Super Size My Life : the Mcdonaldization of Society
Loni Bauer Date: 04-10-2013 Sociology Assignment W2-2 Super-Size my WorldMcDonaldization Of Society Growing up I have always lived in a very small town, just to the north of our beloved city Chicago. It was a huge city full of hustle and bustle. Whenever I would visit the city I would feel so rushed, and crowded. Now that I’m older I am used to a fast paced life. I always drive to school, I am always on a busy campus, and I always am being pulled in so many directions it makes my head spin! I can see the highs and lows in the whole MDoS (McDonaldization of Society).
It truly is something that a lot of us have grown accustomed to. Whether it be a fast food restaurant or a store, these small shops has grown into large conglomerates to supply us with two things. Convenience and low prices. But unfortunately, when it comes to most places you can’t always find quality with quantity. Because even though it tastes good (sometimes) McDonalds is not good for anyone who eats it. I have fallen victim to the sirens call of their new spicy chicken sandwich they’re only a dollar so I don’t have to pay much money to get more than one to fill myself.
In a society that caves to good deals because of how expensive and time consuming everything is. People have no time to actually sit down and eat at the table with their families, or even cook the meals to start. What I’m trying to get at is, that we really brought this upon ourselves whether we like it or not. It’s not something that will easily go away, and to be honest I don’t think it ever will. MDoS consists of these four things. Efficiency: This is Optimal Method for completing a task. When a company is geared towards minimizing your time.
In McDonalds case it’s the fastest way to go from hungry to full in a short amount of time (Ritzer, 2000)While sometimes this is a great thing, I personally don’t like food. I don’t really enjoy eating food, so I want to spend as much time not doing it as possible. So the fact that I can actually get my food, and eat it quickly is a great thing to me. When it comes to say a grocery store, they have a standard in service to uphold, where you get quick and efficient service while you’re in their store, from their baggers and Cashiers.
What person really likes grocery shopping? I have never seen anyone get excited to go buy food for the week. So from what I’ve seen, people would most likely want to get in, buy their food and get out as soon as possible so they can get on with their day. Calculability:This Rule in simple terms judges those by how fast they work not the quality of their service. In a way this is true for a lot of things these days. However it doesn’t really apply to all businesses. Once again using McDonalds as an example.
In my town (which is the worst place to live in the world if you ask me) People here are very lazy and most likely don’t understand English. When you visit the McDonalds in my town you are most likely to get very fast and very bad service. The food is old, gross and tastes horrid. When you try to tell them how much you hate it, the people can barely understand you. However, when I go to the McDonalds by my school it’s a very different experience. The people are nice, they speak English, and the food looks fresh and tastes fresh. While the service is quick and accurate without any mistakes.
So in reality sometimes it really just depends on the neighborhood, and the people working there. Just like any business. When I go to the Jewel Osco in my town once again I repeat what I say above, the service is slow and un-pleasant. When I visit the next town over, completely the opposite. So I am convinced my town is cursed haha. Predictability: No matter where you go you will receive the same service. The workers jobs are repetitive, highly routine, and predictable. While this is true I ask you to revisit the statement above.
While I’m on this subject I will also touch upon something else. When you visit a KFC, or Popeye’s Chicken, Wendy’s, Burger King, or any other chain fast food place you will usually get the same recipe for that burger no matter where you go. Usually it will taste the same no matter what part of the world you actually purchase it from. Most of the time this is true, with few exceptions. There is absolutely no creative freedom for a grill operator at these places, if the cook wanted to create a “special” there’s no way that would happen.
If you work at one of these places you are a slave to your position without creative liberties to stray from the beaten path. If you find something wrong with your burger or chicken and you make a fuss about it. They always give you a new one, and then send you coupons! Is that a bad thing? No, free food is always welcomed to the average person. But, maybe I would like a heartfelt apology for messing up my meal, or perhaps a joke or two from the manager about how embarrassed he/she is. That human element that makes a place special is basically lost at these establishments, Which leads me in to the final issue.
Control: Standardized and Uniformed Employees, While also including the replacement of human workers with Machines. This is a bit scary to me to be honest. Even though I don’t fully enjoy food, there are some people that truly treasure culinary arts and truly believe there’s nothing better than a home cooked meal Shared with family. I believe this too. When these people visit a restaurant they want to feel comforted like they’re in their mom’s kitchen. When you take the heart out of cooking, we might as well be eating nourishment pills.
In case you’ve noticed, as I have been writing this paper for the past hour my opinions have changed as I sat here thinking, and writing. I was thinking about re-writing this paper, but I wanted you see how this subject changes people. I went from not caring about food, to actually thinking about the heart of it, just because I thought about these four elements. There’s a lot wrong with the way society is now it’s very impersonal and de-humanized. Why, on this TV my strange addiction this man was basically Married to a sex doll. She couldn’t talk, or give him Human compassion. That’s crazy right?
Maybe it’s not as crazy as we think in this new society. Human beings strive for perfection, for that plane of godliness. We all want to be perfect. But it’s those little imperfections that make us perfect. It’s the chef trying new things, adding a little more cheese to the pasta sauce, the designer raising a picture and tilting it slightly, the Painter who adds pink to her clouds, and the Interior Designer angling a couch slightly off so that it’s not straight. These small details make us imperfect, makes our lives imperfect, but to be Honest, that’s perfectly fine with me. |
