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Old 04-29-2022, 09:57 PM   #21
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Me neither. Every store front has a help wanted, now hiring sign. Every semi trailer has a drivers wanted, top pay and benefits.

McDonald's starts at $15/hr, The Cheesesteak Shop at $18. And the "tent cities" by the freeways continue to grow.
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Old 04-29-2022, 11:00 PM   #22
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I visited two fast food restaurants this week that had locked doors though the open sign was on. The drive thru was operating as several cars were in line.
I have no idea if this is going on here right now, or not, since we eat at conventional restaurants that don't have drive throughs, instead of fast food restaurants.

But I do remember back in 2020 (and maybe 2021?) reading online that several fast food restaurants nearby had closed, presumably because they couldn't find anybody to work there.
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Old 04-30-2022, 01:23 AM   #23
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Last time I was INSIDE a FF restaurant (you'd know the name) there were maybe 5 people inside. There were two young women at the counter talking to each other and I had to wait until they finished their important conversation before they would wait on me. I haven't been back.

I DO go to Panda Express - sort of a cross between FF and a real restaurant. By the way, I'm sure my tastebuds are strictly midwestern, but I prefer PE to most "real" Chinese restaurants - in Hawaii, but not on the mainland. All the PE I've visited in the Islands employ cooks who understand Chinese food. Not so much in the midwest. YMMV
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Old 04-30-2022, 05:24 AM   #24
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Day care businesses are also having trouble keeping staff.
The daycare the Grands go to have been having staffing problems.
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Old 04-30-2022, 05:39 AM   #25
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Does anyone understand why such a labor shortage? It’s everywhere in the US. And it’s not just in fast food joints. It seems the strangest thing. I don’t get how Covid could’ve caused it. I’m genuinely curious, but haven’t ever seen a clear explanation. Everyone just seems to roll with it without questioning.

I retired pre-Covid so it’s not my fault [emoji846]
What I’ve read:
  • Some parents were forced to stay home to care for their kids during Covid, found ways to reorder their lives, and decided they preferred the new arrangement and exited the workforce.
  • Some folks still fear Covid, and aren’t willing to go back to close quarters with co-workers, especially true for low wage jobs (like fast food).
  • Some older workers gave up and retired. Older teachers, nurses, daycare, pilots/flight attendants, truck drivers, small business owners ruined by Covid restrictions (I know several personally), etc.
  • Some lower wage job holders decided the low pay wasn’t enough to put up with work BS, to go in another direction, newly discovered side hustles became jobs. Social media has made new careers some older generations don’t recognize, influencers, YouTubers, drone photography, etc.
Covid forced many people to change their lives, and a significant number of them decided the new arrangement was acceptable.
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Old 04-30-2022, 05:48 AM   #26
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^

Plus the demand for gig workers increased dramatically. Would you rather work in mcdonalds for $9 and all the grease on a schedule, or do instacart deliveries and grub hub deliveries?

+ Amazon's expansion has created a lot more work in the intro market with increased warehouses and delivery of its own

There are so many more options now for workers at the low side of the pay scale.
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Old 04-30-2022, 06:00 AM   #27
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^

Plus the demand for gig workers increased dramatically. Would you rather work in mcdonalds for $9 and all the grease on a schedule, or do instacart deliveries and grub hub deliveries?

+ Amazon's expansion has created a lot more work in the intro market with increased warehouses and delivery of its own

There are so many more options now for workers at the low side of the pay scale.
Good points. When I go grocery shopping, I always see lots of Instacart pickers.

And there are way more options on the low side of the pay scale. Some low paid workers were forced to try other jobs, and decided they preferred the new job…
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Old 04-30-2022, 06:12 AM   #28
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Agreed. Restroom availability is key for us during long trips. Certain states are VERY bad at providing rest areas even on interstate let alone State highways (example, Georgia is on my mind...). Luckily, gas stations often have restrooms albeit with varying degrees of cleanliness....
We don't usually do fast food, but will make an exception when traveling and needing a typically clean restroom.
Driving cross country, across many states, there are many nice rest areas along the way with decent picnic areas, especially at state lines. But definitely rare in GA!
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Old 04-30-2022, 06:29 AM   #29
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Some chains have found, even before COVID, that a high percentage of orders came from the mobile app. That greatly accelerated since COVID. Places like Starbucks and chipotle get something like 70-90% of orders on the app. Chipotle has started opening digital-order only locations.
I was in a Subway last week where one of the workers had an earpiece she used to take incoming orders while she was making sandwiches. She'd inform people there were 6 sandwiches ahead of them before she could get to their order. I'd read this elsewhere- they have the same amount of workers they used to pre-COVID (maybe) but now they're serving in-person and also making up orders for people who use the app and delivery drivers. I don't know how they keep up.

I don't like drive-through for the reasons mentioned- waiting, waste of gas and half the time the order isn't right. I also don't get food delivered. The Starbucks I visit frequently has an area for delivery drivers to pick up and the drinks sit there so long they must reach room temperature. Not very appetizing.
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Old 04-30-2022, 07:04 AM   #30
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I don't eat fast food that much, my exception being my addiction to Bojangles chicken. And that's about the worst food to eat in a car. Most Bo's have reopened their dining rooms but if they close again that'll be healthier for me.
That reminds me that I need to get out the upholstery shampoo and scrub down my seats.

The eating in the car has seriously stained my seats. I ate Bojangles 2x this week and the breading leaves grease spots. The grandkids in the back seat seem to spill something about every time we have to go thru a drive thru.

I got to eat a Chik fil A chicken sandwich at church last week. It's the first time I've had anything from them in years. I refuse to face their double line of cars in their drive thru. Our Chik fil A had to build a new restaurant after they had cars lining up on a 4 lane highway and had to have an employee blocking off the entrance to their small lot.
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Old 04-30-2022, 08:07 AM   #31
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When fast food started inside dining area was tiny. They expanded as they took share from full service. Drive thru was an add-on ‘innovation’. The trend to drive through only started with places like Sonic and their double drive thru plus car hop service. Their overhead is tiny compared to traditional FF. I think it will be driven largely by real estate and labor cost and availability. Big chains aren’t very good at innovation and prefer standard floorplans but even Target and Wal-mart are figuring out how to fit retail in expensive urban areas.

I hate drive-thru and many times I go inside and get back to my car more quickly than if I sat on my butt wasting gas in the drive thru. It seems like once inside the drive thru has priority over in-store service.
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Old 04-30-2022, 08:18 AM   #32
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I hate drive-thru with a passion and will not get food from places that don't let you mobile order and pick up inside. Around here Chik-Fil-A and Starbucks are notorious for having drive-thru lines pretty much all the time. The wife will put up with this for her Starbucks fix but I won't.
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Old 04-30-2022, 09:23 AM   #33
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It seems like once inside the drive thru has priority over in-store service.

It does have priority. Management is rated on their ability to keep drive thru times below a certain level (which varies from chain to chain).
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Old 04-30-2022, 09:33 AM   #34
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I hate carry out as the food is cold by the time you get home. I don’t like eating in my car. Some places have now opened the dining room.
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Old 04-30-2022, 11:04 AM   #35
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Originally Posted by Midpack View Post
What I’ve read:
  • Some parents were forced to stay home to care for their kids during Covid, found ways to reorder their lives, and decided they preferred the new arrangement and exited the workforce.
  • Some folks still fear Covid, and aren’t willing to go back to close quarters with co-workers, especially true for low wage jobs (like fast food).
  • Some older workers gave up and retired. Older teachers, nurses, daycare, pilots/flight attendants, truck drivers, small business owners ruined by Covid restrictions (I know several personally), etc.
  • Some lower wage job holders decided the low pay wasn’t enough to put up with work BS, to go in another direction, newly discovered side hustles became jobs. Social media has made new careers some older generations don’t recognize, influencers, YouTubers, drone photography, etc.
Covid forced many people to change their lives, and a significant number of them decided the new arrangement was acceptable.
I've read about these same "great resignation" employment dynamics, but I still don't fundamentally get how so many people can afford to simply "exit the workforce". I mean, we've all seen those news articles about how the majority of American's don't have enough cash (or credit) on hand to deal with a $500 emergency, such as a car repair or medical bill. Seems to me the vast majority of people who work the register at, say, Burger King can't just quit and replace that income stream with a more comfy, gig-economy job. So what are they doing now? There are only so many Uber and Lyft drivers a given area can support. I really would like to know the details behind all this.
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Old 04-30-2022, 11:09 AM   #36
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I never wait. I order from app. You also get discounts. Curbside. Done.
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Old 04-30-2022, 11:26 AM   #37
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I stopped by a Dairy Queen in the town near where I'm camped. Drive-thru only and a line of 12 cars waiting in line. Trash cans were overflowing, and the parking lot needed to be cleaned up. Sign advertising for help $12/hour.


I drove across the street to the grocery store and picked up a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream for less than the price of a blizzard. Self serve cashier, but I was out of there in two minutes.


Prices up, service down. I don't enjoy fast food enough to put up with that.
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Old 04-30-2022, 11:36 AM   #38
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I hate carry out as the food is cold by the time you get home. I don’t like eating in my car. Some places have now opened the dining room.
Us too. The only thing we get as carryout is Chinese from a local place 5 minutes from the house.
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Old 04-30-2022, 11:42 AM   #39
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I just got back from my Midwest road/train trip. I'm not a fast food consumer but a McD's or Starbucks have always been on my list for potential pit stops, especially when traveling through smaller towns. Well, my two places in Indiana are now both drive through only. My new potential pit stop location is Walmart. With Wal-Mart you always know the restrooms are in the front of the store near customer service.
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Old 04-30-2022, 11:45 AM   #40
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Some chains have found, even before COVID, that a high percentage of orders came from the mobile app. That greatly accelerated since COVID. Places like Starbucks and chipotle get something like 70-90% of orders on the app. Chipotle has started opening digital-order only locations. No dining room. Just a pick up counter. It’s enabling them to open in locations where there isn’t space for a full restaurant.
We have one of these new digital Chipotles. I have not been there but read some reviews on a neighborhood site. Opening weekend had trouble with traffic jams on the very small lot on a busy corner but it cleared up after the big opening weekend.

One of the good things about Chipotle is that when you are inside the normal store you can tell the worker exactly what you want, you can see the portions and customize, "Plenty of lettuce, please, just a little black beans." With the digital concept you can customize your order on the app but you don't know if they did it right until you get it home and open the order.

So the digital only store may make it better for the store staff - no interacting with the customer who takes a minute to think about how they want it, no cleaning up tables and condiment areas, no questions about how to work the self serve drink dispensers, no restroom maintenance. But is it any better for the customer?

On the next block from the digital Chipotle there is a Wendy's. It has a drive through and a dining room. Lately there have been reports of the dining room being closed and only the drive through open. On the neighborhood chat site last week there was a comment "Kudos to the kid running Wendy's all by himself, he's doing a great job." Seems the place was being run by one employee. I hope this was a one time emergency situation. No one should have to do that alone!
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