In Fast Food Nation, I was very surprised at the way fast food kitchens were operated. I walk into a McDonald's and I think that everybody is working very hard. To some degree, yes--but for a different reason. In the kitchen, almost all the equipment is automated and runs independently; all the employees have to do is to stay on schedule and scoop up the cooked food and package it. Also, the food isn't really cooked; it's frozen and just reheated and/or fried. Furthermore, most of those seemingly, happy, polite, and smiling cashiers do not smile for real. They are required to put on a facade to entice customers to spend money at the restaurant. Most of the time, since fast food employees aren't paid a lot of money, the employees may be hiding a depressing side of their personalities from customers. Also, cashiers are required to try to get customers to spend as much as possible by suggesting different foods. So, a word of critical advice: have a tough mind when you walk into a fast food restaurant and remain adamant in your orders.
Reading up to this part so far, I get the picture that fast food restaurants are not a friendly and genuine as I previously thought. Additionally, fast food chains are like the machine-like ward in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest because the kitchens are dominated by machines. This scene portrays a very creepy future in which mankind will be victims of machines, and controlled by them. Unless we have a way of relying less on machines, we'd better be ready for that fateful day when man falls to things.
Now that you have read all about fast food chains, I would suggest reading the whole of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal in order to repulse you even more, ultimately convincing you never to eat fast food again.
