Peek at McDonald’s workings

Published 8:42 am Tuesday, August 7, 2007

MUKILTEO – In line at McDonald’s one morning, scoring a $1 sausage egg McMuffin on sale, there were five cars in the drive-through lane.

A bubbly young man wearing a headset took orders and made change as vehicles rolled past his window.

Talk. Listen. Hand out change. Be nice. Don’t drop the money. Don’t dawdle.

“Hey,” I thought. “That job doesn’t look very easy.”

We’ve all heard jabs about the fast-food industry offering bottom-rung positions few want. But here was a guy multitasking, as fast as he could, with a sincere grin.

I dropped by the store a few days later and asked the manager if I could interview the window worker. Sit with him a spell. Take his picture. Write a column.

But whoa, Nellie. That isn’t done at McDonald’s.

I became embroiled in a corporate squeeze like a size 16 woman tugging on extra small panty hose.

One doesn’t get “inside” the fast-food giant.

To gain admittance was like asking to see how nickels are pressed at a U.S. Mint. E-mails and phone calls flew from corporate. Why did I want to go inside? What questions did I want to ask?

I thought about switching horses and going inside Burger King or Wendy’s, but I dug my old heels into the sand. It became my mission to break into No. 1, Mickie D’s, no matter how long it took.

I was recently snubbed by Alderwood mall, which denied me access to their children’s play area. I wanted to ask parents if they worried about the spread of germs on toddler climbing toys.

Still annoyed at mall management, I wasn’t about to give up so soon on McDonald’s. I played their corporate game, knuckled under, followed their precise directions, sent them sample questions, agreed to let them choose the store I would visit and said I could be baby-sat by a marketing person throughout the chat.

Yuck.

Not my style.

I am a free bird.

Not budging my way, they were as possessive of their workers as a prison or hospital. I’ve cracked into those places for interviews, but never was able to shake the “flak” assigned to watch my every move.

Laurel Yamaguchi came from Seattle to oversee my interview. McDonald’s is a client of her marketing firm. She introduced me to the store owner, Don Shaw, who greeted me with a firm handshake at his Mukilteo location.

Store manager Jhana Fillmore was dressed up to meet me.

But I still wasn’t “inside.”

We sat out front and talked amongst customers. My original vision of watching how someone handles the drive-through window was dashed. I learned about Fillmore, 37, who has been with McDonald’s for 12 years. When her child was in kindergarten, she worked the weekday lunch rush, three hours a shift.

She stayed on, liking the flexible hours, nice co-workers and paid vacation and benefits for managers.

Fillmore recently attended a manager’s confab in Las Vegas. So many bosses came from around the country that they spread out into four gigantic venues. She was booked at the posh Paris Las Vegas Hotel &Casino.

Believe me, The Herald has never paid my way to Las Vegas.

I warmed to McDonald’s.

A mother of four, Fillmore said she liked her job: working the cashier’s window, mopping floors, serving Happy Meals, refilling napkin containers. Everybody rotates around, she said.

“Cleaning is part of the job,” Fillmore said. “We do a lot of cross-training.”

A former employee of Skippers, I loved cooking, serving fish and running the cash register. When I had to stay after closing and scour grease from the grill, I quit. I could stay home and swab decks.

Here was someone who embraced even the scrubbing part of the job. I was impressed.

Things got sweeter. All of a sudden, the women offered to let me see the cashier’s window, from the inside. It sounded too good to be true.

We stood up. I followed Fillmore past the front counter. We walked by steaming french fries. I saw row upon row of crisp bacon. The cookies smelled wonderful. Fresh buns were stacked just so.

I resisted doing my parade-float wave to the staff.

Standing inside the cashier’s booth, I saw the TV set overhead that showed cars pull up to the speaker. All the choices had their own marked button on the cash register. Change plopped out automatically.

All the workers wore headsets, so the cooks could know what upcoming orders needed to be prepared.

There were no stools to rest on. When customers dwindle, workers perform secondary duties, like wiping off trays. They sure earn their one free meal per shift.

The staff knows their regular customers, like actor Tony Ventrella and tax-rebel Tim Eyman. Word spread when Sarah Ferguson stopped by a McDonald’s in Seattle.

Fillmore, a graduate of McDonald’s Hamburger University, said it was no problem if a driver switched orders at the window, such as opting for a chocolate shake instead of a Diet Coke.

“People change their minds,” she said. “Customers are Number One.”

The manager showed me how she pokes in my usual special order that includes holding pickles and onions.

I could see it was easy for customers to be special at McDonald’s, once I got in the door.

Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.