McDonald's: A day in the life of Friar Street's busy restaurant

Like so many others, for me happiness is McDonald’s; creator of the Big Mac, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the McFlurry, and I was lucky enough to have been invited to experience a day in the life of a McDonald’s employee at Reading’s busy Friar Street restaurant, which processes more than 1,500 orders daily.

With a long history of famous advertising slogans such as ‘Food, folks and fun’, ‘We love to see you smile’ and ‘I’m lovin’ it’, nothing could be more fun than working at the home of the Happy Meal – or could it?

Armed with a uniform and a name badge, upon arrival I was buddied up with team member Henry Hellowell, of Palmer Park, who has worked for the company since December 2013.

The 20-year-old, whose favourite McDonald’s meal is a breakfast wrap with brown sauce, said: “I dropped out of university and had to live with my parents for a few years and I basically needed a job quite quickly. I saw that Asda, KFC and McDonald’s were all hiring. The rest is history as they say.”

Henry said what attracted him to the role was the flexible hours.

He said: “If I wanted tomorrow off I know I could get it, no questions asked. But if I worked at some office I would have to check it with everyone else, make sure nobody has booked that day off already, and go through this whole process before I get told no.”

But the employee said there are aspects of the job he finds challenging. He said: “Yes, we do have to deal with rude customers a lot but I don’t exactly go home and cry myself to sleep about it. We’re all used to it, you learn to cope with it in different ways and, because we’re all like one big family, we usually end up having a bit of a laugh about it afterwards.

“The other week we had some kids come in and one of them threw their coke all up the wall of the restaurant and was really causing some trouble, but you just have to deal with it.”

He added: “Some people think because we’re not on the best money that we’re a punching bag and that we don’t matter but, like I said, it’s all part of the job.”

After meeting more of the 71 team members, I was positioned behind the counter to watch them in action during a very busy lunch shift where what instantly struck me was the sixth sense of the employees.

A customer-facing team member with his back to the kitchen asked for ketchup and, without them making eye-contact, another worker had slipped the sachet into his hand within two seconds.

Among the variety of customers served was Balding Man, who had clearly forgotten his manners as he briskly walked away with his meal, choosing to ignore Henry wishing him a “great day”.

Next up was Goth Girl, dressed all in black, with facial piercings and rather angry-looking tattoos, who actually ended up being the most polite customer of the shift. Thanking Henry, she revealed a show-stopping smile hidden under the long, black hair covering her face.

After that was The Travellers, a group of three twentysomething males who, from their back pockets, took out a book of coupons that unravelled to the floor in a scroll-like fashion.

A team member who explained that their coupons were only valid for breakfast was sadly subjected to a tirade of foul language after management refused the group’s request to change breakfast times to suit their plans.

As I walked to the crew room, exhausted after completing the shift, I bumped into Henry again, beaming despite what I could call a challenging afternoon.

He said: “To be honest, I know the pay isn’t great, but it’s the people who make this job.

“Every day I wake up happy and looking forward to work, and, yeah, there are days that are harder than others and sometimes the long shifts can be really difficult, but I think now that I’m here, I can’t ever see myself leaving.”

On the way back to the Chronicle newsroom I thought about Henry and the McDonald’s team, satisfied that they’ve shown me that, contrary to popular belief, money really doesn’t buy you happiness.