McDonals pissed over Webster's definition of McJob

[Stelliform]

Story here

In its latest edition, the dictionary defines the term McJob as "low-paying and dead-end work".

I don't know of anyone who started with a Mcjob and worked their way up in the same organization to become a McMillionaire. (or McThousandaire for that matter. )

 

[Roger1]

I used to work there, and for the most part I enjoyed it (hey, that's where I met my wife ) I worked my way up to 2nd assistant manager, after starting as a crew person. I had to work my butt off, but I had a lot of fun in the process (at least until the bitter end). Anyway, if I remember correctly a lot of the middle and upper management has worked their way up from the bottom. So, IMHO, McJob is a slightly inaccurate description (at least for some people).

 

[Stelliform]

Well that is good to know. I had one friend who made it to assistant manager, then he went to greener pastures.

Maybe this coming out is a good thing. Now McDonalds can put out an ad about the people who worked their way up. I know I had the impression that no one got out of the lowest positions into upper management.

 

[Sun Baked]

Re: McDonals pissed over Webster's definition of McJob

Originally posted by Stelliform
I don't know of anyone who started with a Mcjob and worked their way up in the same organization to become a McMillionaire. (or McThousandaire for that matter. )

That's because the definition of a public companies are sucking as much blood out of their franchisees as possible.

They're raping the franchise owners to make the rich stockholder's richer (through increased profits), sort of like the McFranchise Owner are doing to the McJob employees.

They dangle the get rich quick through franchises, but they don't tell you the 80hr workweeks won't be worth it.

If these public food companies left enough money in the franchises to create several millionaires, they may find a healthier long term outlook.

But alas these companies and shareholders are in it for the quick buck, with bankruptcy after a revenue growth orgy a perfectly viable option. And who cares about the overextended franchisee.

So a McJob is a dead end, or a way to work your way up to increasing levels of debt. Even if you become a McOwner.

(McD wasn't too bad, Taco Hell was a ticket to a BK at several hundred to over a thousand franchise restraurants in the past few years)

 

[rainman::|:|]

fact is, ask anyone the definition of mcjob and they'll tell you something like this. when a word finds popular definition, it becomes an actual word, and the dictionary needs to take it. it's not their fault, they're doing their job. it's either the public's fault for creating such an untrue malicious word, or mcdonalds for giving that word meaning. i'll leave it to you to decide.

pnw

 

[wdlove]

A job is what you make of it. No matter what the job you should always do your best. It gives a lot of jobs to high school students, college students, and seniors.

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by wdlove
A job is what you make of it. No matter what the job you should always do your best. It gives a lot of jobs to high school students, college students, and seniors.

and high school and college drop outs. lol

iJon

 

[TimDaddy]

If you are still a cook or cashier at McDonald's when you are middle-aged and with a family, you probably weren't going too far in the first place. Places like that do provide a lot of jobs for people like students and senior citizens, and people who are torn between being a stay-at-home mom and having some extra money. But, as all of our manufacturing jobs, and even technology jobs, are moving over seas, fast food and retail may someday be all there is left. In that case, I say unionize and squeeze all you can out of these companies. But, come on, if say their were a slang term such as iComputer, that meant overpriced toy, I think Apple would be pissed. But, if that were how the culture developed the word, why should it be ignored?

 

[Squire]

Correction

BBC says:

'The term McJob was coined by the American novelist Donald Copland in his 1991 novel Generation X to describe a "low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector"'.

I thought the BBC was supposed to have their facts straight most of the time. The term was coined by the Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland. By the way, he also wrote the book Microserfs.

His site is www.coupland.com.

Squire

 

[MrMacMan]

Squire -- you should send that to their correction department!



McJob.

Don't be so McSilly

 

[Squire]

Originally posted by MrMacman
Squire -- you should send that to their correction department!

I checked back and they have the name corrected but it still refers to him as the American Novelist. At least they have the spelling and name correct. Two out of three ain't bad.

Squire

<Edit: Their statement on the correction page says "We take a lot of care to make sure that mistakes don't get onto our Website. Sometimes though, they slip through." So, I figured I'd send them the right info. Thanks for the suggestion, MrMacman. >

 

[Stelliform]

American could mean North American. Don't think that the US is the only americans!

 

[jonapete2001]

my uncle worked his wau up from McCook to McCo-owner. He is now a McCo-owner of 3 McDonalds in the greater Milwaukee area. This would make him a McMillionare.

 

[bennetsaysargh]

well, seeing as how the main type of employment in my area's McDonalds are consisted of immigrants who barley can understand "big mac" i don't know what to really think of the word.

 

[Kid Red]

Hmm, I've never heard the phrase so I guess I don't have much a mind of it one way or the other. I think McDonalds is too sensitive and needs to McRelax some.

 

[MrMacMan]

Squire -- No problem...

Glad they fixed... most of it...

McJob -- If someone McJob's you they shortchanged you.

As for a reference to Mc Donalds... eh, I doubt all of the Places McJob you... but a lot of large corporations do McJob a lot of people... watch out!

 

[Squire]

Originally posted by Stelliform
American could mean North American. Don't think that the US is the only americans!

You have a point. Even Canadian things are grouped into the terms American culture, American cuisine, American English, and so on. However, in that article, it was simply a case of misrepresenting the man's nationality. Anyway, I checked back and it's been fixed.

By the way, have any of you read any of his books? They're great. (Although Life After God got named one of the worst books of the year when it was published.)

Squire

 

[themadchemist]

Re: Re: McDonals pissed over Webster's definition of McJob

Originally posted by Sun Baked
That's because the definition of a public companies are sucking as much blood out of their franchisees as possible.

They're raping the franchise owners to make the rich stockholder's richer (through increased profits), sort of like the McFranchise Owner are doing to the McJob employees.

yeah, we think it's truly terrible, but only because neither of us bought stock in McDonald's way back when.

 

[Makosuke]

I have no love for McDonald's or the way it does business, but keep in mind also that it's not entirely fair to say that McJob refers to a job at a McDonald's (though it probably does). Thanks to McDonald's mantra of cheap, fast, uniform food, all over the wold, McAnything has come to refer to a generic, usually low-quality, mass-produced thing in whatever category--McMansions (a specialty of developers where I live), for example.

Therefore, McJob is as much likening a job to the generic cheap hamburgers McDonald's serves as it is likening a dead-end job to a McD's register clerk.

 

[TimDaddy]

My wife works at a daycare center which was recently purchased by the owners of another daycare center. We almost immediately noticed a decline in the quality of the new employees being hired, and therefore a decline in the quality of the care provided. We are actually taking our child out in December because of the 28 preschoolers crammed into a little room. Anyway, the owners are now planning to purchase another center in a neighboring town. I asked my wife if they we're going to change the name to McDaycare. She won't ask the owners. I guess she wants to keep her job.

Sort of on topic, I present to you:

God-Mart Supercenter
(I'm really getting sick of looking at these huge churches tying up traffic worse than a shopping center. And all tax-free!)
btw... my wife goes there.