Socoilogy
Ihegie, Osagie
Professor Shorette
SOCIOL103-SECB
09/16/13
Memo 1 “The harder you work, the luckier you become” (Schlosser 13) is a philosophy that has exemplified the American dream for decades, also this is something one of the fast food industries founding father Carl Karcher lived by. However, looking at Carl’s personal success from sociological stand point it leads many to believe that other significant factors also lent a helping hand in creating Carl’s success. Carl was born and raised in Upper Sandusky, Ohio and was the son of a sharecropper. In the era of the Great Depression the future wasn’t very bright for Karl in Ohio. The first significant break Karl got was a job offer in Anaheim, California. Fortunately for Carl there was a large German immigrant population settled in the area where Carl’s Uncle Ben lived. This allowed him to work in peace in a location settled by the Ku Klux Klan. With that being said simply due to Carl’s ethnicity he was giving an advantage. Moreover, despite Carl’s humble beginnings as a farmhand and an elementary school dropout he was determined to climb higher up the social ladder. Another factor that aided him in this process was the time period in which he lived. Southern California had birthed a completely new way of living post World War II, and this included an entirely new way Americans ate their meals. This changed way of living of course all revolved around the affordability of the automobile. Now that automobiles were available to the public at a reasonable price American’s felt a new sense of independence. This was key to Carl’s success he decided to capitalize on America’s love of the automobile and the laziness that came with it. He was also able to obtain a $311 dollar loan from Bank of America using his own automobile as collateral making the automobile useful to him in more ways than one. Besides great timing and wonderful opportunity, another factor which played a huge role in Carl’s success was
Professor Shorette
SOCIOL103-SECB
09/16/13
Memo 1 “The harder you work, the luckier you become” (Schlosser 13) is a philosophy that has exemplified the American dream for decades, also this is something one of the fast food industries founding father Carl Karcher lived by. However, looking at Carl’s personal success from sociological stand point it leads many to believe that other significant factors also lent a helping hand in creating Carl’s success. Carl was born and raised in Upper Sandusky, Ohio and was the son of a sharecropper. In the era of the Great Depression the future wasn’t very bright for Karl in Ohio. The first significant break Karl got was a job offer in Anaheim, California. Fortunately for Carl there was a large German immigrant population settled in the area where Carl’s Uncle Ben lived. This allowed him to work in peace in a location settled by the Ku Klux Klan. With that being said simply due to Carl’s ethnicity he was giving an advantage. Moreover, despite Carl’s humble beginnings as a farmhand and an elementary school dropout he was determined to climb higher up the social ladder. Another factor that aided him in this process was the time period in which he lived. Southern California had birthed a completely new way of living post World War II, and this included an entirely new way Americans ate their meals. This changed way of living of course all revolved around the affordability of the automobile. Now that automobiles were available to the public at a reasonable price American’s felt a new sense of independence. This was key to Carl’s success he decided to capitalize on America’s love of the automobile and the laziness that came with it. He was also able to obtain a $311 dollar loan from Bank of America using his own automobile as collateral making the automobile useful to him in more ways than one. Besides great timing and wonderful opportunity, another factor which played a huge role in Carl’s success was