Today in class, we discussed the theory of McDonalization, which is a process where society is increasingly run like a fast food restaurant. While the professor was explaining the four dimensions of this concept, I could not help but notice how the processes relate to my everyday life and family structure. The first dimension, efficiency, is the optimum method of completing a task. My family is heavily reliant on schedules, and everyone planning their week in advance. We like to know what everyone is doing for us to decide when is the best time for us to gather as a family and what is the best activity we can during that time span. With my schedule, I plan when I should complete my homework, extra curricular activities and miscellaneous errands without it interfering with my family activities.
The second dimension is calculation. This is an assessment of outcomes based on quantifiable rather than subjective criteria. With my example, we “calculate” the best time for us to spend time as a family after everyone has informed our parents with our schedule for that week. We usually spend every dinner together during weekdays and dedicate our entire Friday to our family. This step is essential as it decides what time we should all gather together and how much time we have available. This will determine whether we’ll be staying at home, going out to a restaurant, or watching a movie at the cinema.
The third dimension is predictability, which is the production process organized to guarantee uniformity of product and standardized outcomes. This relates to my family structure as every week, we are able predict that we will gather during dinner, as well a lunch on Friday. Also, when our schedule is complete, we can predict what to expect for that week and hopefully assume a certain outcome.
The last dimension is control. This is the substitution of more predictable non-human labour for the human labour, either through automation or the de-skilling of the workforce. One of the main reasons my family and I are able to spend a lot of time with one another is because of our smartphones. We are able to send messages to our parents informing them with our schedule for that week and thus they are able to tell us immediately what activities they have planned.
Personally, I prefer having a formula set up on how one should behave as it brings a certain standard of efficiency to one’s life. With this schedule, I am able to complete all of my tasks and spend a lot of time with my family and friends as well. Every day is productive and effectual.
Here are some photos of three past family activities that we have completed at home (All photos taken with my Iphone camera):
- Movie night
-Outdoor gathering when the weather is nice
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