5 ms·

He seems like an awesome guy. Well-deserved success! I do wonder whether the title of the article accidentally (and ironically) reveals a subtle racial bias.

He seems like an awesome guy. Well-deserved success! I do wonder whether the title of the article accidentally (and ironically) reveals a subtle racial bias. McDonald's is a typical shorthand for a lowly job, staffed by the nation's underclass. But tons of successful people in tech flipped burgers in high school (I did!) and it's never worth highlighting in press articles. Their public story usually starts at college or their first job or their first big break. But this article specifically highlights a traditionally menial position as his starting point. Unconscious bias?

908B64B197 6y ago
It's more clickbaity for sure.
kelseyhightower 6y ago
I could not fit the entire title "From McDonald's to Google: How Kelsey Hightower became one of the most respected people in cloud computing" when submitting the post.
- khazhoux 6y ago
  Hi Kelsey! I hope my comment didn't offend or in any way take away from this excellent exposure.
  - kelseyhightower 6y ago
    Not at all! I read it as an honest question so I answered it.
socratees 6y ago
Well-deserved success, and very inspirational!
nemo44x 6y ago
And there’s no shame in “flipping burgers” to be sure. Anyone who takes the personal responsibility to earn a living has earned respect.
- nickff 6y ago
  I've been involved in hiring engineers, and see previous employment 'flipping burgers' as a massive plus. It shows someone is willing to work hard when they need to.
  - Tade0 6y ago
    I worked with a QA who used to be a cook. He was unstoppable.
  - giantDinosaur 6y ago
    I'm not sure if that says more about the workers or your requirements. By 'work hard' you can only mean 'performing hours of tedious unthinking labour' if you're saying 'flipping burgers' is relevant and necessary to 'working hard'. The qualities just don't seem to match up for a job that requires real, rigorous, logical thinking, except for selecting out anyone incapable of the bare minimum effort to sort of just survive in the workplace. That's fair, but doesn't really map to what I commonly see which is a lot of wasted potential being consumed by menial labour because 'just doing it' is seen as more important than developing genuinely useful new approaches.
    - nickff 6y ago
      This comment reflects a pretentious disdain that is exactly what I dislike. I have worked menial and frustrating jobs, and you learn a lot by working through tough situations. I’ve also absorbed similar lessons from sailing offshore in difficult conditions.
      - giantDinosaur 6y ago
        Sailing offshore in difficult conditions sounds much more interesting and skillful than any amount of entry-level hospitality. Anyway, of course I have no 'disdain' for working menial jobs - I have worked in them too, I just don't really view them as anything particularly positive, and certainly for me they were formative only insofar as they provided major motivations for completing my degree so I could escape them.
syspec 6y ago
Completely agree. > He began working at McDonald's, earning $4.15 an hour working nearly 40 hours a week, mostly on the weekends. He was quickly promoted to shift manager at the age of 16, > He enrolled in certification classes sponsored by CompTIA to get his A+ certification, which led to a job as a DSL installation technician for Bell South at the age of 19. So he worked at McDonalds for 3 years in high school, what does that have to do with anything.
- breakfastduck 6y ago
  Because it shows all those teenagers who are working at McDonalds in high school who feel hopeless that they can go so much further. What's wrong with a bit of inspiration / hope? I'm (possibly wrongly) assuming you've never had to work through that shit.
- kelseyhightower 6y ago
  McDonald's was my starting point. It's where I developed much of my work ethic and my first taste of leadership in a professional setting. I was a shift manager for most of that time and remember learning about the restaurant business, food cost, working with customers, and managing people. A lot of stuff did not make the article but who I am today was greatly influenced by that job. I chipped in on the bills, bought my own school clothes, and my first car (1987 Jeep Cherokee), thanks to that job, so for me it was very foundational.
  - dangerboysteve 6y ago
    If you have time to lean you have time to clean!
    - Danieru 6y ago
      Oh wow that saying brings back memories. All this time I thought my store manager had invented it. McDonalds for me was pretty fun. At the time I could well see how the ease of promotion trapped some people. If you had any motivation at all you'd soon find yourself running a night shift. Even now, a decade later, I get nightmeres where I'm back working there. Nothing feels longer than an 8 hour shift at McDonalds.
waihtis 6y ago
No, it's just a manifestation of the rags to riches-trope. Please don't bring this "aggressively looking for things to crucify people with"-culture onto HN.
- mssundaram 6y ago
  It's been here for a long time, just in a different form
equality_1138 6y ago
Wow, that's a huge stretch. I read the reference to McDonald's only as a job where significant numbers of teenagers first learn about team management and cost/quality optimization. It's not merely "flipping burgers" but more generally the McDonald's program and a strong corporate work ethic.

908B64B197 6y ago

It's more clickbaity for sure.

kelseyhightower 6y ago

I could not fit the entire title "From McDonald's to Google: How Kelsey Hightower became one of the most respected people in cloud computing" when submitting the post.

khazhoux 6y ago
Hi Kelsey! I hope my comment didn't offend or in any way take away from this excellent exposure.
- kelseyhightower 6y ago
  Not at all! I read it as an honest question so I answered it.

socratees 6y ago

Well-deserved success, and very inspirational!

nemo44x 6y ago

And there’s no shame in “flipping burgers” to be sure. Anyone who takes the personal responsibility to earn a living has earned respect.

nickff 6y ago
I've been involved in hiring engineers, and see previous employment 'flipping burgers' as a massive plus. It shows someone is willing to work hard when they need to.
- Tade0 6y ago
  I worked with a QA who used to be a cook. He was unstoppable.
- giantDinosaur 6y ago
  I'm not sure if that says more about the workers or your requirements. By 'work hard' you can only mean 'performing hours of tedious unthinking labour' if you're saying 'flipping burgers' is relevant and necessary to 'working hard'. The qualities just don't seem to match up for a job that requires real, rigorous, logical thinking, except for selecting out anyone incapable of the bare minimum effort to sort of just survive in the workplace. That's fair, but doesn't really map to what I commonly see which is a lot of wasted potential being consumed by menial labour because 'just doing it' is seen as more important than developing genuinely useful new approaches.
  - nickff 6y ago
    This comment reflects a pretentious disdain that is exactly what I dislike. I have worked menial and frustrating jobs, and you learn a lot by working through tough situations. I’ve also absorbed similar lessons from sailing offshore in difficult conditions.
    - giantDinosaur 6y ago
      Sailing offshore in difficult conditions sounds much more interesting and skillful than any amount of entry-level hospitality. Anyway, of course I have no 'disdain' for working menial jobs - I have worked in them too, I just don't really view them as anything particularly positive, and certainly for me they were formative only insofar as they provided major motivations for completing my degree so I could escape them.

syspec 6y ago

Completely agree. > He began working at McDonald's, earning $4.15 an hour working nearly 40 hours a week, mostly on the weekends. He was quickly promoted to shift manager at the age of 16, > He enrolled in certification classes sponsored by CompTIA to get his A+ certification, which led to a job as a DSL installation technician for Bell South at the age of 19. So he worked at McDonalds for 3 years in high school, what does that have to do with anything.

breakfastduck 6y ago
Because it shows all those teenagers who are working at McDonalds in high school who feel hopeless that they can go so much further. What's wrong with a bit of inspiration / hope? I'm (possibly wrongly) assuming you've never had to work through that shit.
kelseyhightower 6y ago
McDonald's was my starting point. It's where I developed much of my work ethic and my first taste of leadership in a professional setting. I was a shift manager for most of that time and remember learning about the restaurant business, food cost, working with customers, and managing people. A lot of stuff did not make the article but who I am today was greatly influenced by that job. I chipped in on the bills, bought my own school clothes, and my first car (1987 Jeep Cherokee), thanks to that job, so for me it was very foundational.
- dangerboysteve 6y ago
  If you have time to lean you have time to clean!
  - Danieru 6y ago
    Oh wow that saying brings back memories. All this time I thought my store manager had invented it. McDonalds for me was pretty fun. At the time I could well see how the ease of promotion trapped some people. If you had any motivation at all you'd soon find yourself running a night shift. Even now, a decade later, I get nightmeres where I'm back working there. Nothing feels longer than an 8 hour shift at McDonalds.

waihtis 6y ago

No, it's just a manifestation of the rags to riches-trope. Please don't bring this "aggressively looking for things to crucify people with"-culture onto HN.

mssundaram 6y ago
It's been here for a long time, just in a different form

equality_1138 6y ago

Wow, that's a huge stretch. I read the reference to McDonald's only as a job where significant numbers of teenagers first learn about team management and cost/quality optimization. It's not merely "flipping burgers" but more generally the McDonald's program and a strong corporate work ethic.