In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser investigates the working conditions in both the fast food restaurant and the modern slaughterhouse, which supply fast food as their main customer for ground beef. In chapter three, "Behind the Counter", Schlosser talks mainly about the working experiences of employees at Mc Donald's. Majority of the workers are teens, elderly, or immigrants willing to work for a low wage and require little experience. In chapter eight, "The Most Dangerous Job", he investigates the slaughterhouse. Schlosser goes into detail about how the meatpacking industry has become the most dangerous job in America.
About two-thirds of the nations fast food workers are under the age of twenty. Since the fast food industry seeks to find unskilled part-time workers that are willing to work for minimum wage, teenagers are their first choice. Their young inexperienced minds makes it easier to control and they're less expensive to hire than adults. Schlosser interviewed many teens that stated they enjoyed working at fast food restaurants. They enjoyed making money, getting away from school and home, hanging out with friends at work, and goofing off in the kitchen. As much fun as that sounds, the adolescents still have to deal with the rude, demanding customers and long, tiring shifts. According to the Fair Labor Act, the employment of kids under the age of sixteen are prohibited to work more than three hours on a school day, or later than seven o'clock. Some of the teens interviewed by Schlosser claimed that they've worked until two, sometimes three in the morning. Working these long hours causes problems like neglecting their homework, being exhausted in class, fewer participants in sports, dropping out of school, and industries. Common injuries include slips, falls, strains, and burns.
In the beginning of "The Most Dangerous Job" Schlosser takes a tour of the slaughterhouse, feeling sick and disgusted, he was determined to get through the whole...