Teaching vs. fast food

When people try to emphasize the value of schooling, they frequently mention how you don’t want to get stuck in fast food or retail. The strange thing about this is that teachers generally lack the skills to hold down a job in fast food or retail. While most of my comments below work for both, I’m going to streamline and pick fast food because it is generally considered to be lower than retail.

Let’s start with general attitude. More specifically, let’s discuss arrogance. Teachers view their position as a higher calling. Fast food is beneath them. I can assure you that teacher arrogance is undeserved (I have and will continue to post issues regarding the profession that help explain this), and it’s definitely not a good thing. The ability to remain humble could be viewed as a skill that teachers do not possess.

I should also mention finances. Most fast food workers are expected to deal with money. Have you listened to teachers over the years? They struggle more than others with similar earnings. When financial inefficiencies are revealed, they demand more money. With the limits of taxpayer funds, they keep insisting that we need to spend more per teacher and increase the number of teachers. They have absolutely no financial sense, and can’t comprehend that there are limitations to what we can give them. While these issues don’t directly translate to fast food, I would always second guess the idea of giving a teacher responsibility over money handling.

Of all problems that fast food could give a teacher, I think customer service is the biggest one. Teachers frequently blame the parents (who were shaped by the teaching profession) for apparent shortcomings of children (most of these issues have more to do with variable needs that come with individuality rather than legitimate shortcomings). Without these parents, these teachers wouldn’t have jobs. Teachers also blame the taxpayers who pay their salaries for not giving them enough money. Teachers refuse to acknowledge any mistakes or wrongdoings on their part and blame everyone else for everything. If they missed an order in fast food, they would blame the customer for ordering the wrong thing. That attitude would get them fired within the first week.

Your average teacher could never survive the fast food industry. They may be quick to criticize, but they should not criticize those who do what they could never handle themselves. It’s remarkable how fast food is both above them and beneath them at the same time.