# So I just got a job at McDonalds....



## sarah089 (Aug 28, 2013)

The woman there didn't ask me any questions. She just looked at my resume and asked me what hours I can work. I've had a job before but it didn't require much social interaction at all. That might've been the reason they kept me around.

The job I applied for is basically taking orders at the drive through window and working the cash register. I'm a little scared but I know I need to do this for my anxiety. =/

For those of you who worked at fast food places, how did you cope with your anxiety? Was it something you got used to over time? I just don't want to be a burden to the rest of the team.


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## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

Don't forget my sweet and sour nugget sauce! 

But seriously, good luck on your new endeavor.


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## VanitysFiend (Jun 13, 2016)

Haven't worked fast food, but I've worked cash registers in a supermarket which can be a major hassle. Main piece of advice I can give is that mistakes will happen, and sometimes they might even be your fault, but it won't be the end of the world, u probably won't get fired unless u actually kill someone, and once u get the hang of things u'll laugh at how such simple tasks caused u so much stress in the first place...


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## Genos (Dec 17, 2014)

customer service gets so routine that you become unfazed by the fact that you are talking to real people. you basically become a human robot. first week or two will be hell, you might cry and/or want to quit but just wait a month or two.


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## Comeatmebro (Sep 7, 2016)

Give it time, trust me. You might be discouraged the first few weeks but I PROMISE you after one month you will not worry about the social interaction at all. You will realize it's so cheap and forced that you will go on autopilot and just repeat the same script over and over again. You will get good at small talk. Best advice if you're nervous is to use formal pleasantries,"Hello, how are you today?". Just remember you're not having a conversation, you're a pawn used to facilitate and economic exchange and nobody will ever remember interacting with you.


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## SelfCompulsoryIsolation (Dec 30, 2013)

funnynihilist said:


> Don't forget my sweet and sour nugget sauce!


This. This pisses me off. I dip _everything _in sweet and sour sauce.

Don't act like every container of sauce you give out is taken out of your paycheck or something. I swear, people always give you the bare minimum unless you explicitly ask for a certain amount.

You want "some"? You get one. A "couple", "few", "several", "a lot"? You get two. Annoying as hell. I need like 5. You're not going to make anyone anything but happier when you give them more sauce containers.


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## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

SelfCompulsoryIsolation said:


> This. This pisses me off. I dip _everything _in sweet and sour sauce.
> 
> Don't act like every container of sauce you give out is taken out of your paycheck or something. I swear, people always give you the bare minimum unless you explicitly ask for a certain amount.
> 
> You want "some"? You get one. A "couple", "few", "several", "a lot"? You get two. Annoying as hell. I need like 5. You're not going to make anyone anything but happier when you give them more sauce containers.


Now you seriously got me wonderin what a egg mcmuffin would be like dipped in that stuff. Haha!


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## 2Milk (Oct 29, 2014)

sarah089 said:


> The woman there didn't ask me any questions. She just looked at my resume and asked me what hours I can work. I've had a job before but it didn't require much social interaction at all. That might've been the reason they kept me around.
> 
> The job I applied for is basically taking orders at the drive through window and working the cash register. I'm a little scared but I know I need to do this for my anxiety. =/
> 
> For those of you who worked at fast food places, how did you cope with your anxiety? Was it something you got used to over time? I just don't want to be a burden to the rest of the team.


I been working there for a little over 3 months. Don't worry too much during the first week or two. You will feel really useless, like you are just getting in the way of things. That's completely normal.

I still haven't gotten used to the fast pace nature of the job. I still panic when I see a lots of orders on the screen. Honestly, the job sucks if you are an anxious person. It really sucks. I always feel nervous, always. That type of environment is just not made for anxious introverts.

You don't really need to be that social, you just need to memorize a handful of lines like "Hello, welcome to McDonald's what can I get for you today?"


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## AllTheSame (Mar 19, 2016)

A job like that for a person your age can be a good segue to a better job. I'd keep that in mind. You might not even have to have it that long, if you can do your job alright. The problem with not having much job experience (if that's the case for you) is that no one wants to hire anyone that doesn't have much experience. Get in for a few months, don't have any no-call, no-shows, and don't screw up too much and you can try to get a better job, maybe even after as little as six months or a year. A job that's not so crazy for someone with anxiety.

I agree, you just have rehearsed lines that you have to remember. After a while it will probably become second nature to you. I have a job in outside sales (with anxiety, believe it or not) and when I meet up, face to face, with the ten to twenty store managers I see every week, it's all scripted, really. I know what they want, I know what I want to do, it's just a matter of meeting in the middle. I have very little anxiety doing it now compared to when I first started a few months ago. And you will, too.


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

It was hell for me. Lasted 2 shifts. Good luck though.


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## JDsays (Oct 20, 2015)

sarah089 said:


> The woman there didn't ask me any questions. She just looked at my resume and asked me what hours I can work. I've had a job before but it didn't require much social interaction at all. That might've been the reason they kept me around.
> 
> The job I applied for is basically taking orders at the drive through window and working the cash register. I'm a little scared but I know I need to do this for my anxiety. =/
> 
> For those of you who worked at fast food places, how did you cope with your anxiety? Was it something you got used to over time? I just don't want to be a burden to the rest of the team.


I've worked at McDonalds before. Those lunch and diner rushes were crazy busy.

My advice I can give you is to just jump right into the fire. Not literally of course. Get right into the position they put you in and get all the help you can get from the person(s) that trains you. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Ask plenty of questions.

The more time you work there and learn , the more things will become automatic and easy. Something that you thought was hard becomes as easy as basic math.

If you're worried about the social aspect, don't worry. You're basically just reading a script over and over again. You will develop your own flow.


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## euphoria04 (May 8, 2012)

Genos said:


> customer service gets so routine that you become unfazed by the fact that you are talking to real people. you basically become a human robot. first week or two will be hell, you might cry and/or want to quit but just wait a month or two.


This is on point. The responses you'll be cued to say will be so automatic after a week, there won't be any room for anxiety. It'll be like reading from a script.

Improvisation is what rears the ugly head of anxiety for me, but the professional talk with customer service is in no way personal, and much easier to manage.


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## Calix64 (May 22, 2014)

This makes me think how many people in these jobs have social anxiety. I have tried to chat up the cashier in the past and she seems not to be very receptive towards me. Now I wonder if it was because I am not attractive or if she had social anxiety.


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## sarah089 (Aug 28, 2013)

I just had orientation today and it was okay. It was hard but I found myself learning quickly. Social interaction with the customers made me nervous at first but it was something I got used to as the day progressed. They only had me work the cash register a few times then I moved onto drive through.

For some reason, it's easier for me to talk to people 30+ rather than people around my own age. I think that's why I'm having an easier than expected time. Maybe I feel that people above a certain age tend to be less judgemental?


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

good to hear it's going ok. I guess it is possible for sa people to do social jobs like these. makes me feel a little bit hopeful.


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