‘I literally only wanted the extra dollar’: McDonald’s manager reveals what it’s really like to be in charge
Just because you’ve got a title doesn’t always mean you know what you’re doing. A recent viral TikTok reveals just how common that feeling is.
Creator and McDonald’s manager @jaleahh.elizabethh posted a video that had viewers flocking to the comments in agreement. The video has 2.5 million views and almost 510,000 likes.
Viewers saw themselves in the creator’s situation.
The text overlay on the video reads, “When someone asks me a question bc I’m a manager but I literally only wanted the extra dollar.” Seen standing in the store, @jaleahh.elizabethh lip syncs to audio originally from comedian and podcaster Theo Von: “Um, I don’t know what I’m talking about, and I never have, I never really have.”
“No fr like I’m just tryna pay my rent plus they never fully trained me so I’m trying my best,” one comment read.
“Fr like I'm only manager bc of they money not bc I gaf,” another person wrote. The creator replied, “Exactly like I could give a flying f___ what they do just get that close done.”
“The extra dollar thing is so true, people think I’m making so much money and I’m really not,” a comment read.
And one viewer added: “‘You’ve got the personality and skills and the last one just left so you’re in’ I don’t know what I’m doing.” The creator replied, “Fake it to you make it babyyy.”
There were other reasons besides money for taking a promotion without the passion.
One person commented, “me but i just wanted keys and manager numbers … i was tired of always calling em over when i needed something said i’ll do the job myself.”
“I became a manager at McDonald’s simply bc I didn’t want to have to wear a visor or apron,” one person commented.
Another person commented, “i became a manager bc our managers were making me do their job anyways bc they weren’t capable.”
“Me but they made me a shift lead without any of the proper training just because they needed more shift leads so I’m literally just a crewmember in disguise,” someone commented.
“I just wanted the lanyard,” someone wrote.
Sometimes, managers even have a little amnesia on the job: “Me forgetting I’m a manager when a customer asks me can I speak to your manager I’m like ok I’ll go get them,” another comment read.
Another person added, “no literally and there was no extra training, i just showed up one day and they assumed i had all the knowledge.”
“I work at a hotel and a customer asked if we have safes in the rooms and I was like ‘that’s a great question I have no idea,’” a viewer wrote.
“I work for a small business and was forced into management. the raise was nice but it was never an aspiration. I don't care to be a dictator over people. I just wanted to be a peon bro,” another viewer commented.
According to Glassdoor, the average McDonald's full-time store manager can make anywhere between $47,000-$71,000 a year. According to Indeed, in the Daily Dot's hometown of Austin, Texas, the average hourly manager makes $16.72.
There’s hope, though, according to one commenter: “Used to feel like that as a manager but slowly you realize it’s mostly autopilot and comes naturally to you so you don’t realize it.”
@jaleahh.elizabethh We wing shit around here partner????
♬ original sound - Theo Von
“Convinced none of us managers really know what we’re doing we just know how to act,” one viewer summed it up.
The Daily Dot reached out to @jaleahh.elizabethh via TikTok and McDonald’s via email.
The difficulties of being the boss are a popular topic on TikTok. Last month, an Australia-based McDonald’s manager also went viral for sharing a day in her life working her location’s opening shift. And in January, another person working as a manager reminded people that creating a schedule can be hell.
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