Fast Food Work is Bad for Your Health
This is not an essay dismissing fast food work. This is an essay based on my own experiences in the fast food industry.
I have worked in the fast food industry for over two years. In those two years, I have experienced many things that confirmed my belief that working in the fast food industry is hazardous for one’s health. Fast food isn’t easy; it is a test of strength, character, and speed. The strength needed to lift huge crates of food in and out of a walk-in cooler is immense. You also need to suppress all temptations to eat the food you are preparing and of course, the speed needed to prepare food in less than a minute is vital. If you can handle fast food work, then you can handle anything.
Of course that doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t go for fast food, after all, people still need food and it’s up to the fast food worker to feed the hungry people of America.
Fryers of Doom
There are many types of fast food places in this country. Some serve burgers and others serve seafood. There is even an Italian fast food restaurant. There is one consistency in all of them: the boiling pits of oil known as the fryer.
The fryer is an ingenious invention that uses different types of oil of fry foods based on a timer. Most of the time, the food that will be fried is in a basket and is dumped into the oil. There are also vents to blow out various smokes and steam from the fryer, so it is a unique invention.
The problem with working with hot oil is that it is hot. The baskets of food dropping into the oil make splashes and more than likely, it splashes on you. Of course, you can avoid it by lowering the food slowly but splashes still happen. You can also avoid getting splashed by not throwing ice into the fryer. Ice and boiling oil do not mix. Most of the time, the oil leaves just a red mark and an embarrassed feeling. Sometimes, however, a big splash will cause burns. If you get burnt, don’t panic! Alert your manager and go to the first aid kit for some burn medicine. In fast food restaurants, burn medicine is a necessity. If you can’t reach the burn medicine, here’s a tip: get mustard and put it over the burn because it acts as a disinfectant. Of course, it will tint your skin a shade of yellow and leave an odd scent, but that is better than infection.
Also, try not to spill oil on the floor. It causes severe slick spots that make it hard for people to walk on. This is especially bad if a person slips and his or hand would, by pure chance get into the fryer. Fried hand anyone?
Heat Lamps Can Burn
Heat lamps are a necessity for fast food restaurants. They keep the food nice and warm while it waits for a willing customer to come and buy it. Unfortunately, heat lamps can also be a pain. In order to get some food, you have to reach in and take it with your tongs and pull it out while avoiding the superheated ‘bulb’ and the scalding pan. You will get burnt if you accidentally touch either. Trust me, it is not fun. There is also a good chance that one will get burnt if a pair of metal tongs is left under the heat lamps for too long. Remember, metal warms faster than plastic.
Grills and How Not to Cook Your Hand
In fast food restaurants, grills are used to cook hamburgers or whatever type of burger it sells, except for those few that use a broiler. Those who use grills are in danger of getting burned. For one thing, one must not put his or her hand on the grill while it is on, or their hand will be like the burger – cooked. And if you avoid touching the grill directly, there is always a possibility that the grease will pop and hit you. Never throw ice on the grill because it will crack the grill and make the manager mad. You may also have to pay for any damages sustained due to the incident.
Skating on the Fast Food Floor
One of the most popular hazards in the fast food business is the slippery floor. In a place that constantly has oil, grease, and water all around, there is a good possibility that some of it will fall and mix together on the floor. If one does not clean up the mess, he or she might end up slipping and sliding around. Do not do this to practice skating; there are too many machines around and you could accidentally fall in the Fryer of Doom. If you want to practice skating just go to the roller rink, it is much safer.
To avoid such slips, it is best to just wear no-slip shoes. There are shoes out there that one cannot slide in. If you cannot get any at this time, just be careful and avoid any grease spots.
Shocking Revelations
When one works in fast food, one must deal with all sorts of electrical equipment. Most of the appliances are plugged in all of the time, but there are a few pieces of equipment that must be plugged in the morning or during the day. When you plug in this equipment make sure you don’t touch any frayed wires or the metal prongs in the plug. Most of the time, the electrical outlets are in a dark area under the station, making it hard to see, and you could touch something that would shock you – literally.
Also, there may be some electrical equipment that must be cleaned. When you clean these make sure you do not dunk the equipment in water. Remember, water and electricity does not mix. If by chance you do dunk the equipment in the water, let it dry out before using it.
Stress of Stupid Customers, Late Co-workers, and Other Woes
If you think that you are safe if you don’t really work in the kitchen, think again. It is a well known fact that fast food work is the third most stressful occupation known. After all, the fast food worker is pressed to provide good food in less than a minute while smiling. That type of work can be difficult.
First of all, there is the customer. We all have eaten out at one time or another and we constantly expect to be served fast and well at the same time. Most people are nice and considerate, but there are a few types that give us trouble.
1. Those one can’t understand no matter how hard you try.
2. The ones with long complicated orders.
3. The ones that ask stupid questions like (what is today’s special) It’s on the sign, lady.
4. People you recognize and embarrass you in front of your co-workers.
5. The irate impatient types.
Yup, while the fast food place needs customers, sometimes the fast food worker wishs that they would just go away.
One of the most stressful positions in the fast food industry besides the manager is the drive thru cashier. The drive thru cashier must make drinks, take the cash from the customer at the window, push the order out of the window, and take the orders from the speaker at once. True, there are people to help the drive thru cashier do all of that stuff, but it is still a hard job that may require at least six hands at any given moment.
And then there are the co-workers who are not reliable. Many have reasonable excuses for being late. Some have car trouble, others are delayed by the weather, medical emergencies, just forget (the fast food worker schedule is an unpredictable schedule)… ect. However, there are a few who do not show up for work just because or are habitually late. I have seen a couple of co-workers walk away from work in the middle of their shift and are never heard from again. The fast food workers who are there are forced to compensate for the missing manpower, hence lots of stress.
Deadly Environment
The very environment in the fast food restaurant can be hard to live in. The constant exposure to the grease-saturated air is bad for one’s pores and hair. There is also the constant noise of the machines, other people, and the cashiers telling the kitchen what they need. All that noise could damage hearing.
What could also damage the hearing is the headset the cashier is forced to wear. The headset is a simple device that relays what people want over the speaker. One ear is covered by the headset while the other is open so the cashier can hear what is going around him or her. The constant noise in one ear in the long run will cause permanent deafness.
When you work in a fast food restaurant, you are bound to get hungry and you can’t go to many places in your half-hour break. So, the fast food worker is forced to eat from the very restaurant he or she works for and if that worker eats fast food at least once a day there is a good chance that person will get fat unless they get lots of exercise.
One of the unique dangers in fast food work and any place that involves chemicals is soap. There are people out there that are allergic to the unique properties of powerful dishwasher soap. If you have sensitive hands or notice that your hands break out when you do the dishes, then you must either avoid doing the dishes at work or get very good gloves.
P.S. Most household soaps are non allergenic, so kids, don’t use the ‘soap allergy excuse’ unless you actually have the allergy. Your mom or dad will know.
Wars against the Elements
In the fast food restaurant, some positions require the worker to deal with the harsh elements. Such as the popular drive thru window, the cashier must open the window to bring in the money and send out the food. While the window is only open for a few seconds per driver, during the busy time, the window is open almost constantly, exposing the worker to the harsh elements of rain, snow, sleet, wind, and even hail. After all, most fast food businesses remain open during bad weather unless a tornado crashes into the business, when it finally close.
Fortunately, to protect oneself from the cold elements, the worker can just wear a jacket and fingerless gloves and make sure to keep the window closed most of the time.
Also, if you have to wash dishes, make sure you dry them good before opening the window, cold weather and wet hands makes freezing hands.
Robberies
When working in a business, there is always a possibility of being robbed, especially late at night near closing. If a robber comes and demands money, you try to remember as much about the robber as possible and the gun he or she holds. If the robber has a unique trait like having two heads, then remember that and that should help the police catch the crook. Then calmly give the money to the guy, the manager would understand if you have to give all your money to the robber to preserve your own life as well as the lives of your fellow co-workers.
Also, when you go to your car late at night, be aware of your surroundings. Some nut might want to ambush you, especially if you are small and weak-looking. Self-defense classes are the key to safety as well as a good bottle of mace.
Conclusion
Working in fast food is dangerous and stressful; however it does have some good points. You get to make friends, you can make some money, and if you are lucky, you can get a free and legal block of swiss cheese.
Just be careful and don’t worry, the fatality rate of fast food workers is low.
The End
