To every teen worker at Macca’s: I salute you

The Macca’s training feels like a rare life gift for a teen. As Anthony Bourdain once said: “You can always tell when a person’s worked in a restaurant...’. Picture: Sarah Marshall

I’m ironing an apron. For the first time in my life. Oddly proud of it. Surprising, I know. Because as a fierce feminist from way back I’ve always scorned such an act and have vowed a) to never own an apron and b) to never stoop to ironing one (note, this also applies to the Chap’s shirts).

The apron is the teen’s. From Macca’s. Nicely designed. I didn’t know anything about the job application until I had to fill out the parent consent section on a form. And so the teen began their foray into the gruelling world of adult work with three hours on French fries. It turned out to be a hot, arduous, repetitive and tricky job and to my surprise, they loved it. Wanted to go back for more. More shifts, more hours. They don’t get much money per hour but I couldn’t care less; it’s teaching them a lot about the school of life.

Part of the training was how to deal with the proverbial “angry customer”. Excellent. I’ve told them their bosses are like school teachers – you have to learn to be a diplomat to get on with them, even if you don’t particularly like them, because they have a lot of power over your situation. To give you more shifts, to fire you. The teen is rapidly learning essential life skills like adaptability, discipline, punctuality, endurance and humility and there are some who look down upon this situation; such mucky, low-brow, low-paid work, and for someone so young; yet I happen to think differently.

Because over the years I haven’t quite known how to instil the work ethic of the grandparents into the kids and have felt like a failure as a parent in this department. How to teach grit? Yet I’ve learnt over the years that there’s one strategy that kickstarts the hunger for the world of work: financial starvation. (Note, I’m still learning this parenting gig, still feel like I’m on trainer wheels to some extent and that’s 20-odd years down the track. I do find though that the more kids we have, the more self-sufficient the ones down the pecking order seem to be – because no one notices them or does things for them, we’re just too buggered.)

But I can see now that this desire for financial security and freedom is a powerful motivator; couple it with a keen taste for shopping and the combination is dynamite. I’ve had times in my life when I’ve had very little money and have never lost the fear of that. The sense of powerlessness, the loss of control, the feeling that life is zooming ahead of you, all around you, and you can’t quite participate like everyone else. Which has somehow led me to this surprising act of ironing an apron, and being hugely proud of it.

The Macca’s training feels like a rare life gift for a teen. As Anthony Bourdain once said: “You can always tell when a person’s worked in a restaurant… Service industry work develops the ‘soft skills’ recruiters talk about on LinkedIn – discipline, promptness, the ability to absorb criticism, and most importantly, how to read people like a book. The work is thankless and fun and messy, and the world would be a kinder place if more people tried it.”

How has Covid changed the world? I’d like to think there’s a new respect for the dignity of proper, relentless frontline work. And as this Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad year draws to a close, here’s to all those frontline workers who’ve kept us going through so much. The health workers, police officers, teachers and hospitality workers – and the kids who’ve worked tirelessly at places like Macca’s, gleaning their life skills.

Footnote: there are some delightful readers who’ll be eagerly sneering, “but why isn’t the teen ironing the apron themselves?” Because, well, Love. That’s it. Which also applies to occasionally ironing the Chap’s shirts (nothing is ever black and white).