crew-member working lot clean up. His efforts that day exemplifying the quiet, personal dignity of a job well done. Today’s lesson would be different, but no-less heartwarming.
This trip, I went inside and “attempted” to use the kiosk ordering system. Either the system was having a problem with American Express or with my inexperience. Either way, it was a no-go. Instead, I attempted to wave down the manager, not once, but three times. No dice - either she couldn’t see me (unlikely, but benefit of the doubt given) or there was something much more important to tend to. So, off to the drive-through I went.
My order was promptly taken by a friendly voice, and I then proceeded around the corner to pay. There, I met the hero of this story: a young woman of pleasant demeanor with the most welcoming smile in all of Fairmont. I couldn’t help but ask her, “Is there trouble in your store tonight?” “Yes!” came the reply. “One of the crew just walked out. Said he wanted the rest of the night off or he would quit.”
“So, you’re going to be shorthanded the rest of the night. What are you going to do?”, I asked. Her smile got even bigger, her posture a little better and she looked me straight in the eye and announced, “I’m staying ‘til close at 11:30.”
Before my first shift as crew chief at the Clive McDonald’s (in 1977), my manager took me aside to remind me that my primary job would be to guide the crew members. His advice for me that day was simple, “we teach them everything, but the first thing we teach them is to show up on time and to go home on time.” What he meant in business school language is that we first teach them to be dependable.
Parents can only do so much. Schooling helps, but eventually we must all be tested by the job, the work, the weight of others depending on us. It is no small thing. As I have said before, all jobs are hard because all jobs are important.
She thanked me for my order, handed me my change and I thanked her. Two more thank-you’s were delivered as I picked up my drink and sandwich by the now-less distracted manager, but it was the young lady I pondered as I drove home. She’s the real deal. The true American-dream. I’m tempted to say, she’s going places, but in the most important ways she is already there.