Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Fast Food and Supporting A Famiy: No Fast Food Thursday

Here in two days, Thursday December 4th, 2013 to be exact the American Fast Food Worker is again going to try and make a stand, a stand that any of us would ask for and that is to be able to work a job and earn enough money to support our family.

Now I am not at all surprised that most executives of corporations that own and operate the numerous fast food restaurants don't support any such thing, but something I have seen over the internet lately has disturbed me, the number of normal everyday American's who don't stand by these workers demands. Many of these remarks have been down right rude and even raciest.

I'm not even to give the people who are raciest the time of day, they don't deserve time on my blog and I don't think they deserve anyone's time unless they are being placed in prison for hate crimes or being deported from this country I love so much.

The second group I believe are just innocent individuals who are stuck in the past, so many of them have made comments saying that fast food workers don't deserve a living wage because working fast food is not a career but a work force made up of teenagers looking for spending money, college students looking to make ends meet and mom's just trying to bring a little extra money in the house. These people are absolutely stuck in another time period, and obviously have not been affected by the current state of America's economy.

To the people stuck in another time I ask that the next time you walk into Mc Donalds, Wendys or Burger King take a closer work at the people working behind the counter, many of these individuals of course will be teenagers and college students, but take a closer look. Many of these people are college graduates, military veterans and veterans of decades in the work force who once worked in positions I guess these people judging them would consider a career minded type occupation.

However today with America's economy many of these like I said are college graduates who can't even find a entry level position in the area they received there very expensive degree and are working fast food because that's what was open and they have too work, after all they do have those college educations to pay for.

How about the American Veteran who is returning to the civilian job market after serving tours in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Veterans have their heads filled prior to enlisting and while on active duty that once we finish our military obligation employers out their will be fighting to hire us once we show up in their office with our resume and application in hand, well let me be the one to break the bad news, that may have been true prior to 9/11 but it no longer stands true after. One of the biggest problem is just the sheer number of veterans entering the civilian work force, the second is many companies are now afraid to hire veterans because of four  letters that are frightening to them, PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and until employers are educated on PTSD they have this fear that a service member is going to freak out on the job and either become unreliable or have a flash back and hurt somebody. However both are untrue and the public sector needs to be educated about this

Then there is the professional who has worked in a career for many years, possibly a couple of decades, planning their retirement, always loyal to their company. They leave work one night and everything is fine and when the return the next morning they are told they are being let go because of budget cuts, or even worse everyone is gone because they show up and find the gates closed and locked and the window shuttered with the words on the front door "Out Of Business", which is also the first time that loyal employee finds out his company was having financial difficulties.

The one industry in this country that isn't hurting as bad as the rest (don't get me wrong I have seen some shuttered Burger Kings and Dominoes in the San Diego area), and are willing to take on those career minded professionals who lost their long time jobs in another industry, those over qualified college graduates and those veterans who served their country to ensure the rest of us have the freedom to work, live and enjoy our lives.

So I beg you, next time you walk into a fast food joint, look into those faces and realize the majority of them are there because they have to be, not because they want to make pocket change, but because that's all that's available, they are not on unemployment, (don't yell at me, there are plenty of people on unemployment who want to work but can't find a job, I'm not putting them down), they are out there trying to care for their family.

So please let's support these hard working people and make this Thursday December 4th 2013 NO Fast Food Thursday and let them know we stand by them and their right to a living wage that will let them take care of their families and pay their bills.


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