Working At Taco Bell: The Conflict Theory

What is a conflict theory and how does it apply to medical sociology? The conflict theory is built on the idea of capitalism and power-struggle among the classes. Therefore, in capitalistic societies the elites control the norms and values and force those standards upon less privileged. These social processes create struggles over life-essential resources among various groups in the society and lead to external conflict among the people. Capitalism and profits are the essences of the conflict theory. Therefore, since we live in a Capitalistic economy, people are treated as mere means for the higher attainments of profits. Based on this premise, capitalism works to dehumanize workers and alienate them from the process, product, self, and
Managers see People as robots. At first, one can argue that these unskilled entry level jobs are easy, but after working at one, it changed my attitude towards life. It was not so much the busy environment or physical labor that was particularly hard; it was the mental and emotional stress that affected me as an individual. The relationships of managers towards the employees, thus no matter how hard people are working, created very hesitant working environment. With having to do twenty things at a time, it is very mentally draining. Since one of the main priorities was to save labor and not to cut into the profits, people were required to do multiple positions at a time. I remember how insane it was to be an order taker and cashier at the same time during the dinner rush. Besides dealing with costumers, trying to hear what people are ordering through the intercom, and ringing up the order, I had to follow the standard guidelines of greeting, confirming the order, asking for drinks, and saying “Please pull to the window”. While at the same time, I had to greet the customer at the window, say the total, collect the money, ask for sauce, check the items in the bag, tell the customer what’s in the bag, and then “please come again”. After such experience, I do not know how anyone would not attend school to obtain at least some education. Therefore, working there drained all the energy out of me and made me very moody and sensitive because I was always tired. At the end of every shift, I just wanted to come home and hide in the closet while crying myself to sleep because of mental exhaustion. My experience, as a former Taco Bell employee, is a perfect example of capitalism and how it alienates people from the product, self, process and the