McDonald's has been absorbed into the taste buds of global culture like grease into America's favorite fries. The familiar golden arches symbolize the love-hate relationship the public has with the most recognizable icon of fast-food imperialism.
The ubiquitous "Mc-" prefix that shows up in front of most menu items has become a common colloquial icon, tacked on to words describing anything that is cheap, clogs arteries or symbolizes the cultural bankruptcy of commercial America.
Apparently, the folks at McDonald's aren't keen on this habit.
So the corporation had a major beef with Merriam-Webster when "McJob" was added to the latest edition of the collegiate dictionary in June, and defined it as: "low-paying and dead-end work."
McDonald's CEO sent a letter to M-W, saying it was "a slap in the face" to many restaurant workers, especially those who serve up happy meals.
The State Press agrees.
While "McJob" is an amusing stereotype, formalizing it on the "M" page of the dictionary undercuts a lot of really positive things that McDonald's has done with its hamburger kingdom.
Fortune 500 magazine named the corporation Best Company for Minorities in 2003, and McDonald's consistently has won other awards for disabilities employment and diversity training.
We at The State Press think that Mr. Webster & Co. should have taken a closer look at the service industry in corporate America before dubbing dead-end work a "McJob" - in fact, we think "Wal-Job" rings a lot truer.
Wal-Mart, which has been in headlines recently for its shoddy treatment of employees, is much more deserving of such a derogatory definition.
Awareness is growing about Wal-Mart's ruthless anti-unionization tactics, poverty-level pay scale and untenable employee health benefits, whose huge co-pays and premiums allow only 38 percent of the 1.1 million U.S. Wal-Mart employees to participate.
There are currently 6,600 active lawsuits against the low-priced monolith.
Wal-Mart, with $245 billion in sales in 2002, has no excuse not to treat employees with more decency and fairness.
McDonald's, whose annual sales approach a relatively modest $40.6 billion, contributes greatly to social causes, including its bedrock Ronald McDonald House charity organization. Just last week, the matron of McDonald's, Joan Kroc, bequeathed $200 million of her inheritance to nonprofit National Public Radio.
In a just and diversified workforce, no job is a "dead-end."
While McDonald's may not be glamorous, the truth remains: A "McJob" is still a job.
And that's the important thing.
