When I saw the New York times, The Long Distance Journey of a Fast Food Order (link), I was sure to be reading about the perils of eating food imported instead of seasonal, but it was the voices that are traveling in this one.

McDonald’s is testing out using call centers to take orders. More efficient. That’s just great, innovative. Keepin’ up.

The call-center system allows employees to be monitored and tracked much more closely than would be possible if they were in restaurants. Mr. King’s computer screen gives him constant updates as to which workers are not meeting standards.

Fantastic! If the overseer isn’t enough:

Software tracks her productivity and speed, and every so often a red box pops up on her screen to test whether she is paying attention. She is expected to click on it within 1.75 seconds.

The bonus: you don’t smell like burgers at the end of the day.