a a ee arate Cee Ee een SU St SSE EE OO SR re rn ’ ee Qivaro The fast-food and the furious Fast-food employees deserve courtesy By Bridget Duquette — The Fulcrum (University of Ottawa) or foot-long?” I ask, my eyes red and watery, my face flushed. Nobody seems to care or even really notice. I suppose tears seem perfectly appropriate on the face of a fast-food employee. Why shouldn’t I be miserable? It’s fitting much more so than my grungy, ill-made uniform. This outfit turns even the most attractive fast-food worker into a mound of shapeless flesh. God forbid any customer notice that there is a person buried under my uniform or think of me as a real human being with thoughts and feelings. So what if my tears are only caused by the bag of onions I have to chop each morning? My customers don’t know this. For all they know, I could have two weeks left to live. I could be on the run from the mob. Maybe my hamster just died. You know what goes through my mind when I see a fellow human being in tears? “Is this person suicidal? Should I offer some kind words of support, or maybe leave a quarter in their tip jar?” I like to believe I have some kind of basic human compassion. Maybe my customers do too, but they do an amazing job of hiding it. As far as I can tell, the only thing that interests them in the least are their iPhones. “Hey, check out my new app! It enables me to completely block out the outside world, thereby making lowly fast- food workers feel like the scum of the earth. What fun!” Maybe I don’t deserve their sympathy. [== every day in tears. “Six-inch I know I’m not the most charismatic person. I scowl when someone asks me to change my gloves before making their food, and perhaps my eyes do roll back in my head when a customer demands more olives (“No, more than that. More. More. More. Even more!”). You see, we fast-food workers are apparently being paid $10.25 an hour to put on a performance. It is supposedly my job to act like I am not a real human being that I don’t have emotions, that I don’t get offended when people loudly gab on the phone instead of asking me how my day is going and that I don’t get angry when someone walks away without saying “thank you” after I serve them. “You are welcome,” I’ll yell after them a big mistake on my part. I should approach every shift the same way Meryl Streep readies herself for a role. Get into character. Pull my baggy uniform on over my head. Tighten my apron. Straighten my visor. Stand up straight. And finally the piéce de resistance force a smile onto my face. Voila: I’m ready for my close-up. I’m sorry, but no. I refuse. If I were getting paid twice as much as I am, I would be the perkiest sandwich artist on the planet. I’d tap dance for the customers, shine their shoes, and open-mouth kiss everyone who upped their order to a combo. No problem. But I am not getting paid $20 an hour, and I refuse to smile for anybody unless they deserve it. I will prepare your food for you. I will give you your food in exchange for currency. And that’s about all you’re going to get. Yes, I am bitter. A lot of us fast-food workers are. Just try to remember that we’re not mad at you as a person; we’re mad at you as a customer. We’re mad when you ignore us when we say “hello,” yet still demand special treatment. We’re mad that we're being paid minimum wage, that our boss is a psycho and that this is our 20th day of work in a row. The next time you come in to get your six-inch chicken teriyaki, try to pry your eyes away from your phone. I know it’s trendy, shiny and fabulous, but just try to make eye contact with the person behind the counter (that’s right person) and note the tired look in their eyes. Try to be nice, or even just polite. Don’t yell. Don’t scream. Don’t bark at us. Just treat us like human beings. In exchange, you can expect a genuine smile, a little light conversation and maybe even extra olives. Deal? The Dig on the Dougout Serving up snack salvation on a student’s salary By Tim Ryckman ired of your own cooking and looking for something grander than mayo slathered ham and cheese slapped between two pieces of bread? Or, maybe you’re looking for the prime place to impress your new ‘hot date? (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say more.) Then again, there’s also the chance you’re just like me, a jobless, full-time student, living in their grandparent’s basement looking for any way possible to save a couple bucks. No matter what your situation is, I’m sure you will still-be able to find solace in the humble Dougout Caf that just opened up here in New Westminster. To fill you in a little, the Dougout is the newest food-peddling addition to 12 our campus, boasting a budget friendly menu with “lots of items under $5.00.” Interested in finding out if I could save a few of my precious dollars, I decided to hike my way up to the top floor of the Student Union Building and check out for myself if in fact “eating on a As my coffee was being brewed I had the chance to chat it up with the nice guy running the counter, who we will from now on refer to as “Steve” for unnecessary safety reasons. “Steve” informed me that The Dougout is in _ fact, not funded by the Student Union “As far as the meal went, someone in the back of that place sure can make a decent turkey breast sandwich and the coffee certainly did the trick.” budget never tasted so right!” After a brief wait in the line-up, and some humming and hawing over the menu, I finally ordered the turkey breast sandwich deal which, along with coffee and a bag of chips, came to the tax including price of only $5.00. There was nothing left for me to do but wait and see if this place was really all that (and a bag of chips). but is actually renting the space from them at a low price so that it in return can offer their products at a reasonable price. This so far seemed like it was a business that was extremely student friendly. Something worth mentioning is that they serve breakfast all day (I am particularly bias when it comes to places that serve this wonderful meal all day long) and that all of their prices include tax. I did have to pay in cash only though, for those of you that rely on plastic, but “Steve” did assure me that they were working on getting debit as an option. As far as the meal went, someone in the back of that place sure can make a decent turkey breast sandwich and the coffee certainly did the trick. So what’s my final verdict? I'll give the Dougout Caf one thumb up for providing good cafeteria food at a budget friendly price and another thumb up for the friendly service and breakfast all day. They also get extra brownie points for including the tax in their prices. As far as the Dougout being a future potential date setting though... well, I'll let you casa nova’s figure that out for yourselves.