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Jim Lee
UWRT 1100-100
Miss Jamie L. Burgess
December 2, 2014
Fast Food Employees: They Are People, Too
Jim is hungry; something quick and easily obtainable will do. He decides to go to a nearby fast
food restaurant. There, Jim impatiently walks up to the cashier and orders a small combo that consists of a
small drink, fry, and sandwich. Several minutes pass and the combo Jim ordered has yet to arrive. He
notices that the restaurant has become quite full; however, Jim disregards the restaurant employees, and
persistently expects his order to become actualized the moment he sits down. From there, a spiral of
complaints and anger ensue. Many fast food frequenters, not just Americans but all peoples in general,
retain this mentality. Its less of condescendence, i.e., superiority and subjection, and more of ignorance,
lack of appropriate knowledge and application. Ignorance is associated with infinite sources; however, the
largest source may be drawn from single stories, forms of literacy that gradually condition us to think and
act in a singular manner and behavior (Ngozi Adichie).
When McDonalds or Taco Bell is mentioned, what do you immediately envision? Can you
envision the employees? Are they just like us, humans who fatigue, eat, sleep, and make mistakes, or are
they simple robots whose short circuitries will allow only the simplest tasks to be accomplished? If you
envisioned the first list, either you have read ahead or you are truly a respectable individual. If you
envisioned the latter, you have become disillusioned by the stereotypes that exist in single stories. It is
difficult to break out of these stories because the script has been repeatedly overwritten into our mentality
as a child, adolescent, and adult. So, what has happened to the customary perspective of fast food
employees held by many Americans?
You turn on the television, access the Internet, check your email, or update your blog, and what
do you typically see? Iraqi Insurgents Invoking Immediacy? Russian Rockets Running Wild? The
American media embraces drama; in fact, the industry thrives on its flesh. People who work in media-

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related professions understand that Americans are less intrigued by feel-good news and more by grisly
news news that are generally negative and implicitly biased. For example, if you were to access Internet
Explorer and observe the news that periodically transitions on the MSN homepage, you would notice that
the majority of the news will share a negative outlook on life. It is exactly this very reason as to why
many Americans Latin, Caucasian, Asian, and African lack the proper knowledge and applications to
effectively communicate with each other; recall how inconsiderate Jims attitude was during his visit to
the fast food restaurant. News such as Russian Rockets Running Wild generate a singular viewpoint by
which many of us take literally. Consider an average American who has never set a foot on Russia and
reads the aforementioned news: Russia seems like an aggressive country which leads him to suggest that
Russians seem aggressive which, ultimately, generates the stereotype that All Russians are aggressive.

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References
Chick-Fil-A. Observations done in University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Prospector. 11 November
2014 [4:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m.].
Ngozi Adichie, Chimamanda. The Danger of a Single Story. Online video clip. Ted Talk. Ted, July,
2009. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
Shea, Amanda. You Will Never Believe What This Woman Found in Her McDonalds Chicken
Sandwich. UFP News. Universal Free Press. 22 May 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
Xiong, Patrick. Personal Interview. 10 November 2014 [7:21 p.m.]

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