Russell Williams
Well-Known Member
Daily Activism -- Part 2 -- McDonald's
Last night my daughter and I went out to look at Christmas lights. We stopped at a McDonald's. My daughter wanted to eat inside. As usual, as I walked through the doors I started to look for movable chairs. I carefully looked around the whole restaurant and saw no armless chairs. I started talking out loud to myself and to my daughter.
"I do not want to do a sit in tonight."
"I do not feel like doing a sit in tonight"
"I did not come here to do a sit in."
"If not me, then who?"
"If not now, then when?"
"I want to look at Christmas tree lights, not do a sit in at a McDonald's."
Suddenly, as I'm walking around trying to decide what to do the manager appears and is standing next to me. I go into the typical dialogue about where would my wife sit if she had come with me and that my wife is not the only fat woman in Hagerstown, Maryland. I pointed out that you do not build business volume by driving customers away. I asked where was the nearest member of their competition who could comfortably accommodate fat people. One of the workers said they did not know why all of the chairs had no legs but instead were bolted to the tables. I told them that I knew exactly why. It takes less time to clean the floor if the chairs do not have legs. I added that to have two or three chairs with legs would not increase the cleaning time by that much. I suggested that the next time their district manager comes around and asks questions about any problems that might have come up mention that some one talked about increasing their business volume by having a couple of chairs with legs.
One of the workers mentioned that she was a special education teacher who was picking up a little extra money by working at McDonald's. I took the time to complement her on being willing to do a difficult job especially since the rules of No Child Left Behind were requiring her to try to do a difficult and perhaps impossible task. She seemed to appreciate that I understood her situation.
My daughter and I left without purchasing anything. The whole time I tried to be very polite and I tried to point out how my suggestions would make them better able to service their customers. I asked if I had said anything that did not make sense. I did not threaten to boycott that store, or to boycott McDonald's, or to do anything nasty.
Last night my daughter and I went out to look at Christmas lights. We stopped at a McDonald's. My daughter wanted to eat inside. As usual, as I walked through the doors I started to look for movable chairs. I carefully looked around the whole restaurant and saw no armless chairs. I started talking out loud to myself and to my daughter.
"I do not want to do a sit in tonight."
"I do not feel like doing a sit in tonight"
"I did not come here to do a sit in."
"If not me, then who?"
"If not now, then when?"
"I want to look at Christmas tree lights, not do a sit in at a McDonald's."
Suddenly, as I'm walking around trying to decide what to do the manager appears and is standing next to me. I go into the typical dialogue about where would my wife sit if she had come with me and that my wife is not the only fat woman in Hagerstown, Maryland. I pointed out that you do not build business volume by driving customers away. I asked where was the nearest member of their competition who could comfortably accommodate fat people. One of the workers said they did not know why all of the chairs had no legs but instead were bolted to the tables. I told them that I knew exactly why. It takes less time to clean the floor if the chairs do not have legs. I added that to have two or three chairs with legs would not increase the cleaning time by that much. I suggested that the next time their district manager comes around and asks questions about any problems that might have come up mention that some one talked about increasing their business volume by having a couple of chairs with legs.
One of the workers mentioned that she was a special education teacher who was picking up a little extra money by working at McDonald's. I took the time to complement her on being willing to do a difficult job especially since the rules of No Child Left Behind were requiring her to try to do a difficult and perhaps impossible task. She seemed to appreciate that I understood her situation.
My daughter and I left without purchasing anything. The whole time I tried to be very polite and I tried to point out how my suggestions would make them better able to service their customers. I asked if I had said anything that did not make sense. I did not threaten to boycott that store, or to boycott McDonald's, or to do anything nasty.
