For my McDonaldization exercise I tried to think of something in my life that I came across everyday that had the characteristics of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control talked about in George Ritter’s writing. I immediately thought of the CATA bus that I ride everyday to get around campus. Each different bus has a predetermined route with specific stops. If you need to get off, there is a chord you pull to signal to to the bus driver to stop at the next stop. I decided to try to make this experience more interactive and individualistic by asking a bus driver to drop me off at a specific building (one not on the predetermined route), similar to a taxi service.
I got on the CATA on a cold rainy Thursday and asked nervously the bus driver if he could drop me off at the library. He looked at me with a confused expression and said, “Mam this bus doesn’t go to the library.” I then said, “I know, but its cold and rainy out so is there anyway you could drop me off there.” He chuckled a bit and said, “No sorry you’ll have to just get off at the closest stop.” I decided not to push my luck any further and went to go sit down. I had already felt so rude for asking. I was surprised by the politeness of the bus driver, but not surprised that my demands couldn’t be met. The CATA is a very calculated system. I am sure it is against policy to stop anywhere but stops. Some students heard me asking and stared. Maybe they thought I was a confused freshman or a brat. Either way, no one said anything to me.
This may not seem like the craziest way to break McDonaldization. But for me, it was really hard. I hate feeling like I am annoying as a costumer. I figured asking would be a good way to break McDonadlization, because by dropping me off at a specific spot the bus driver would have to break the predictability of a predetermined route. This would also cause a lack in efficiency for other riders. It would break the control the CATA has over its employee to go to specific spots at specific times. Lastly, by asking it made my experience more human and interactive, which is exactly what McDonaldization is moving away from.
George Ritter’s reading made McDonaldization sound scary and robot-like. However, I think it is important to note that not all forms of it our bad. Things like our transportation systems can be greatly benefited from it. Bussing allows some students to not have cars. It is also better for the environment then everyone driving separately. If McDonaldization wasn’t applied to this system it wouldn’t be efficient enough to actually use. The CATA bus wouldn’t work if everyone used it as a taxi.
I got on the CATA on a cold rainy Thursday and asked nervously the bus driver if he could drop me off at the library. He looked at me with a confused expression and said, “Mam this bus doesn’t go to the library.” I then said, “I know, but its cold and rainy out so is there anyway you could drop me off there.” He chuckled a bit and said, “No sorry you’ll have to just get off at the closest stop.” I decided not to push my luck any further and went to go sit down. I had already felt so rude for asking. I was surprised by the politeness of the bus driver, but not surprised that my demands couldn’t be met. The CATA is a very calculated system. I am sure it is against policy to stop anywhere but stops. Some students heard me asking and stared. Maybe they thought I was a confused freshman or a brat. Either way, no one said anything to me.
This may not seem like the craziest way to break McDonaldization. But for me, it was really hard. I hate feeling like I am annoying as a costumer. I figured asking would be a good way to break McDonadlization, because by dropping me off at a specific spot the bus driver would have to break the predictability of a predetermined route. This would also cause a lack in efficiency for other riders. It would break the control the CATA has over its employee to go to specific spots at specific times. Lastly, by asking it made my experience more human and interactive, which is exactly what McDonaldization is moving away from.
George Ritter’s reading made McDonaldization sound scary and robot-like. However, I think it is important to note that not all forms of it our bad. Things like our transportation systems can be greatly benefited from it. Bussing allows some students to not have cars. It is also better for the environment then everyone driving separately. If McDonaldization wasn’t applied to this system it wouldn’t be efficient enough to actually use. The CATA bus wouldn’t work if everyone used it as a taxi.