Justin Cale was still in high school when family problems pushed him out of his mother’s home and into a government-run group home for boys. A job at McDonald’s helped him cover the expenses of semi-independent living, and even allowed him to contribute small household necessities — “the fine china,” he joked, recalling what the boys called plastic utensils.
At McDonald’s, Cale learned the choreography of fast food: taking orders through a headset, making drinks, cooking fries, handing food through the window, all while a screen tracked the restaurant’s performance against every other McDonald’s location in the area. He liked his first store, in part because he had a manager he respected — someone who treated his staff with respect, too, praising employees for good work and offering support through tough shifts. Cale felt he was “building connections and experience, developing yourself.”
“The work itself is kind of sh—ty,” he said in an interview. “But good people can make it better.”
But once Cale moved to another McDonald’s location, things changed.
