Chapter 3 Fast Food Nation

Pages 67-71, “Thoughtput” 1)Characterize Elisa Zamot. (Use the FOUR hallmarks of characterizing a subject- physical description, other people’s thoughts, beliefs and thoughts, behaviors) 2)Describe Elisa’s day at work? 3)Where does she work? What time does her work day begin and end? 4)What percentage of the nation’s fast food work force are adolescents? 5)Why does the fast food industry seek out this adolescent work force? 6)What is “thoughtput?” 7)How do fast food restaurants maximize thoughtput within the cooking process? 8)What is the McDonald’s “Bible?” 9)What happens when a franchise operator disobeys this Bible? 10)What is the benefit to the company of having this Bible? 11)What is “McDonald’s English?” WRITE: How does the fast food industry’s “thoughtput” make teenagers an ideal fit for their workforce? How does this enable the industry to take advantage of this workforce?

Pages 71-75, “Stroking” and Pages 75-78, “Detecting Lies” 1)Back in 1999, top American executives from which companies held a joint conference? 2)Considering that these business are all in competition for the same customers, what common goal brought them together for the conference? 3)What innovations did the three businesses decide to make to improve their businesses? 4)What is the ultimate training goal for the industry? Why? 5)What is the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit program? It was probably designed as a way to help poor workers, but how did the fast food companies use it to help themselves? 6)What is the annual turnover rate in the fast food industry? 7)What connection does the fast food industry have to the United States minimum wage? 8)How well are fast food corporate executives compensated according to a 1997 survey? 9)Fast food managers are often rewarded for keeping labor costs low. What examples from one Taco Bell does Scholsser provide to prove this can lead to abuses of workers? 10) Sociologist Ester Reiter worked at a Burger King for a year and concluded what trait is most useful in a valued fast food worker? 11) How did McDonald’s fight unionizing in the 1960’s and 1970’s? WRITE: How does the fast food industry keep pay and benefits for workers low while holding back the money and rewards for the higher ups?

Pages 78-83, “Protecting Youth” 1)Schlosser brings up the example of high schoolers from Cheyenne Mountain high school. Where do the mostly white, middle- and upper-class kids get their part time and summer jobs? Why? 2)What is the teens’ view of fast food jobs? 3)From what nearby high school do the teen fast food workers come? How do these kids differ from the Cheyenne Mountain high kids? 4)What has Jane Trogdon, a teacher at the other school since 1967, noticed about the changes in the student population and their home/after school lives? 5)What is the graduation rate of this school? 6)What did the 1988 study by the National Academy of Sciences reveal about teens, jobs and their educations? About teens who work less than 20 hours a week? About teens who work more than that? 7)Describe Elisa Zamot’s work at McDonald’s. 8)Specifically, why does Elisa want to leave her job at McDonald’s? With what new company does she hope to gain employment? 9)Compare Elisa’s McDonald’s job with her sixteen year-old friend’s job at the other company. 10)How is Elisa atypical of her high school’s average fast food worker (think of her dreams, plans, etc.)? 11)What is the Fair Labor Standards Act? Do fast food businesses follow this law? 12)According to the teens Scholsser interviewed, what are some of the reasons the do enjoy their fast food jobs? And what makes the experiences horrible? WRITE: What types of kids are gravitating toward fast food work and what effect do their jobs seem to have on them? Is working in the industry causing or perpetuating a certain way of life?

Pages 83-87, “Inside Jobs” 1)What is the injury rate of teen workers vs. that of adult workers in the fast food industry? 2)List THREE alarming facts or statistics related to workplace safety and teens. 3)What makes fast food restaurants popular targets of robberies? 4)When do most fast food robberies occur? 5)Who is most likely to commit a fast food restaurant robbery (include relevant facts or statistics)? 6)What is OSHA? What did it recommend to help curb workplace violence? 7)What organizations and people blocked OSHA’s recommendations? Why would they do this? 8)What is the Alliance for Workplace Safety? Explain the irony in its name. 9)While the industry has tried to reduce violent crimes by adding in video cameras and other new security measures, Joseph A. Kinney argues what should be the main focus of the fast food industry’s efforts to decrease crimes within its stores? 10)How does nineteen year-old McDonald’s manager Jose keep his restaurant and its products safe? 11)List THREE examples of shooting deaths at fast food restaurants that Schlosser uses to close this section> 12)Why does he end the section this way? WRITE: How real is the physical danger to teenagers in the fast food industry? How does the industry itself encourage the violence and slow its prevention?