I currently hold a management position at McDonalds. I love my job. I love the customers and the crew. I love excelling and creating those 'golden moments' that people look for behind the golden arches. I like handing coffee to a regular and hearing him joke that he doesn't need sugar because I make it sweet enough. I love hearing kids tell me they want to work there someday, after I dig through the toys to find the one they want. I love getting to know my crew as individuals and seeing them as the people they are - not just the numbers. I love walking into my restaurant and hearing a chorus of voices exclaim:
"Yay! Ravven is here!"
Now that you have rolled your eyes and murmured to yourself that it is 'just McDonalds', I would like to explain that it is one of the hardest jobs I have held. The hours are demanding, the work is fast paced and strenuous, the customer complaints are harsh, and the responsibility of upholding the golden standards can be exhausting and exceedingly stressful. I often come home venting about some crew person calling off last minute, how we were understaffed and ill prepared, that the management team didn't work well together, or that a customer reamed me out for something that was not my fault. Sometimes my fiance has to calm me down and remind me that he is not McDonalds.
My fiance's family runs a beautiful apple orchard. I have lived with them for two years now and I have never in my life lived somewhere so serene and loving. They pick all their apples, sell them, deliver them, and run a store that is filled with curious spices, interesting jams, delectable cheeses, mouthwatering candies, and of course 26 beautiful varieties of apples. I have helped on the farm here and there, picking apples (often times tripping over the fallen ones), weighing product, cutting cheeses, baking pies, and watching the store. I love this place more than anything. I never feel stressed or tired or put out. Most importantly, I never feel alone or unappreciated. I get to work alongside my fiance and his family. Most women say they could never work with their significant other - but I can't imagine it any other way.
My fiance has to decide if taking on the family business is something he wants to do. It is a venture we must do together - a building block in the foundation of our future. This is a huge thing for us. So, after many weeks of thought, we decided that to fully understand the business, we needed to delve into it and really be a part of it. Since the season is just starting, it is a perfect time to jump in. I wrote out my two weeks, handed it in...
When I first started at McDonalds, I was very depressed. I had gone through some serious life changing milestones. I didn't talk. I hardly socialized. I just worked and came home. It was the people I worked with there everyday that made me open up and talk. I remember I was a mouse and one lady told me, 'Be loud! Get the customers attention! You have a beautiful smile, so smile big!' She made me laugh. Little by little, I made friends and grew as a person. I truly blossomed, becoming bubbly and open. I was truly happy to be at work - even on the bad days.
Despite the problems that I have recently faced at my job, I have a lot to thank McDonalds for. It was my second home and the people are what made it so interesting. McDonalds is the melting pot of the fast food world. Everyone works at McDonalds - people from every background and town. I have made friends with people I never thought I would. I have heard so many stories and learned so much about the human nature and the common struggles that we all go through. It opened my eyes and stirred the compassion in my heart. I realized that you never really know what is going on in someone's life. Working there taught me that sometimes your smile is the only smile someone might see that day. It taught me that having pride in what you do is not shameful and wanting to excel was not arrogant.
My last day is September 5th which, ironically, is the first day I started. I know for sure it is time to move on, not just by the changes in the store and in my home, but also because it lands so perfectly on my anniversary. Closure. It is not easy to walk into work and here my name in excited chorus followed up with, 'I can't believe you are leaving us! Please don't go, you are one of the only reasons I come to work!' Nor is it easy to listen to other people say that I am giving up and throwing away my future...
I thought once that I wanted McDonalds to be my life. One day, in the middle of a ten hour shift, after getting my ass kicked, I checked my phone and there was a text message from my fiance that read:
"Baby, are you ok? I haven't heard from you and I thought you got off two hours ago. Please text me back, I am really worried!"
I realized then that my future was not McDonalds, my future was waiting at home wondering where I was and if I was coming home. My mother told me once to always run towards my future, run run run and don't ever look back.
I wrote out my two weeks and handed it in. I am running toward my future and trying not to trip on the apples. As hard as it is to let go, I have accepted the fact that I have completed what I needed to do at McDonalds and learned what I needed to learn. Just because a situation seems like a forever thing, doesn't mean it is. And that's ok. There are other stories to hear, new projects to complete and beautiful new people to befriend and learn from.
I can't give you cheeseburgers, but I can give you apples. Come eat some apples with me and tell me your stories.
