McDonalds: Edible or Not

since they introduced the screens for you to enter and pay for your order

I know a lot of left-leaning people who are incensed by the job-killing march of automation.

I also know a lot of antisocial and/or misanthropic introverts who hate talking to people and love automated kiosks/self-checkout options.

When it gets REALLY interesting is when they turn out to be the selfsame people.

TBH I sometimes include myself in this tricky overlap: I want people to have jobs, but I sometimes enjoy not talking to them

i don't want people to have jobs at mcdonalds

filet-o-fish for life

i don't want people to have jobs at mcdonalds

So do you not want McDonald's to exist, or do you want it to exist but not have human workers? Honest question.

it's kinda dumb zero sum game thinking, the idea that the kiosks automatically equate to lost jobs. so far, all of the reports have shown otherwise, that companies have had to increase their staff as the automation has led to more orders coming in.

the idea that you're saving someone's job by going to the cashier is horseshit - greedy multinational corporations like McDonald's will cut labor whenever they can, kiosk or no kiosk. what isn't horseshit is that McDonald's is still underpaying their employees and deliberately underscheduling them, preferring to have a larger staff that works 15-20 hours a week rather than full-timers.

IIRC it's mainly mobile/delivery orders driving things up? To the extent that it's creating supply/labor problems

yeah, mostly because there's no control in place to manage the influx of orders. pre-online ordering, you could only get orders as fast as your staff could input them. now you can get slammed with a ton of online orders simultaneously, without warning. and Uber Eats/Postmates/etc orders as well.

the Popeyes near me, when the new sandwich was re-released, were basically obliterated - ran out of beverages many days because in addition to the insane walk-up and drive-thru traffic, there were tons of people placing Uber Eats orders and there were maybe five employees in the whole building.

I had occasion to talk with a regional manager for Macca’s the other week. He said the screens had driven a significant uptake in per transaction sales, people are less embarrassed with upsizing and adding on through the screen. That said 70% of sales are through the drive through window with delivery driving growth. UberEATS basically created a new category for them.

So do you not want McDonald's to exist, or do you want it to exist but not have human workers?

the latter. humans should mostly paint

sry to strike poses; obv utopia isn't coming soon. but it's coming sooner than the effects of automation under capitalism are gonna be alleviated by telling someone you want a big mac

The jobs that cant be automated - preparing the food and maintaining hygiene standards - still need to be done, only with the screens there are less staff to do them. When you don't use the screen, you're pulling a staff member away from a job that they need to complete. In effect it is adding extra work to their day, making it harder for them to leave on time. These companies aren't going to add staff, they're just going to command the existing limited pool of staff to work harder/faster. I don't like to see jobs and hours cut but for the workers on the frontline, my interruption of their tasks to do a job that can easily be done by a screen doesn't help them. I imagine its really frustrating having some boomer come up and harass you about menu options when you just want to finish refilling the McFlurry machine or whatever.

Good discussion

Thanking u all for the license to continue combining vaguely liberal pieties with antipathy for saying things to ppl

Believe me, I feel you. It's the same argument I have with myself over not doing more charitable work. I want to help people without having to actually be around people.

i'm not that averse to talking to people, but i also get tired of the 700th smug brag from libs that "I saved jobs today, I didn't use the self checkout like other assholes"

And, lo, the devil watched vigilantly over the thread as it wobbled at the precipice, waiting for just the right moment to nudge it into the morass of intractable clusterfuckdom.

Is that from The Crow?

Crow 2 iirc

let them eat it

iirc charities like help but they prefer money

i was today years old when i learned i was a charity

iirc charities like help but they prefer money

― they see me lollin' (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, December 3, 2019 11:51 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

for sure, and I do donate pretty widely, it just feels lazier to me.

i like help but i prefer rubber soul

The commercial otm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuTvQ8bhPVw

I can't tell you how revolutionary the Chicken McNuggets were in the early Reagan era for many of us who loathed burgers.q

OTM. Did they come before the Happy Meal or was it right around then?

After!

in the year 2525
Big Mac combo no longer comes with fries
Patties are smaller, condiments aren't free
They're delivered through your TV

In the year 3535
Your Filet of Fish has googly eyes
There's no bun, no random piece of cheese
And the fish might have contracted disease

hahahahaha

McNugget Trivia Corner:

According to McDonald's, the nuggets come in four shapes: the bell, the bow-tie, the ball and the boot. The reason for the four different shapes is to ensure consistent cooking times for food safety.[7][8] Four shapes were chosen because McDonalds states "The 4 shapes we make Chicken McNuggets in was the perfect equilibrium of dipability and fun. 3 would’ve been too few. 5 would’ve been, like, wacky."[9]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQzTR_FTBw0

I remember when McNuggets first came out. I pounced on those suckers like a cat on a mouse.

My wife and I were just discussing the old McDonald's styrofoam packaging, and how they were vaguely color-coded. (Especially the blue Filet O'Fish.)

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/12/10/1386691210212/Styrofoam.png?width=1010&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2043d173c31400872615968f75591569

yeah that was a classic design (which is clearly monstrously irresponsible, cough)

It really was. It was so satisfying popping that little styrofoam tab and lifting the lid to reveal your Big Mac!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTSdUOC8Kac

I remember 15 years ago they did this 20 nuggets for $2 special, which back then was like "can't afford not to". I know people who would get 2 and wolf 'em all down like it was nothing. fwiw I still think the nuggets are good. if you get them from say BK or Wendy's they're always super dried out and extra salty but the McNuggets are different, possibly because they don't really taste too much like chicken to me. but they're good. in fact I think McD's does chicken pretty well. don't like their burgers at all though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfH3yf-vf3A

fess up, who else did the menu song contest where they gave you a floppy record and you played it to see if you won? basically menu song had to be sung right in its entirety and if they fucked up the song on the record, you lost

the issue with the nuggets is that if you're going to eat them it really has to be immediately, they're inedible within like 10 minutes

xpost (hands up) Yo. Pretty sure I still have that floppy stuck between a couple old LPs somewhere.

xp yeah, nuggets that have been sitting for any length of time are basically

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/B6wAAOSwQLVcNmDd/s-l400.jpg

I don't know whether McDonald's did the flexidisc thing in the UK but I'd heard of this thing from a podcast last year: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/lost-notes/a-million-dollars-worth-of-plastic

McNugget Trivia Corner:

According to McDonald's, the nuggets come in four shapes: the bell, the bow-tie, the ball and the boot. The reason for the four different shapes is to ensure consistent cooking times for food safety.[7][8] Four shapes were chosen because McDonalds states "The 4 shapes we make Chicken McNuggets in was the perfect equilibrium of dipability and fun. 3 would’ve been too few. 5 would’ve been, like, wacky."[9]

― Typo Netagive (Old Lunch), Wednesday, December 4, 2019 2:38 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

And they have been polled!

Best McNugget Shape

Would that the system allow me to use that entire Wikipedia passage as my dn. Alas.

The Bell, The Bow-Tie, The Ball and The Candle

The Bell, The Bow-tie, and the Arm of the Lord

VP of McNugget Development: 'Okay, guys, let's get this sorted: how many different McNugget shapes are we going for here?'
Exec 1: 'Um...how about three?'
(general furor arises)
VP of McNugget Development: 'What the fuck...get out. You're fired, you piece of shit. That's far too few McNugget variations. You fuck. Anyone else?'
Exec 2: (sheepishly) 'Would...would five be sufficient?'
(sheer pandemonium rocks the boardroom)
VP of McNugget Development: 'ARE YOU HIGH? Who could even process that number of McNugget configurations?! Dear god!'
(exec 3's head literally explodes from attempting to process the number 5)
Exec 4: 'Sir, I know I'm taking a huge risk here, but...I'm going to have to say four.'
(order is restored)
VP of McNugget Development: (awed) 'Yes. Yes, of course. Four is...it's beautiful. Son, please come and take my seat, I'm retiring effective immediately.'

The Bell, The Bow-Tie, The Ball and The Candle
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 17:07 (five minutes ago) link

Coincidentally, the "The Tree And The Bird And The Fish And The Bell" Glasgow comp has songs "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?" and "Regret".

having real trouble deciding which display name to go with from that nugget trivia corner

Big "fuck it, we're doing five blades" energy.

In regards to the snippet I've chosen for my dn, I have to say they hit the nail right on the head. Dipping a McNugget is simplicity itself, and as for fun, well, I can't say I've ever enjoyed myself quite as much as when I sink a piping-hot McNugget into that tublet of viscous Sweet n' Sour Sauce. I weep when the moment has passed.

without humblebragging, i'm trying to remember when i last ate at a mcdonalds. it would have to have been over 25 years at this point. is it better than it was in the 80's?

am i hallucinating or did mcnuggets switch to almost being completely white meat awhile back?