As we ate breakfast at McDonald's this morning, it was clear that some of their teen-age help had not shown up for work. I was reminded of the years I worked as a therapist with teen-age foster kids when I came to the conclusion that fast food places play an important role in the employment education of teen-agers.
First of all, show up. Periodically, someone would say "I am just too upset or depressed to work today, I am calling in sick." No, we counseled, the best place for you when you have things on your mind is to be at work. . .concentrating on the tasks at hand and keeping busy. To the contrary, if you stay home and think all day, your problems will seem much worse.
I was constantly reminding my clients that it is not wise to tell your co-workers your life history and all your problems. Too much information. If you get angry with a co-worker or you think the work schedule is unfair, it is best to keep it to yourself. Emotional outbursts in the workplace do not recommend you as a good worker.
Then, too, there was always the dilemma of the kids being asked to do things they did not want to do.
"If you want that mess cleaned up, do it yourself!" an inexperienced young employee would say to the boss.
"So, what have you learned from getting fired?"
Sometimes kids have to get fired more than once before they get the big picture. My sympathy goes to the management.
