MB: ...or 48 oz of Sunsweet Prune Juice! Qx is starting to sound as grumpy and constipated as Gerard!!!Qx:... Oh you're talking about me eh? OK I'll take the shot even though I don't think I can be that way for as long as him.
: MB: I've never been to his store...even to Canada, but I do have the feeling he's speaking for himself.
Qx: That's cool if you don't like freezing. Maybe he'll disregard my rudeness and think through the subject some more. Hopefully he won't personalize the issue to the point of no return.
: MB: Wait a minute! I suggested that they do whatever they can to work out the differences between them and the owner/management, and if it's a lost cause, polish the resume, and see if Taco Bell, Taco Bueno, maybe Whataburger or Dairy Queen is hiring...
Qx: And again you're using King George III's logic. It simply isn't that easy for many folks. Hopping around from job to job is another job all in itself and can get pretty tiring. Who really wants to be permanently temporary? Maybe some but I don't know any.
MB: or maybe check out Albertson's, Tom Thumb, or Winn Dixie to name a few supermarkets.
Qx: ...and of course they'll have to hope against hope that they're not fired before they give notice.
MB:Walking out like they did, look what that got them! And painting "Go Union" on their foreheads projected an unprofessional image.
Qx: Mike! They're young! They're ticked off and labor organizing isn't exactly mentioned at school very much so don't expect consumate professionals.
MB: I know if I was a [would-be] customer at that Ohio McD's, and saw that, I would have bailed out of there, got in the truck, and looked for another place to eat.
Qx: Wouldn't it be great if you had actually been there and invited them to have a knock-down, dragout right here on this board?
MB:What if I painted on my forehead "XYZ Bank Sucks!" and customers saw me with my i.d. badge in the lobby, or outside getting cash from the ATM? I would be fired lickety-split WITHOUT severence pay or unemployment to fall back on.
Qx: Consider organizing and get a "wild episode" clause into the contact?
MB: As for the Sixties, Texas wasn't immune from what went on during that time anymore than the rest of the country, at least from what I hear. But I must confess, I was only 3 1/2 when Jimi Hendrix torched his axe, and smashed it over his amplifier at that Monterey Pop gig. ...and I was 5 going on 6 when Max Yasgur's pasture was turned into the World's Biggest Stage for that famous Aquarian event in late summer of '69.
Qx: I was thinking along more substantive lines in regards to the civil rights movement,killer cops, etc. You know..things like civil rights and whatnot.
MB:Were you or anyone else from the Great White North among the counted "half-million" there? Just curious!
Qx: As a matter of fact I knew people. What's the connection of going to Woodstock and it's impact on Texas when another friend does seven years for seven joints in Texas in 1969?
: MB: Locating another job, landing it, THEN giving 2 weeks' notice is a much better move and makes you look better than walking out on strike or saying "Get fucked!" and then quit.
Qx: Yeah. Sure it does then you've got a better experienced person who probably won't put that part on a resume.
MB: In GM's case the employees in Flint only strengthened the automaker's resolve to move much of its manufacturing to Mexico.
Qx: Watch out about Mexico's social problems. The illusion of a stable labor pool that Mexico supplys to industry isn't exactly not thought about by GM's top brass. Expect GM to have a labor problem much more violent than in the U.S.
MB: You never know, Ford might be hiring! Regarding the Louiseville and Kalamazoo McD strikes: again I can't help but wonder if these are just copycat strikes by a bunch of bored suburban youths.
Qx: If you want to be really sure about it going to those people and meeting them first-hand might satisfy you. It's not that far from you once you meet them.
And back to Macedonia: did the owner really fly in 90 execs just to tell the employees to "shut up talking this union shit"..or was it really more like 5 guys from the district office advising them to grow up and handle the situation in a more mature manner?
Qx: Either way it seems like both of those lines could easily have been said. C'mon this is McDonald's!
MB: These aren't declarations, Qx, but merely questions I brought up because I don't automatically accept what I read and hear. I aim these questions at any unbiased source who might have witnessed all these strike events. Read: UNBIASED to either side.
Qx: OK. Cool. I would like to read some more to.
: MB: Nope! McD Worker just sounds a lot more sensible, and is not spouting all those worn-out cliches such as "Capitalism must die", "Close down all McDs!", and "Fire the goddam boss!" And Bryan Drapp did mention the ridiculous goal to close down the entire McD's organization. I'm sorry but with me, silly statements like that raise flags and induce me to question one's judgment and what one posts.
Qx: C'mon this is McSpotlight! We both have to be used to this sentiment from some folks. Keep in mind that some are young so it isn't difficult Question another's judgement.
MB: One more thing... McD Worker has acknowledged that some locations are bad, and that he doesn't agree with everything about the chain. Cara Russel doesn't give the chain a perfect score either. She mentioned that planners need to come up with more innovative products, and I've expressed similar sentiments many times. She also made it clear that the [here comes that dirty word, McSp!] Beanie Baby promotions are not her cup of tea.
Qx: I'm not expecting absolute affinity either from a pro-McD's supporter.
: : Qx: If you want to apologize for the tobacco companies then you should go and take that argument to OTHER MULTINATIONALS. As far as your niece getting fined for tobacco possession that's been going on in Texas for a long time. Maybe she should engage in civil disobedience or is that something that Texas never learned about while it hibernated during the Sixties?
: MB: I used that as a rebuttal to your claim that big business "owns" the politicians, and "buys them off".
Qx: That's not too good as a rebuttal on your part.
MB: As for "civil disobedience", a better alternative to that is to vote on election day [when you turn 18], write your representatives, and make yourself heard at city council meetings in a cordial, but firm manner.
Qx: I'm not a municipal employee but if I were I'd vote for the right fellow worker in union elections and negotiate contracts with city hall in a cordial, but firm manner and not place much faith in the politicians.
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: MB: Again, I was commenting on what I've been witnessing in these rooms. The disgruntled employees' claims of excessive abuse, and their missions to "close down McD's" are accepted, embraced without question, while anyone with an opposing view is flamed, accused of being a plant, having a manager's mentality, siding with authority, and in Cara's and McD Worker's case, accused of being sycophants, brainwashed, or being in training for composing whitewash articles. Again, in Macedonia's case, it appears that neither side is squeaky clean. Trolley Dolly commented on this from her perspective. She talks about "Kenwoods" in her "cut through the shite" post. Bryan does present the impression he has more than a bit of a "Kenwood" side.
Qx: Who ever heard of a squeaky clean debate when it comes to working at McDonald's or any place for that matter? Flames are a natural result of combustible issues.
: MB: Chug-a-lug a big jug of prune juice, and you won't be "a-strainin'".
Qx: At least you're not mentioning Sunsweet in this line. If they have operations there I bet they're not exactly benevolent employers either.
MB: Finally, most people who live here are not as small-minded as you imply, nor do most of us live in trailer parks. (But I have considered buying a mobile home, and it's still a thought...)
Qx: Hey watch out! I live in a trailer park and there's about 200,000 of big country surrounding it. Should drag some of them up?
