I worked at McDonalds as a teen in the late 90s/early 00s in the Midwest and it was definitely looked down upon. I only did it for about 9 months as my first job as a stepping stone to a desirable job selling tickets at the movie theater, which was a stepping stone to very desirable mall retail at the CD/game store. McDonalds hired 15 year olds with work permits, the movie theater only hired age 16+, and the mall stores preferred 18+ so they could work longer hours. Everyone knew boys were grocery baggers/stockers, bused tables at the local restaurants, or worked at the garden centers during the summers or over the holidays in the Christmas tree lot. Girls were cashiers and worked retail.

Also ... even then, only working class and middle class kids worked at real stores. Upper middle class kids had cushy jobs working for their parents or parents friends, or devoted all their spare time to studying or sports. The only places I see teens working around here are Wegmans and Chick Fil A, and even then I can’t tell if they are high school or college age.

Anonymous wrote:1. Low-end fast food is disgusting and eaten by poor people, mostly. Mega negative stigma associated with them that didn't exist in the 90s.

2. Fast food managers want desperate employees they can work like slaves (local welfare recipients that need minimum hours for their welfare and recent immigrants). They know smart kids won't take bullshit from some flunky psychotic manager.

3. Travel sports and student orgs and AP classes leave iffy availability, see #2.

4. College admissions is RIDICULOUSLY competitive, so every hour flipping burgers for welfare recipients is an hour some Asian and Indian kid is studying their ass off.

Every 3rd kid I know is going to Maryland, JMU, GMU or similar -- is it soooo hard to get into those that 10 hrs a week of working will keep them out and they need to be studying 24-7. Give me a break. You don't want them to work, that's great. But school is not an excuse.

I see plenty of rich kids working in the summer -- but during the school year there are other priorities.

I'd send my kid to a regular sit down restaurant rather than fast food. Plenty of those jobs out there. Fast food seems too chaotic for a very first job.

1. Low-end fast food is disgusting and eaten by poor people, mostly. Mega negative stigma associated with them that didn't exist in the 90s.

2. Fast food managers want desperate employees they can work like slaves (local welfare recipients that need minimum hours for their welfare and recent immigrants). They know smart kids won't take bullshit from some flunky psychotic manager.

3. Travel sports and student orgs and AP classes leave iffy availability, see #2.

4. College admissions is RIDICULOUSLY competitive, so every hour flipping burgers for welfare recipients is an hour some Asian and Indian kid is studying their ass off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a teen, the hierarchy of jobs went:

1. Pet sitter/house setter for a family who went out of town so you could party there
2. Lifeguard
3. Retail store (A&F, AE, Victoria's Secret) to give your friends your discount
4. Babysitter for older kids who didn't cry or wear diapers
5. Local pizza joint to give your friends free food
6. Local ice cream shop to give your friends free food
7. Babysitter for younger kids
8. Grocery store
9. Fast food
10. For your parents

ok, this is so interesting, because I've noticed this too among my daughter and her friends (juniors in HS)! Ice cream, sub sandwiches, pizza= fine. Burgers and fries = no. American Eagle= super cool. Giant? no.

Because fried food makes your hair and skin greasy and gives you pimples. That is why it is considered not cool and the other ones are fine. Chik Fil A is the exception to this rule.

Where I grew up in the midwest, "coaching" type jobs (like a dance teacher/assistant) and amusement park jobs topped the list (#1 or 2)

“



Why not babysit, dog watch or mow lawns? They make great money and it's not taxed.”

It is a shame that these are the main jobs kids now have because they do not really teach you the lessons needed by those entry level service jobs.

DD and her honor roll friends weren't wanted at the fast food places. It was known they were headed to college (eventually) Not going to get hired when someone less ambitious/or less fortunate was available, and would stick around.

Early 80's - - my college roommate sensed my eye roll when she mentioned what she had done in the summer - waitressing at Big Boy. She quickly took me down. "I worked my butt off. And you know what? I made enough to pay for this entire year myself" ... I was put in my place. But sad, gone are the days when someone could pay for a year of college waitressing.

All the jobs that were once filled by teenagers are now filled by illegals who work for minimum wage and take abuse from employers.

Anonymous wrote:When I was a teen, the hierarchy of jobs went:

1. Pet sitter/house setter for a family who went out of town so you could party there
2. Lifeguard
3. Retail store (A&F, AE, Victoria's Secret) to give your friends your discount
4. Babysitter for older kids who didn't cry or wear diapers
5. Local pizza joint to give your friends free food
6. Local ice cream shop to give your friends free food
7. Babysitter for younger kids
8. Grocery store
9. Fast food
10. For your parents

ok, this is so interesting, because I've noticed this too among my daughter and her friends (juniors in HS)! Ice cream, sub sandwiches, pizza= fine. Burgers and fries = no. American Eagle= super cool. Giant? no.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think, over the past 10 years, so much of getting a job has come down to connections. You either have them through your parents or through an internship.

Most internships are now unpaid and uber competitive. To get a good one, you need to have experience that readily applies (or a family/friend connection). This means kids have to start taking on more "serious" jobs earlier and earlier. There is no time to wait tables or work retail because those jobs no longer are good enough to help you make your way into a serious job.

If true, that's unfortunate. Those types of jobs do more to instill responsibility, accountability, etc. than any college curriculum or busywork internship ever will. If nothing else, they provide a sobering look at the consequences of not applying oneself to higher education or formal vocational training.

It's true and unfortunate. I would always value a job with real consequences as work experience for a high schooler, but those jobs don't seem to get kids into college or coveted internships. Instead, the expectation is that kids are all publishing academic papers in HS. I sold books at a mall-type store in HS, and I ended up with a STEM PhD from Harvard. Nowadays, kids think (probably correctly) they need to be working at university lab in HS to do what I did.

Maybe you just started hanging out with rich people, OP. I work will low-income high school students, they all have jobs.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 61 and from OH OP. And, it was never cool to work in fast food in OH. People in DC act like they are more sophisticated generally than "midwest types" but not in your case OP.

Another former Ohioan in her 40s here and we also thought fast food jobs were for losers. All my friends worked, but for locally owned businesses. Subway was the only national franchise that wasn’t looked down upon. Basically, nothing involving a French fry!

Anonymous wrote:I'm 61 and from OH OP. And, it was never cool to work in fast food in OH. People in DC act like they are more sophisticated generally than "midwest types" but not in your case OP.

Also - there's actually more judgement here if you don't have a part-time job than if you do. The kids like the independence and the outside $.