At 8:45AM, Melody pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot. Though eager, she also found herself apprehensive. Melody had to remind herself that like high school and volleyball, there was a first day for everything. As soon as Melody turned off the engine, Becky opened the passenger door. In contrast, she was not worried at all and looked forward to her first real paycheck. The pair walked in together and stood in front of the counter, unsure what to do.
“Welcome to McDonald’s, may I help you?” asked a girl behind the counter.
“We got hired yesterday. We were told to be here at nine,” Becky answered.
“Oh OK, hold on,” the girl said as she disappeared into the grill area.
Within a moment, a woman in a blue manager uniform appeared and asked the two of them to follow her. She led Melody and Becky to the manager’s office and picked up a pile of applications. “Now then, which ones are you?” she asked. “Half these people don’t even show up.”
“Melody Mivshek.”
“Becky Valentine.”
The manager flipped through the papers until she found both their applications. She looked them over quickly, then reached into a filing cabinet to get more paperwork and a set of keys.
“Congratulations on being on time your first day,” she smiled. “My name is Ashley. I’m one of the morning managers. Henry will be here later today. Here are your tax forms, you can fill these out later. I’ll make your timecards before I leave, and I’ll make sure you get paid for your hours today. Follow me and we’ll get your uniforms.”
Ashley walked quickly to the back stockroom with both Melody and Becky right on her heels. Melody wondered how many times Ashley would have to greet new employees this week. Melody was uncomfortable and nervous, even after telling herself no one likes to be new. Despite what her mother thought, she was glad Becky was with her.
“You girls both look like mediums,” Ashley commented, as she reached into large cardboard boxes filled with folded shirts and trousers. She quickly handed each of them two sets of uniforms and a cap. “Henry may have forgotten to tell you, but you are required to wear belts. Any type is fine. Just make sure you have them tomorrow. OK, follow me.”
Ashley took off again at a brisk pace, leading them out of the storage room and past the deep sink and walk-in cooler. The girls followed her into a room furnished with three tables, each having four chairs. One wall had rows of lockers, and there was a television set with a VCR mounted on the opposite wall just below the ceiling.
“This is the employee break room,” Ashley told them. “Go into the ladies’ room and change into your uniforms while I go make your name tags. Meet me back here and we will get you started on some videos you’ll need to watch. You can put your clothes in one of the empty lockers.” With that, she disappeared.
Melody and Becky changed as quickly as they could and returned to the break area ahead of Ashley. As soon as they sat down, Ashley came in, handed them their name tags, and put a tape into the VCR.
“Please pay attention,” Ashly said. “We will start you two on the drive-through today. The tape is about twenty minutes. When the video is over, just come to the office and I will pair you up with the crew members you will be working with today.” As the tape began, Ashley turned and made a hasty exit.
“That lady’s pulse must be through the roof,” Becky commented.
“I know, she’s like a hummingbird,” Melody agreed.
Melody and Becky watched the video and got some idea of what their duties would entail. Corporate actors demonstrated the use of headsets when talking to customers on the drive-through intercom system. They further explained how to operate the register and greet customers as they pulled up to the first window. Becky laughed at the old man in the car as he reached out the window and handed his money to the girl working the drive-through register.
“Here ya go, Sweetie. Nice ass!” Becky said in her best old man voice.
“Becky!” Melody scolded, trying to fight back her laughter.
Next, the video showed the employees at the second window who were responsible for assembling and presenting the customers’ orders. The narrator stressed speed and accuracy. As orders were taken, they appeared on a video monitor. The crew read the order, assembled it quickly, and handed it out the window while smiling to the customer. Actors demonstrated putting burgers and fries into bags, filling drink cups, and making ice cream sundaes. Again, the old man appeared in his car, this time at the second window. He happily received his order and drove away. Melody doubted it would always be as easy as the video implied. The film ended with a man in a dark suit appearing against a light blue background. He welcomed the viewer to the McDonald’s team and wished them good luck. Finally, the screen went black.
“Well,” Becky asked. “You ready?”
“No,” Melody answered.
“Come on, let’s go,” Becky said, standing up. “Operation Florida has begun!”
For the next two hours, Melody worked the drive-through register with Sherry, a young woman in her twenties who attended night school. She was very friendly and told Melody not to stress out, especially during rushes.
“Everybody here makes mistakes,” she told Melody. “If they fired everybody who made a mistake, there would be no McDonald’s anywhere. It’s all about your attitude. Don’t cop an attitude, be honest, and just do your best. You’ll be fine.”
Sherry showed Melody how to take special orders, deduct for coupons and gift certificates, and make corrections. After taking a few orders herself under Sherry’s supervision, Melody believed she had the hang of it. Her confidence grew as she continued to take orders, receive payments, and count out the change. Sherry then took her to the deep sink and showed her how to operate the hose and where the dish soap was stored. Melody learned it was her responsibility to wash anything the grill crew brought back to the sink.
“When there are no cars, you wash dishes,” Sherry explained. “If there are no dishes, grab a broom. If you cannot find a broom, grab a rag and wipe something down, even if it doesn’t need it. The last thing you want is a manager to see you standing around doing nothing. Do anything at all that looks like work and they’ll stay off your back.”
At noon, Melody and Becky switched stations. Sherry now worked with Becky at the register, while Melody worked the second window. She worked with Wendy, who remembered her from yesterday, and Josephine, an employee who had just started her second month. Melody quickly realized she preferred the first window. The front of the store was a whole lot noisier and much busier. Melody saw the orders on the computer screen appearing rapidly and felt a twinge of panic. She wondered how it was possible to keep up with it all. Wendy was patient and calm as she showed her where to find the cups, lids, and straws, which burgers were which, and how to make fries.
“Never let the fries run low,” Wendy warned. “We run out of fries; we get backed up.”
Melody did her best by trying to be helpful without getting in the way. For the most part, she prepared the drink orders and continuously dropped baskets of French fries into the oil. After they were done, she would lift them out, shake the baskets, dump them into the holding bin, and fill large, medium, and small containers for Josephine to collect. Melody also had to prepare Happy Meal boxes, restock napkins, and put paper place mats on serving trays as she stacked them on the counter. Everything was very fast-paced, and Melody tried to keep up as the lunch rush continued. Orders came faster, more fries needed to be dropped, a customer at the counter asked her to refill his coffee, and the grill cooks were calling out special orders. Overwhelmed, Melody accidently backed into Josephine, causing her to drop four sundaes.
“Oh no!” Melody gasped, upon seeing ice cream splattered all over the floor.
“Melody, go get some rags and clean that up,” Wendy ordered calmly. “Jo, I’ll remake the sundaes. Get this order out to the Trans Am waiting in the parking lot.”
Embarrassed, Melody quickly went to the stock room for clean rags. She felt foolish for causing an accident on her first day and getting ice cream on the back of her pantlegs. After wiping up the floor, she dumped the dripping rags into the deep sink. Melody then returned with a mop and bucket to clean the floor as best she could, wanting it to look as if nothing had happened. When she was satisfied, Melody returned everything to the storage room and quickly resumed her work at the fry station.
“Melody!”
Melody turned her head toward the direction of the voice. It was Henry. He was beckoning her, with his fingers, to follow him. As Melody turned the corner and entered the manager’s office, she saw Becky standing next to Henry’s chair.
“So,” Henry began. “How did you girls do today?”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“Excellent,” Henry said as he sat behind the manager’s desk. “Don’t forget to fill out your tax forms. Here are your timecards, clock in with them tomorrow. I’ll put down on payroll that you both worked five hours today.”
“Five hours?” Melody thought to herself. “The time flew!”
“Also, here is where we keep the schedule,” Henry said, pointing to a dot matrix printout pinned to a cork bulletin board. Melody noticed both her and Becky’s names had been penciled in at the bottom, along with several others. “I think I’ll keep you both on a five-hour shift for the rest of the week, nine to two,” he explained. “After that, I’ll give you full time hours. I’ll try to give you the same shift as often as I can, but it won’t always be possible.”
After Henry showed them how to use the time clock, he bid them farewell. Melody and Becky then entered the break room to retrieve their clothes. Seated at a table, Wendy was eating her lunch.
“So, will you two be returning tomorrow or have you had enough?” Wendy asked.
“We’ll be back,” Melody smiled.
“OK then, see you tomorrow. Good job today.”
After leaving the restaurant and walking across the parking lot, both Melody and Becky were thankful to be seated in the Aspen. Before starting the engine, Melody turned to Becky.
“So, are you OK here?”
“Piece of cake,” Becky answered with a little swagger.
“I bumped into Josephine and made her drop a bunch of ice cream,” Melody admitted.
Becky laughed.
“Becky,” Melody said with worry in her voice. “I know it was a one-time thing, but it’s crazy up there. My head was spinning the whole time. What if I’m too clumsy or can’t keep up?”
Becky unbuckled her seat belt and slid close to Melody’s side. “Now listen,” she began. “It was your first day. It could have happened to anybody. No harm done. Honey, you tear apart car engines and put them back together again, so don’t tell me you can’t put a Bic Mac in a bag and hand it out a window. You worry too much.”
“I guess you’re right,” Melody reluctantly agreed.
“Of course I’m right,” Becky said, kissing Melody on the cheek. “Now, bring me home. I need a shower.”
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