This I Love Lucy show from the fifties was very funny and so hilarious and a very good presentation of the mcdonaldization irrationality of rationalization of what society has become. `I feel like this was the start of what our lives were doing to be like this date and age. I would love to know how can we change this knowing that this is how our lives really are how can we correct the problem. Now that this has been bring to my attention I and so guilty of this. Going some where and wanting my service and food immediately. It's so sad that these types of assembly lines are still going on and the people working on them have to work so just like on the episode to keep things going at a non stop basis. They are trying to turn them into robots. In society if we don't get our food in less then five minutes we are argue and so very upset. From here on out I am going to try to act differently when it comes to mdonaldization with in thing in our society. Cupcake005
Just the fact that you are now aware of what goes on in the kitchen helps correct the problem and the next time your food is a little late, you will be kind and understanding. My son worked for McDonald's while in college and learned team work, being on time helped, communication with his boss helped by them working him around his class schedule and the money helped pay bills. The entry level job was a good experience and then he moved on to another job. We each have to find a job or career that fits our skills and personality. One does not have to be a robot in America. Be kind and live well cupcake! grandma005
I agree with how you felt about what are lives were going to be like. As we look back at how we used to dream of making more money to improve our way of life, our outlook on why we have become the “now” society that we live in today. I believe that we have always been more cognizant of our surroundings and what others were doing. How they seemed to have more than us and that we may have envied them for their ability to have more. In order to, perhaps, “fit in” with society we just joined in with the rest of society and went along with macdonaldization of society. Perhaps we didn’t mind waiting a minute or two longer, but we then became part of the problem, by causing others to have to wait for us rather than their food, or their turn, or any service that was expected with promptness. We have become a society that expects things now because we have forgotten how to be patient. We have forgotten how to be polite. Watching Lucille Ball as she started the process and realized that no matter how hard she tried to be a good employee, there was always someone who needed more. Seoulman005
This video shows a prime example of what our society was growing into way back when and is what our culture has become and grown to expect. The video is funny but on a serious note this is what happens in the real world on a daily basis we have people who have jobs that require them to keep up with production, and many of them do face situations that if productivity not met they're faced with displinary actions or loose their job. McDonaldlization can be very valid in certain situations but also can have a negative side for the simple fact if everything is to be very fast paced in the world once something doesn't happen the "way it should" such as a ten minute oil change takes twenty minutes intead, or a drive through order takes a whopping two minutes to get the order out to you instead of one minute you expected, you become increasingly upset and not taking the time to put yourself in that person shoes or even more importantly just be patient! Patience is a virtue! Leathas005
The humorous blog with Lucille Ball illustrates assembly line workers in a Formal Utilitarian Organization being given a task by a cold instrumental leader with little training or input. As we learned in Chapter 6, humor is a fun escape from reality and a good way to expose flaws in society. The two workers conform together to hide their mistakes so they don't lose their paying jobs. Then instead of complimenting the workers on a clean line, the boss increases the speed of the line for more efficiency resulting in more profits. Traditional employers that value workers are decreasing. Modern organizations "Mcdonaldize" using rational calculated efficiency at the workers expense and alienation. As Weber put it formal organizations breed alienation by reducing humans to "a small cog in a ceaselessly moving mechanism." The practice continues today. Two years ago my son left a high paying job because they expected all employees to be on call by their computers until midnight 6 nights a week without extra pay. 80% of the employees were from India and on work visa's so they never say no in fear of being fired and sent back to India. grandma005
This shows us a very good representation of rationalization and it shows us why the mcdonaldization of society today is so important. You see in the video there is absolutely no technology what so ever in try to put the candies into the plastic bags. That has all changed today. Humans don't eve do these jobs anymore because it all machines today. Its crazy to think that back in the day this was how things were made, by hand. Maybe people would look at things a little different if they saw how much better we have it today vs many years ago. I know I do. Maybe we could get kids to think about how they have it easier in todays world, and they should appreciate it. In life we get very angry when people don't give us our stuff within a matter of minutes but what we don't realize is that everyone has a job to do, and everyone is trying their best to perfect their job. Would we like it if people were constantly getting mad at us for not doing our jobs? I wouldn’t. So its kind of hard to ridicule someone when they don't hand you their things within a matter of minutes. Everyone has a job to do. PAWW005
This video is amusing and I have seen it several times in I Love Lucy and in other shows too. But I never really thought about it in this way. I did not really know that McDonaldization was an actual thing, but it is all around us. This clip shows how it is, not necessarily literally, in the work industry. Often we are expected to perform in ways that are not even possible. This clip really visualizes something that is a problem in society, although most people tend to look past this.
This TV Show, “I Love Lucy” shows how society is to this day. How people are forced to work at incredible speeds that could be close to impossible with little training. We live in a world where when we need either food or service, it has to be fast. Our world is ever changing when things have to get done NOW. Think about it, it isn’t a bad thing to us as the customers, but to employees it could be issues for several different reasons. People do have bad days and even weeks, where they can’t focus on the task at hand. Should they be punished for not going fast enough to catch up? Absolutely not, some people can’t go at a rapid speed due to these problems, or even focus on the task they are assigned. Some business doesn’t even provide the right form of training for these employees. So how will they be able to perform the task correctly at the right speed? Or if they even get training at all. This is the fear that people need to wake up and realize. That fast food places are fast but not every other business in the world can be like fast food places. TB005
I went to Galena last year. If you have not been there I highly recommend it. It is one of those places that have not conformed to total Mcdonaldlization that other cities have. They have shops owned by the same people who work, run, and manufacture the goods that they sell right there, in Galena. For example, there is a popcorn shop that is ran by this cute elderly couple and their family. It was the busiest shop there. Although the line encircle the store and out the door, I don't remember seeing one customer complain. It felt like we were in a totally different world. All the shops we went to seemed to be moving slowly but not in a bad way. Most products they sold were handmade, unique, and quality product. Reality came back as soon as we were heading home. We were in a hurry, had things to do, and couldn't afford to stop at a healthy sit down cafe' in town. We instead stoped at Culver's which sat right outside of the town. It didn't take long to see mcdonaldlization in its prime form. As much as we strive for efficiency, predictability and control, we are sacrificing a much more needed human experience. jimmys005
I am not sure just how metaphorical the scene from I Love Lucy was supposed to be, but assuming I am not overthinking it -- this is a brilliant metaphor. It is very ironic that we create things like convection ovens, conveyor belts, timers, and other automation centered devices specifically to enrich human life, but ultimately like most things we take it too far. At some point we become so efficient, predictable, calculable, and controlled that it hurts us as humans. After all, humans are not those things to that degree by nature, so we are forcing ourselves and others into positions that are very unnatural. We dehumanize and as the other video mentions, de-skill employees with these principles as we focus on quantity over quality. I believe this ultimately has a real negative impact on our mental and physical health as a population. McDonaldization leads to people become lethargic, apathetic, obese, diabetic, atherosclerotic, develop mental illness such as depression, among others. On the other hand, we've gotten a lot better at treating the life-style diseases caused by McDonaldization of society, but that is more of a gray lining than a silver one. I suppose the important question to ask here is whether or not this is good for humanity in a big picture kind of way. I think even though I've painted it in a negative light, in the end it is probably a good thing for us. Eventually we will need the degree of productivity and technology we've achieved largely as a result of our industrious ambitions to circumvent global changes and events that would otherwise have endangered or brought our species to extinction. That sounds dramatic, but it is the truth, and I think right now we are experiencing more stress about the cons of McDonaldization because we are in a rough transitional period. It is relatively new and we haven't found the best ways to adapt to it yet. In the future I suspect we will. Poet005
This video is pretty hilarious. Its also a good example of what some jobs are in this society. People come in to lead that are just strict and have a military style. Yet they have no real training at what they do. For example as i had learned in my corrections class. The warden or guards at a boot camp have no training at all. They have been in the military so automatically they think they can teach people how to behave. This is not right The two woman in the video are doing the job well so then it starts to speed up. Once people do jobs in today's society, companies always want to find a way to get more money in their pocket. They don't even stop to think if the workers are even able to keep up. The ladies have to keep their job so they have to do whatever they can to not let the chocolate pass. Yes, it was pretty funny to watch, however, it's not right. Industries these days do whatever is easiest to make a quick buck, rather than think about the people inside.Mustang005
Even though this was a comical clip, it still is a good interpretation of the Mcdonaldization as well as showing how irrational that it could be in society. I doubt that anyone every really realizes just how much this affects our lives. Most of us Americans find a job and either start off on the assembly or without realizing it turn what they do into an assembly or simple routine so they can be more proficient. But we are lucky that we can get an education before having to start such work, or we are allowed to be kids in our youth. We talked in class about the age differences in low-poverty societies in which most kids do not have the choice to go to school or work. I know however we didn’t cover on the issue of currency as all nations for the most part differ on the price of the dollar. If a kid in Laos gets paid $.50 an hour that could be like saying in that currency he makes minimum wage. I do know that 1 American dollar is worth roughly $1,200 in Iraq quite a difference in our values. Here in America you can buy a decent house as low as $160K in which in Peru the same house will cost about $40K. I’m not saying it’s a good idea for kids to work versus going to school they do it because they would rather have food in their bellies. My issue is towards corporate America that could pay such people better to get them out of their poverty situation but instead are filled with too much greed to want to help when they easily could do so. Maybe since companies go overseas to save money that they would normally spend on wages here in America. They could actually pay the workers over their more and actually give the people of these nations a chance to better their lives. Getting paid here $9 per hour minimum wage overseas $.50 per hour minimum wage. Companies are saving $8.50 per hour by out sourcing when even $1 per hour could make a large improvement in the lives over there. BHL005
This video is a perfect representation of what goes on today in society. We are thrown into a the world with slim to no experience what so ever and we are excepted to perform at high levels of achievement and we are allowed no mistakes. The world is a you either know it or you don't and you either get the job done or you don't there is no in between. This society has pushed people to be in such a hurry that they cant even slow down and be understand that in order to provide the best service possible there is going to be a potential wait time. Being that i have worked in fast food nothing about it is easy and most of the time they are understaffed so not only do you have multiple tasks but you are also overworked and trying to do your job and keep a smile on your face. There is a lot more that meets the eye when you come in contact with someone at a drive thru window. Society needs a wake up call anything you do in life is going to take time and proper training like being a doctor.MelaninQueen005
Basically all you can do in this type of work force is just smile and put up with people, because the only thing corporations care about is money, so they insured quality product is a check so all that's left is the employee. If they don't work up to company standards you are replaceable. Honeytea005
This video was very funny and was a perfect example for McDonald’s irrationality of rationalization. As a fast food employee myself I can relate to how the girls in that video felt. Customers that come to fast food restaurants gives you this unspoken rule that their food should be done in 2 minutes or less or they’ll start to complain. When logically that’s impossible because fries take 2 minutes to cook so imagine a burger. I have also caught myself thinking that way because that’s what society has put as an expectation. That orders at fast food places shouldn’t take 2 minutes or more. I then have to remind myself that I understand where the worker is coming from and why it actually takes time for them to get your order out. Then again not everyone has worked in fast food restaurants like me, so they wouldn’t immediately understand and would follow the expectations that society has put up for us today. In society today we have conditioned ourselves to live in a fast pace world. Which I particularly think Is bad because people would get accustomed to having things within a snap of their finger and not everything can be made or given out that fast. Food005
This video is amusing and I have seen it several times in I Love Lucy and in other shows too. But I never really thought about it in this way. I did not really know that McDonaldization was an actual thing, but it is all around us. This clip shows how it is, not necessarily literally, in the work industry. Often we are expected to perform in ways that are not even possible. This clip really visualizes something that is a problem in society, although most people tend to look past this. lucy005
In the I Love Lucy clip it shows two women working on a production. This is a good illustration of what Mcdonaldization is all about. Trying to be the most efficient and the most productive. The only issue with that is if you push the workers more and more they won’t be able to keep up. One person can only do so much work at one time. Corporate America is good at trying to do this. They try to push the employees to get the most out of them and sometimes push too far. If you can’t keep up with the work load or it’s too much for you they will let you go and find someone else they believe will handle the work load better. This video also shows how the lack of technology can affect efficiency. If there was technology in the video the workers wouldn’t be needed, robots could do twice as much work as humans, and the costs would be lower. This would make the production line run more efficient and be more productive. Mcdonaldization is good to a certain extent but once you push it too far it is more harmful on employees and society than helpful. Cardinals005.
The video shows how at first wrapping the candy was a simple task. Then it became hard to keep up with so in their mind they found a way to rationalize the fact that they couldnt keep up. So by stuffing the product in their mouth and shirt it made good since to them. I believe those are some of the small things that have shaped our culture today. Its kind of disturbing to know we as people do rationalize things and think that our irrational thinking make sense. The boss knew that they wouldnt be able to keep up with task but she pushed them into irrational behavior. mc12-005
This scene used satire in its entirety to get a very clear message across; not all that we think is rational really is rational. This scene is merely a microcosm for how our society works, and the creator wanted the viewer to see that maybe the way we operate as a whole isn’t the best or most efficient. This way of thinking can apply to multiple situations, whether it be a candy factory or a society as a whole. The two girls were in the scene represent the American people, with the boss lady representing the CEO’s of the large companies the USA has. At first, the girls do their job with a fear that they may lose it. After they feel as if their job isn’t as stressful as they thought, they continue with ease without any stress and become complacent. After this happens, the conveyor belt begins to move faster and there is more chocolate to wrap and they quickly become overwhelmed with their jobs and are forced to work harder in order to keep them. In fear of losing their jobs, they begin going to extreme measures just to stop the chocolate from passing through without being wrapped. They began eating it and stuffing it in their shirts, which obviously isn’t good for the business overall. This shows that our over-rationalizing is too much, and its counterproductive, to say the least. Puppies005
After viewing this video, I am able to come to a conclusion of several points that have been addressed such as: the overcapacity of high expectations, lack of team effort, and selfiness. To begin, I have seen this video before, and after watching it twice I’ve realized there are multiple reasons why an individual should watch something twice, at least. When first being exposed to something, an individual is allotted an era in which he or she can view something or someone. Whereas, when watching twice or more, an individual is able to analyze and dissect something or someone. After watching this video again, it was brought to my attention how franchises, such as Mcdonald’s, place multiple heightened expectations of their workers. This then can lead workers to become overwhelmed, stressed, and even depressed. I also noticed that the manager from this clip was not preparing her workers for the task they encountered, which also adds stress. This can influence workers to generate the following thought, “This is not what I signed up for.” From my personal experiences, I believe that if businesses expressed the reality of which potentially workers would encounter; not only would they earn more loyalty and respect from their workers, but they have a better chance of attracting individuals who can be passionate towards their work. Also, I noticed that the manager did not offer to assist to her workers, which is a lack of team effort. Acknowledging that everyone has tasks and goals to accomplish as their title varies is ideal, but we all know that we can achieve more when working together. Teamwork leads to enhanced relationships among coworkers and a family-like community within the workplace. Finally, just because you hold a higher position than others does not mean you have the right to overlook your employees. What people fail to realize is that we all had to start from somewhere. With that being said, put yourself in others shoes.a If you are struggling you would not like for people to just watch you struggle. You would want everyone to assist. If everyone considered these points, and more, work would been more enjoyable to everyone.
In the video it shows exactly what society is. We in society want fast, speedy and exact when we want anything. McDonaldization is true. This is what really happens in real life. I work for a fast food place, Subway, and people are the most impatient I have ever seen in my life. People will go through our drive thru and expect us to make them a sandwich from scratch in like 2 minutes. They just spit out the whole order and then want to drive off. I can’t make a whole sandwich in like 2 mins plus the drink and chips. The video literally shows today’s society in the flesh. Also the boss in the video is everyone’s boss in fast food. The boss forces the girls to work the right way in this extremely fast pace or get fired. The question is, who was working this fast before them? Because that is a very fast pace to do something. But the backwards thing is that I want my food fast and efficient. I want my food to be done without a long wait.
I agree with what you are saying. We do live in a fast-paced environment where if we don't have something in our hands to minutes later than we getting attitude about it. For example, if you are in McDonald's drive-through and you ordered a large french fry and you get up to the window and they told you that they were waiting for time for the fire so you had to pull forward. Your daughter is screaming in the backseat because she wants fries now but you can give her fries right that instant. 3 to 4 minutes later they come out with your fries and you didn't even say thank you because you were in a rush to get to your daughters dance class. It affects the way we interact with each other because if we just want to go go go, then we have no time to create social interaction with others . Rose005
In the video it shows exactly what society is. We in society want fast, speedy and exact when we want anything. McDonaldization is true. This is what really happens in real life. I work for a fast food place, Subway, and people are the most impatient I have ever seen in my life. People will go through our drive thru and expect us to make them a sandwich from scratch in like 2 minutes. They just spit out the whole order and then want to drive off. I can’t make a whole sandwich in like 2 mins plus the drink and chips. The video literally shows today’s society in the flesh. Also the boss in the video is everyone’s boss in fast food. The boss forces the girls to work the right way in this extremely fast pace or get fired. The question is, who was working this fast before them? Because that is a very fast pace to do something. But the backwards thing is that I want my food fast and efficient. I want my food to be done without a long wait. Dollar005
This clip is very amusing. But when you actually look at what is going on it makes you think. Even back in history they expected humans to do things that was hard or even impossible. So you can only expect that with today's growing technology what they want out of humans. Humans are forced and expected to do these activities that are hard to do. But they still put a strain on themselves and try to do it in order to keep thier jobs. We are always in fear that a "machine" can always do the job better because lets all face it. In a couples of decades computers and other machines will be more advance then we are. This also shows that in society we want everything to be fast and speedy. We are not to worried about how it is made or who even made it. But more concerned on how fast the product can be made and how good it works. Personality I believe that that this video represents almost every fast food restaurant in some sort of ways. There are also those few employees who can not keep up with the production of things and start to get overwhelmed. Some times this can compromise their work effort such has giving up speed for quality or even giving up quality for speed. Then we always have that boss who just yells and expects all of his or hers workers to perform all of these task in a timely manner. This often may lead to many employees quitting. This clip shows the growing problem in society. Because as the technology grows and comes more advanced, bosses and CEOs are gonna expect humans to grow with it. Which is almost impossible. Hawk005
That was such a funny clip but if you think about it in reality, so many mistakes. One being the touching of the hair and back on the candy. Another, putting the candy in the mouth. And even another being; spitting out the candy back into hand and touching fresh candy again. All of the mistakes being hazards, health violations and example of cross contamination in a way. I have work experience with fast food restraunts and if caught doing what they were, you'd be fired and may even lose you food handlers. Like mentioned by a few and even in chapter 6 of our soc book, humor is a way used to escape a little from reality but still demonstate the flaws or mistakes being made. In this clip, McDonaldization is present but how you wouldnt want to experience it. With efficiency, the chocolates had to be wrapped and finished in a certain amount of time and in that case, technically it was. With predicatability, each chocolate may not be the same, wrapped the same or taste the same. The girls are controlling how they look wrapped and with calculability, there are people who are reliable on buying and selling them.PurpleHearts005
I never seen this before and I have to say that it was pretty funny to watch. This all started as something simple just wrapping the candies in a bag. Then it got sped up and they had to rationalize how to make it work while still getting the job done. in our society we want things quick and fast I admit I get upset when I'm at mcdonalds and they tell me to pull forward like this is fast food for a reason but now I see the pressure that the workers can be under. I used to work fast food at mcdonalds and I know the stress they are under. so there is no reason why I for example should act like that. they are under a lot of stress and being pressured by your boss or customer doesn't make it better. -kyw005
The video somewhat presents the 4 stages of mcdonalalization. It's like expectation vs reality kind of thing. Society expect us to be uniform as of being squared away, but in the video the women were struggling to get the task done because the speed through which the converter belt was going. Since this was sometime ago, like the 50s, everything had to be done by hand, manually, so every product may be done a different way, unlike today at which we have machines and buttons to complete the task for us. Honeytea005
I've seen this gag before but not on this particular show. While it is numerous and creative, I feel as if there is a deeper meaning to it. It starts off as an easy process, and we all think it makes sense. Much like mcdonaldization, it makes sense at first and even seems to work upon initial review. Soon the candies start coming faster. Soon they start coming too fast for our two characters to keep up and wrap them up. They resort to stuffing their hats with them, taking them off the line, or just putting them in their mouth. This shows how mcdonaldization can quickly overwhelm us and become impractical. We may no longer receive what we expect to receive. Acer005
“I Love Lucy” has always been and will always be a very comedic show that does a good job at conveying societies issue but slightly sugarcoated (ba dum tis with the clip). There were a few comments on the topic about how we like our products fast and don’t want to wait, but something that I feel is over looked is the pressure that we put on the workers. Especially at fast food restaurants, as customers we can be very pushy and easily upset if we don’t get our product before we order. It’s no wonder so many people hate working fast food and say it’s the worst job they have ever had. We strain the workers so much because we forget that they’re human just like us. It’s an awful truth but some customers treat employees as if they aren’t even human. The mentality of laugh it off or cry is why those rude customers turn into dinner table conversations. I believe that our need for fast service has led to a disconnection in our society because we’ve forgotten to treat the workers like people- let alone equals. Spoopy005
This video was very funny i thought it was interesting how the conveyer belt began to get faster and faster and i feel as if i can relate this to life well. Life tends to go by very fast and we dont know what has hit us until we are behind and dont know what to do. (Such as them with the candy) I also think that it is interesting how we (the people) always want things done fast and never want to wait for anything, but is that really the efficient way. Yes we want things done fast but if it is not efficient then the timing of things does not matter anymore. I think the fact that everyone is always so worried about how things are done or how fast it takes someone to do something we forget about what really matters and that if we were put into the workers position we may not be able to do the same thing. This video shows how things can become overwhelming very easily and that sometimes we do need to take our time to put out the best work. bball005
This was a very funny video to watch, I really got the message though of what it was trying to say. Efficiency is Completing tasks in the most productive and proficient manner.Calculability: Being able to quantify the output; emphasizing quantity over quality Predictability is Ensuring that tasks, results, and products are the always the same.And Control is Replacing human efforts with non-human technology. these four things are what I saw in the video, it just was able to give me a more clear vision of what these four elements really were and how they really are used in today society and also how if we are not careful how damaging it can be to our society and the people around us. I just feel that we have to control how we view these four elements and also understand have to use and control them. -Annie2016
This video gave us an insight into the way we used to think and behave. Slow and steady, relaxed and concentrated, and completely unaware and totally unprepared for what was approaching us in our indirect futures. Lucille Ball showed us how many of us looked at our lives and were dissatisfied with our present situations and would look for the “easy or quick” way to make our lives better. The video gave us a chance to look at our life and realize that it was not the fact that we needed more to be happy, but that we saw others around us with more and we wanted that too. Looking at how the process began at a simple pace, making us feel like we were capable of accomplishing this easily, gave us that comfortable feeling. Then the process was intensified and began to get out of hand gave us an idea of how things can go awry and we lose control so quickly in life. As I was growing up I always wondered why others were so unhappy with what they had now and were always complaining about what they did NOT have. How they were always looking for the quicker and faster way to accumulate more unnecessary things. I enjoy having a good laugh, but I enjoy actually making people laugh even more and this video helped me cope with my situation and “lot” in life and to appreciate what I have been able to accomplish so far. The Irrationality of rationalization is that we as a society have become obsessed with bigger, faster, cheaper and more “bang for the buck” without considering the consequences. The rationality that our society faces problems, such as, obesity, complacency and many poor health issues stems from the “macdonaldization theory”, in that we want it now, conveniently, and without hassle. This was how the MacDonald brothers envisioned their customer’s desires for the quick meal at an inexpensive cost and without a long wait, wanting more and right now. Perhaps they also watched the same video. Seoulman005
This I Love Lucy show from the fifties was very funny and so hilarious and a very good presentation of the mcdonaldization irrationality of rationalization of what society has become. `I feel like this was the start of what our lives were doing to be like this date and age. I would love to know how can we change this knowing that this is how our lives really are how can we correct the problem. Now that this has been bring to my attention I and so guilty of this. Going some where and wanting my service and food immediately. It's so sad that these types of assembly lines are still going on and the people working on them have to work so just like on the episode to keep things going at a non stop basis. They are trying to turn them into robots. In society if we don't get our food in less then five minutes we are argue and so very upset. From here on out I am going to try to act differently when it comes to mdonaldization with in thing in our society. Cupcake005
ReplyDeleteJust the fact that you are now aware of what goes on in the kitchen helps correct the problem and the next time your food is a little late, you will be kind and understanding. My son worked for McDonald's while in college and learned team work, being on time helped, communication with his boss helped by them working him around his class schedule and the money helped pay bills. The entry level job was a good experience and then he moved on to another job. We each have to find a job or career that fits our skills and personality. One does not have to be a robot in America. Be kind and live well cupcake! grandma005
DeleteI agree with how you felt about what are lives were going to be like. As we look back at how we used to dream of making more money to improve our way of life, our outlook on why we have become the “now” society that we live in today. I believe that we have always been more cognizant of our surroundings and what others were doing. How they seemed to have more than us and that we may have envied them for their ability to have more. In order to, perhaps, “fit in” with society we just joined in with the rest of society and went along with macdonaldization of society. Perhaps we didn’t mind waiting a minute or two longer, but we then became part of the problem, by causing others to have to wait for us rather than their food, or their turn, or any service that was expected with promptness. We have become a society that expects things now because we have forgotten how to be patient. We have forgotten how to be polite. Watching Lucille Ball as she started the process and realized that no matter how hard she tried to be a good employee, there was always someone who needed more. Seoulman005
DeleteThis video shows a prime example of what our society was growing into way back when and is what our culture has become and grown to expect. The video is funny but on a serious note this is what happens in the real world on a daily basis we have people who have jobs that require them to keep up with production, and many of them do face situations that if productivity not met they're faced with displinary actions or loose their job. McDonaldlization can be very valid in certain situations but also can have a negative side for the simple fact if everything is to be very fast paced in the world once something doesn't happen the "way it should" such as a ten minute oil change takes twenty minutes intead, or a drive through order takes a whopping two minutes to get the order out to you instead of one minute you expected, you become increasingly upset and not taking the time to put yourself in that person shoes or even more importantly just be patient! Patience is a virtue! Leathas005
ReplyDeleteThe humorous blog with Lucille Ball illustrates assembly line workers in a Formal Utilitarian Organization being given a task by a cold instrumental leader with little training or input. As we learned in Chapter 6, humor is a fun escape from reality and a good way to expose flaws in society. The two workers conform together to hide their mistakes so they don't lose their paying jobs. Then instead of complimenting the workers on a clean line, the boss increases the speed of the line for more efficiency resulting in more profits. Traditional employers that value workers are decreasing. Modern organizations "Mcdonaldize" using rational calculated efficiency at the workers expense and alienation. As Weber put it formal organizations breed alienation by reducing humans to "a small cog in a ceaselessly moving mechanism." The practice continues today. Two years ago my son left a high paying job because they expected all employees to be on call by their computers until midnight 6 nights a week without extra pay. 80% of the employees were from India and on work visa's so they never say no in fear of being fired and sent back to India. grandma005
ReplyDeleteThis shows us a very good representation of rationalization and it shows us why the mcdonaldization of society today is so important. You see in the video there is absolutely no technology what so ever in try to put the candies into the plastic bags. That has all changed today. Humans don't eve do these jobs anymore because it all machines today. Its crazy to think that back in the day this was how things were made, by hand. Maybe people would look at things a little different if they saw how much better we have it today vs many years ago. I know I do. Maybe we could get kids to think about how they have it easier in todays world, and they should appreciate it. In life we get very angry when people don't give us our stuff within a matter of minutes but what we don't realize is that everyone has a job to do, and everyone is trying their best to perfect their job. Would we like it if people were constantly getting mad at us for not doing our jobs? I wouldn’t. So its kind of hard to ridicule someone when they don't hand you their things within a matter of minutes. Everyone has a job to do. PAWW005
ReplyDeleteThis video is amusing and I have seen it several times in I Love Lucy and in other shows too. But I never really thought about it in this way. I did not really know that McDonaldization was an actual thing, but it is all around us. This clip shows how it is, not necessarily literally, in the work industry. Often we are expected to perform in ways that are not even possible. This clip really visualizes something that is a problem in society, although most people tend to look past this.
ReplyDeleteThis TV Show, “I Love Lucy” shows how society is to this day. How people are forced to work at incredible speeds that could be close to impossible with little training. We live in a world where when we need either food or service, it has to be fast. Our world is ever changing when things have to get done NOW. Think about it, it isn’t a bad thing to us as the customers, but to employees it could be issues for several different reasons. People do have bad days and even weeks, where they can’t focus on the task at hand. Should they be punished for not going fast enough to catch up? Absolutely not, some people can’t go at a rapid speed due to these problems, or even focus on the task they are assigned. Some business doesn’t even provide the right form of training for these employees. So how will they be able to perform the task correctly at the right speed? Or if they even get training at all. This is the fear that people need to wake up and realize. That fast food places are fast but not every other business in the world can be like fast food places. TB005
ReplyDeleteI went to Galena last year. If you have not been there I highly recommend it. It is one of those places that have not conformed to total Mcdonaldlization that other cities have. They have shops owned by the same people who work, run, and manufacture the goods that they sell right there, in Galena. For example, there is a popcorn shop that is ran by this cute elderly couple and their family. It was the busiest shop there. Although the line encircle the store and out the door, I don't remember seeing one customer complain. It felt like we were in a totally different world. All the shops we went to seemed to be moving slowly but not in a bad way. Most products they sold were handmade, unique, and quality product.
ReplyDeleteReality came back as soon as we were heading home. We were in a hurry, had things to do, and couldn't afford to stop at a healthy sit down cafe' in town. We instead stoped at Culver's which sat right outside of the town. It didn't take long to see mcdonaldlization in its prime form. As much as we strive for efficiency, predictability and control, we are sacrificing a much more needed human experience. jimmys005
I am not sure just how metaphorical the scene from I Love Lucy was supposed to be, but assuming I am not overthinking it -- this is a brilliant metaphor. It is very ironic that we create things like convection ovens, conveyor belts, timers, and other automation centered devices specifically to enrich human life, but ultimately like most things we take it too far. At some point we become so efficient, predictable, calculable, and controlled that it hurts us as humans. After all, humans are not those things to that degree by nature, so we are forcing ourselves and others into positions that are very unnatural. We dehumanize and as the other video mentions, de-skill employees with these principles as we focus on quantity over quality. I believe this ultimately has a real negative impact on our mental and physical health as a population. McDonaldization leads to people become lethargic, apathetic, obese, diabetic, atherosclerotic, develop mental illness such as depression, among others. On the other hand, we've gotten a lot better at treating the life-style diseases caused by McDonaldization of society, but that is more of a gray lining than a silver one. I suppose the important question to ask here is whether or not this is good for humanity in a big picture kind of way. I think even though I've painted it in a negative light, in the end it is probably a good thing for us. Eventually we will need the degree of productivity and technology we've achieved largely as a result of our industrious ambitions to circumvent global changes and events that would otherwise have endangered or brought our species to extinction. That sounds dramatic, but it is the truth, and I think right now we are experiencing more stress about the cons of McDonaldization because we are in a rough transitional period. It is relatively new and we haven't found the best ways to adapt to it yet. In the future I suspect we will. Poet005
ReplyDeleteThis video is pretty hilarious. Its also a good example of what some jobs are in this society. People come in to lead that are just strict and have a military style. Yet they have no real training at what they do. For example as i had learned in my corrections class. The warden or guards at a boot camp have no training at all. They have been in the military so automatically they think they can teach people how to behave. This is not right The two woman in the video are doing the job well so then it starts to speed up. Once people do jobs in today's society, companies always want to find a way to get more money in their pocket. They don't even stop to think if the workers are even able to keep up. The ladies have to keep their job so they have to do whatever they can to not let the chocolate pass. Yes, it was pretty funny to watch, however, it's not right. Industries these days do whatever is easiest to make a quick buck, rather than think about the people inside.Mustang005
ReplyDeleteEven though this was a comical clip, it still is a good interpretation of the Mcdonaldization as well as showing how irrational that it could be in society. I doubt that anyone every really realizes just how much this affects our lives. Most of us Americans find a job and either start off on the assembly or without realizing it turn what they do into an assembly or simple routine so they can be more proficient. But we are lucky that we can get an education before having to start such work, or we are allowed to be kids in our youth. We talked in class about the age differences in low-poverty societies in which most kids do not have the choice to go to school or work. I know however we didn’t cover on the issue of currency as all nations for the most part differ on the price of the dollar. If a kid in Laos gets paid $.50 an hour that could be like saying in that currency he makes minimum wage. I do know that 1 American dollar is worth roughly $1,200 in Iraq quite a difference in our values. Here in America you can buy a decent house as low as $160K in which in Peru the same house will cost about $40K. I’m not saying it’s a good idea for kids to work versus going to school they do it because they would rather have food in their bellies. My issue is towards corporate America that could pay such people better to get them out of their poverty situation but instead are filled with too much greed to want to help when they easily could do so. Maybe since companies go overseas to save money that they would normally spend on wages here in America. They could actually pay the workers over their more and actually give the people of these nations a chance to better their lives. Getting paid here $9 per hour minimum wage overseas $.50 per hour minimum wage. Companies are saving $8.50 per hour by out sourcing when even $1 per hour could make a large improvement in the lives over there. BHL005
ReplyDeleteThis video is a perfect representation of what goes on today in society. We are thrown into a the world with slim to no experience what so ever and we are excepted to perform at high levels of achievement and we are allowed no mistakes. The world is a you either know it or you don't and you either get the job done or you don't there is no in between. This society has pushed people to be in such a hurry that they cant even slow down and be understand that in order to provide the best service possible there is going to be a potential wait time. Being that i have worked in fast food nothing about it is easy and most of the time they are understaffed so not only do you have multiple tasks but you are also overworked and trying to do your job and keep a smile on your face. There is a lot more that meets the eye when you come in contact with someone at a drive thru window. Society needs a wake up call anything you do in life is going to take time and proper training like being a doctor.MelaninQueen005
ReplyDeleteBasically all you can do in this type of work force is just smile and put up with people, because the only thing corporations care about is money, so they insured quality product is a check so all that's left is the employee. If they don't work up to company standards you are replaceable. Honeytea005
DeleteThis video was very funny and was a perfect example for McDonald’s irrationality of rationalization. As a fast food employee myself I can relate to how the girls in that video felt. Customers that come to fast food restaurants gives you this unspoken rule that their food should be done in 2 minutes or less or they’ll start to complain. When logically that’s impossible because fries take 2 minutes to cook so imagine a burger. I have also caught myself thinking that way because that’s what society has put as an expectation. That orders at fast food places shouldn’t take 2 minutes or more. I then have to remind myself that I understand where the worker is coming from and why it actually takes time for them to get your order out. Then again not everyone has worked in fast food restaurants like me, so they wouldn’t immediately understand and would follow the expectations that society has put up for us today. In society today we have conditioned ourselves to live in a fast pace world. Which I particularly think Is bad because people would get accustomed to having things within a snap of their finger and not everything can be made or given out that fast. Food005
ReplyDeleteThis video is amusing and I have seen it several times in I Love Lucy and in other shows too. But I never really thought about it in this way. I did not really know that McDonaldization was an actual thing, but it is all around us. This clip shows how it is, not necessarily literally, in the work industry. Often we are expected to perform in ways that are not even possible. This clip really visualizes something that is a problem in society, although most people tend to look past this. lucy005
ReplyDeleteIn the I Love Lucy clip it shows two women working on a production. This is a good illustration of what Mcdonaldization is all about. Trying to be the most efficient and the most productive. The only issue with that is if you push the workers more and more they won’t be able to keep up. One person can only do so much work at one time. Corporate America is good at trying to do this. They try to push the employees to get the most out of them and sometimes push too far. If you can’t keep up with the work load or it’s too much for you they will let you go and find someone else they believe will handle the work load better. This video also shows how the lack of technology can affect efficiency. If there was technology in the video the workers wouldn’t be needed, robots could do twice as much work as humans, and the costs would be lower. This would make the production line run more efficient and be more productive. Mcdonaldization is good to a certain extent but once you push it too far it is more harmful on employees and society than helpful. Cardinals005.
ReplyDeleteThe video shows how at first wrapping the candy was a simple task. Then it became hard to keep up with so in their mind they found a way to rationalize the fact that they couldnt keep up. So by stuffing the product in their mouth and shirt it made good since to them. I believe those are some of the small things that have shaped our culture today. Its kind of disturbing to know we as people do rationalize things and think that our irrational thinking make sense. The boss knew that they wouldnt be able to keep up with task but she pushed them into irrational behavior. mc12-005
ReplyDeleteThis scene used satire in its entirety to get a very clear message across; not all that we think is rational really is rational. This scene is merely a microcosm for how our society works, and the creator wanted the viewer to see that maybe the way we operate as a whole isn’t the best or most efficient. This way of thinking can apply to multiple situations, whether it be a candy factory or a society as a whole. The two girls were in the scene represent the American people, with the boss lady representing the CEO’s of the large companies the USA has. At first, the girls do their job with a fear that they may lose it. After they feel as if their job isn’t as stressful as they thought, they continue with ease without any stress and become complacent. After this happens, the conveyor belt begins to move faster and there is more chocolate to wrap and they quickly become overwhelmed with their jobs and are forced to work harder in order to keep them. In fear of losing their jobs, they begin going to extreme measures just to stop the chocolate from passing through without being wrapped. They began eating it and stuffing it in their shirts, which obviously isn’t good for the business overall. This shows that our over-rationalizing is too much, and its counterproductive, to say the least. Puppies005
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing this video, I am able to come to a conclusion of several points that have been addressed such as: the overcapacity of high expectations, lack of team effort, and selfiness. To begin, I have seen this video before, and after watching it twice I’ve realized there are multiple reasons why an individual should watch something twice, at least. When first being exposed to something, an individual is allotted an era in which he or she can view something or someone. Whereas, when watching twice or more, an individual is able to analyze and dissect something or someone. After watching this video again, it was brought to my attention how franchises, such as Mcdonald’s, place multiple heightened expectations of their workers. This then can lead workers to become overwhelmed, stressed, and even depressed. I also noticed that the manager from this clip was not preparing her workers for the task they encountered, which also adds stress. This can influence workers to generate the following thought, “This is not what I signed up for.” From my personal experiences, I believe that if businesses expressed the reality of which potentially workers would encounter; not only would they earn more loyalty and respect from their workers, but they have a better chance of attracting individuals who can be passionate towards their work. Also, I noticed that the manager did not offer to assist to her workers, which is a lack of team effort. Acknowledging that everyone has tasks and goals to accomplish as their title varies is ideal, but we all know that we can achieve more when working together. Teamwork leads to enhanced relationships among coworkers and a family-like community within the workplace. Finally, just because you hold a higher position than others does not mean you have the right to overlook your employees. What people fail to realize is that we all had to start from somewhere. With that being said, put yourself in others shoes.a If you are struggling you would not like for people to just watch you struggle. You would want everyone to assist. If everyone considered these points, and more, work would been more enjoyable to everyone.
ReplyDeleteS&D005
In the video it shows exactly what society is. We in society want fast, speedy and exact when we want anything. McDonaldization is true. This is what really happens in real life. I work for a fast food place, Subway, and people are the most impatient I have ever seen in my life. People will go through our drive thru and expect us to make them a sandwich from scratch in like 2 minutes. They just spit out the whole order and then want to drive off. I can’t make a whole sandwich in like 2 mins plus the drink and chips. The video literally shows today’s society in the flesh. Also the boss in the video is everyone’s boss in fast food. The boss forces the girls to work the right way in this extremely fast pace or get fired. The question is, who was working this fast before them? Because that is a very fast pace to do something. But the backwards thing is that I want my food fast and efficient. I want my food to be done without a long wait.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying. We do live in a fast-paced environment where if we don't have something in our hands to minutes later than we getting attitude about it. For example, if you are in McDonald's drive-through and you ordered a large french fry and you get up to the window and they told you that they were waiting for time for the fire so you had to pull forward. Your daughter is screaming in the backseat because she wants fries now but you can give her fries right that instant. 3 to 4 minutes later they come out with your fries and you didn't even say thank you because you were in a rush to get to your daughters dance class. It affects the way we interact with each other because if we just want to go go go, then we have no time to create social interaction with others . Rose005
DeleteIn the video it shows exactly what society is. We in society want fast, speedy and exact when we want anything. McDonaldization is true. This is what really happens in real life. I work for a fast food place, Subway, and people are the most impatient I have ever seen in my life. People will go through our drive thru and expect us to make them a sandwich from scratch in like 2 minutes. They just spit out the whole order and then want to drive off. I can’t make a whole sandwich in like 2 mins plus the drink and chips. The video literally shows today’s society in the flesh. Also the boss in the video is everyone’s boss in fast food. The boss forces the girls to work the right way in this extremely fast pace or get fired. The question is, who was working this fast before them? Because that is a very fast pace to do something. But the backwards thing is that I want my food fast and efficient. I want my food to be done without a long wait. Dollar005
ReplyDeleteThis clip is very amusing. But when you actually look at what is going on it makes you think. Even back in history they expected humans to do things that was hard or even impossible. So you can only expect that with today's growing technology what they want out of humans. Humans are forced and expected to do these activities that are hard to do. But they still put a strain on themselves and try to do it in order to keep thier jobs. We are always in fear that a "machine" can always do the job better because lets all face it. In a couples of decades computers and other machines will be more advance then we are. This also shows that in society we want everything to be fast and speedy. We are not to worried about how it is made or who even made it. But more concerned on how fast the product can be made and how good it works. Personality I believe that that this video represents almost every fast food restaurant in some sort of ways. There are also those few employees who can not keep up with the production of things and start to get overwhelmed. Some times this can compromise their work effort such has giving up speed for quality or even giving up quality for speed. Then we always have that boss who just yells and expects all of his or hers workers to perform all of these task in a timely manner. This often may lead to many employees quitting. This clip shows the growing problem in society. Because as the technology grows and comes more advanced, bosses and CEOs are gonna expect humans to grow with it. Which is almost impossible. Hawk005
ReplyDeleteThat was such a funny clip but if you think about it in reality, so many mistakes. One being the touching of the hair and back on the candy. Another, putting the candy in the mouth. And even another being; spitting out the candy back into hand and touching fresh candy again. All of the mistakes being hazards, health violations and example of cross contamination in a way. I have work experience with fast food restraunts and if caught doing what they were, you'd be fired and may even lose you food handlers. Like mentioned by a few and even in chapter 6 of our soc book, humor is a way used to escape a little from reality but still demonstate the flaws or mistakes being made. In this clip, McDonaldization is present but how you wouldnt want to experience it. With efficiency, the chocolates had to be wrapped and finished in a certain amount of time and in that case, technically it was. With predicatability, each chocolate may not be the same, wrapped the same or taste the same. The girls are controlling how they look wrapped and with calculability, there are people who are reliable on buying and selling them.PurpleHearts005
ReplyDeleteI never seen this before and I have to say that it was pretty funny to watch. This all started as something simple just wrapping the candies in a bag. Then it got sped up and they had to rationalize how to make it work while still getting the job done. in our society we want things quick and fast I admit I get upset when I'm at mcdonalds and they tell me to pull forward like this is fast food for a reason but now I see the pressure that the workers can be under. I used to work fast food at mcdonalds and I know the stress they are under. so there is no reason why I for example should act like that. they are under a lot of stress and being pressured by your boss or customer doesn't make it better.
ReplyDelete-kyw005
The video somewhat presents the 4 stages of mcdonalalization. It's like expectation vs reality kind of thing. Society expect us to be uniform as of being squared away, but in the video the women were struggling to get the task done because the speed through which the converter belt was going. Since this was sometime ago, like the 50s, everything had to be done by hand, manually, so every product may be done a different way, unlike today at which we have machines and buttons to complete the task for us. Honeytea005
ReplyDeleteI've seen this gag before but not on this particular show. While it is numerous and creative, I feel as if there is a deeper meaning to it. It starts off as an easy process, and we all think it makes sense. Much like mcdonaldization, it makes sense at first and even seems to work upon initial review. Soon the candies start coming faster. Soon they start coming too fast for our two characters to keep up and wrap them up. They resort to stuffing their hats with them, taking them off the line, or just putting them in their mouth. This shows how mcdonaldization can quickly overwhelm us and become impractical. We may no longer receive what we expect to receive. Acer005
ReplyDelete“I Love Lucy” has always been and will always be a very comedic show that does a good job at conveying societies issue but slightly sugarcoated (ba dum tis with the clip). There were a few comments on the topic about how we like our products fast and don’t want to wait, but something that I feel is over looked is the pressure that we put on the workers. Especially at fast food restaurants, as customers we can be very pushy and easily upset if we don’t get our product before we order. It’s no wonder so many people hate working fast food and say it’s the worst job they have ever had. We strain the workers so much because we forget that they’re human just like us. It’s an awful truth but some customers treat employees as if they aren’t even human. The mentality of laugh it off or cry is why those rude customers turn into dinner table conversations. I believe that our need for fast service has led to a disconnection in our society because we’ve forgotten to treat the workers like people- let alone equals. Spoopy005
ReplyDeleteThis video was very funny i thought it was interesting how the conveyer belt began to get faster and faster and i feel as if i can relate this to life well. Life tends to go by very fast and we dont know what has hit us until we are behind and dont know what to do. (Such as them with the candy) I also think that it is interesting how we (the people) always want things done fast and never want to wait for anything, but is that really the efficient way. Yes we want things done fast but if it is not efficient then the timing of things does not matter anymore. I think the fact that everyone is always so worried about how things are done or how fast it takes someone to do something we forget about what really matters and that if we were put into the workers position we may not be able to do the same thing. This video shows how things can become overwhelming very easily and that sometimes we do need to take our time to put out the best work. bball005
ReplyDeleteThis was a very funny video to watch, I really got the message though of what it was trying to say. Efficiency is Completing tasks in the most productive and proficient manner.Calculability: Being able to quantify the output; emphasizing quantity over quality
ReplyDeletePredictability is Ensuring that tasks, results, and products are the always the same.And Control is Replacing human efforts with non-human technology. these four things are what I saw in the video, it just was able to give me a more clear vision of what these four elements really were and how they really are used in today society and also how if we are not careful how damaging it can be to our society and the people around us. I just feel that we have to control how we view these four elements and also understand have to use and control them. -Annie2016
This video gave us an insight into the way we used to think and behave. Slow and steady, relaxed and concentrated, and completely unaware and totally unprepared for what was approaching us in our indirect futures. Lucille Ball showed us how many of us looked at our lives and were dissatisfied with our present situations and would look for the “easy or quick” way to make our lives better. The video gave us a chance to look at our life and realize that it was not the fact that we needed more to be happy, but that we saw others around us with more and we wanted that too. Looking at how the process began at a simple pace, making us feel like we were capable of accomplishing this easily, gave us that comfortable feeling. Then the process was intensified and began to get out of hand gave us an idea of how things can go awry and we lose control so quickly in life. As I was growing up I always wondered why others were so unhappy with what they had now and were always complaining about what they did NOT have. How they were always looking for the quicker and faster way to accumulate more unnecessary things. I enjoy having a good laugh, but I enjoy actually making people laugh even more and this video helped me cope with my situation and “lot” in life and to appreciate what I have been able to accomplish so far. The Irrationality of rationalization is that we as a society have become obsessed with bigger, faster, cheaper and more “bang for the buck” without considering the consequences. The rationality that our society faces problems, such as, obesity, complacency and many poor health issues stems from the “macdonaldization theory”, in that we want it now, conveniently, and without hassle. This was how the MacDonald brothers envisioned their customer’s desires for the quick meal at an inexpensive cost and without a long wait, wanting more and right now. Perhaps they also watched the same video. Seoulman005
ReplyDelete