Christmas at McDonald’s

Which would be more depressing: eating at McDonald’s on Christmas Day, or working at McDonald’s on Christmas Day?

If I were a Marxist, I’d say the latter.  If I were a libertarian defender of the Lochner decision, such as the author of this pretty-good and definitely interesting book , I’d say the former.

But you know,  I think the former is the more depressing and degrading option no matter what.  Even if I knew that every worker was exploited to the max, or even if I knew that every worker was  one of those eager-to-work-more-than-the-average-Joe ones that Lochner-defenders want us to respect, I still think eating at McDonald’s on Christmas is lower than low.  (And, it would come with that iffy after-taste and sluggish feeling.)

Or how about being the McDonald’s executive who felt the numbers made him duty-bound to push the franchises to remain open this Christmas Day? Let’s assume the story about an internal McDonald’s memo is accurate(I am a wee bit suspicious about it).  I could tell you the guy’s name, the name that, if the story catches on, might get tagged as that of the modern-day Scrooge, but essentially he and his action are nameless ones.

Whether he gets publicly vilified or not, being that guy might be the most depressing option of all.