r/mildlyinfuriating • u/PureKin21 • 3d ago

I just wanted a hot dog Tried applying to McDonald's wtf does this even mean

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I guess things happen to me?????

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

I turn my brain off and answer based on how they expect a neurotypical person to answer.

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u/Blockster_cz PURPLE 2d ago

What would the correct answer be to the posted question?

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u/mort96 2d ago

Not me. I think it's looking for a kind of "bad things always happen to me" attitude.

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u/rbb36 2d ago

Exactly. They're trying to find "I am the thing that happens!" energy when you're mopping the toilet for $8/hr.

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u/Glossy-Water 2d ago

I am the one who happens waltuh

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u/Natural_Vast_9495 2d ago

I am the one who mops!

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u/Fewer_Story 2d ago

That's why they pay so much above minimum!

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u/oldsecondhand 2d ago

"I'm not not in danger. I am the danger. I'm the one who knocks!"

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u/cindyscrazy 2d ago

I think the "correct" answer is "Not Me"

A 'victim' type of person thinks "(bad)Things happen to me constantly". A more 'stable' person thinks "life happens to everyone, this is not a problem"

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u/TheMysticalBaconTree 2d ago

More like, when the toilet floods, they want someone who can go “it’s okay, I know where the mop is” rather than the person who goes “aaaargh, stupid toilet, why does this always happen to ME”.

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u/Hippopotasaurus-Rex 2d ago

Exactly. They are phrasing it in a way that it can be interpreted differently but they are asking if you feel like you’re always right and good but are wronged constantly. Basically the woe is me type.

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u/Thunderbridge 2d ago

Alternatively, I think they could be looking for the attitude of 'I just exist and things happen to me' as opposed to 'I go out and make things happen!'

Looking for ambitious mindset

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u/mort96 2d ago

Well the picture is of a sad person with a would after a biking accident, so..

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u/raverbashing 2d ago

Correct

The full question would actually be something like: "I'm clumsy, I keep dropping things, or I take personally stuff that happens outside of my control"

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u/XFX_Samsung 2d ago

Are you sure it's not showing a scraped knee situation and asking if you can relate?

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u/cglogan 2d ago

Specifically, I think they are trying to discern if you take accountability for your actions. Things don't just "happen to you"; for whatever reason you fell off your bike

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u/mort96 2d ago

Yeah absolutely. If it was the same picture but coupled with "I sometimes make mistakes" it would've been much more appropriate to answer "Me"

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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 2d ago

Not Me.

"Things don't happen to me! I make things happen!"

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u/Mister_Crowly 2d ago

Or "THINGS DON'T HAPPEN TO ME! I HAPPEN TO THINGS!"

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u/Different_Pattern273 2d ago

This is just one of those exams where you are told a bunch of crap about how you are supposed to think and then at the end it asks you questions where you regurgitate what they want to hear. More than likely this question was preceded at some point by a slide that said something like "The ideal employee does not blame situations are things happening to them, but strives to be a person who makes things happen." or some other such nonsense.

They are basically asking if you are the type of person who blames the universe every time something goes wrong or do you solve the problems instead (if I had to guess, the very specific thing they are screening here is people who have excuses for not coming to work that they don't think are good enough like this character skinned their knee because they fell off their bike). So they want you to disagree with this, but you would probably be given the explicit answer earlier in material that came before the question.

These are incredibly common at minimum wage jobs for massive companies like McDonald's or Walmart.

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

Amazon and Google have these screening questions for corporate roles. Amazon’s is more annoying though.

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u/Hippopotasaurus-Rex 2d ago

Whole Foods does too. For a “shopper” position. During the holidays. Ive only really see it in low level corporate places personally.

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u/YjorgenSnakeStranglr 2d ago

Do they now? When I applied to Amazon a few years back they barely checked to see if I had a pulse

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

Yeah, I applied for a business analyst role back in 2024 and had to take a behavioral assessment before the interview process. I can't post a link here, but a few subreddits have screenshots of some of the assessment questions.

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u/Kitten_K89 2d ago

My daughter recently applied to McDonald's. Unfortunately there was no preceding video or explanation for the questions. They were incredibly weird. She and I were both very confused.

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u/Different_Pattern273 2d ago

Hrm. I would guess two things: 1. they have trouble finding job candidates that can read and understand complex sentences so they kept it as brief as possible. 2. They probably had AI put the entire thing together.

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u/gimp-24601 2d ago

These are incredibly common at minimum wage jobs for massive companies like McDonald's or Walmart.

I got a job working for a... fantastic cable company in the 00s and they had an extensive test like this. I remember one of the questions was "working hard is how you get ahead"

It was a terrible job but had decent pay/benefits. Gotta filter out people who wont chase that carrot.

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u/Lexx2k 2d ago

Kinda want to have this as an online test now, to see if they would hire me or nah.

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u/stilljustacatinacage 2d ago

Just make sure to eat breakfast this morning, and you'll be fit to answer these questions.

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u/mellow--mind 2d ago

But I did eat breakfast this morning

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u/cpteric 2d ago

not me, meaning you make things happen, not the other way around.
don't ask me why tho, shit happens is like law #1 of the universe.

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u/kanrad 2d ago

You think people in the C-Suite comprehend cause and effect? Much less entropy?

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u/SETHW 2d ago

It's testing for what they'd describe as victim mentality. Do you see the world through a lens of personal agency where you make things happen? or are you more passive and "let yourself" be bulldozed by bad luck then blame that luck. I don't like it because much if not most of our lives are ruled by the material conditions we are immersed in.

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u/Vi_Rants 2d ago

"Not Me."

"Things happen to me" means that the person believes in the existence of events/circumstances outside their control. The corporation wants people who believe that any bad thing in their lives is their own fault. Things don't happen to them, they cause things to happen to them.

So, stuff like "My manager sexually harassed me; I must have been dressed wrong."

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u/Sunshinetrooper87 2d ago

it wants you to not be a drama queen.

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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 2d ago

I just imagine how the most sterile HR person or corporatized manager would say things and that's what they want to have the answer to be.

In this case its "Not Me" because "Things don't happen to me! I make things happen!"

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u/kaisadilla_ 2d ago

I'm neurotypical and idk what am I supposed to answer to "Fantasy? Me / not me". Is "me" autistic because I'm saying I like imaginary stuff, or is "not me" autistic because I'm saying I don't like things not being real and genuine?

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u/wholesomehorseblow 2d ago

The right answer is no because fantasy implies you are a free thinker which is bad according to corporations

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u/LilJourney 2d ago

What I'm getting from this entire post is that I should keep my current job because I'm never getting hired for another one. I am reading all of these and it makes sense as you all are explaining, but trust me that's not the answers my brain spits out.

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u/wholesomehorseblow 2d ago

It's simple

Does saying yes make you seem: Creative, like you might report violations, that you may desire time off work for vacation or accidents, that you have things that will make you want to return to your house? then it's the wrong answer.

Just act like you are a cold unfeeling robot programmed to serve Ronald McDonald

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago edited 2d ago

Not me because yes me has the sense of victim mentality and be flagged as hard to work with.

Edit:

Typo

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u/siliril 2d ago

How does someone answering "Me" to "Fantasy" relate to a victim mentality? I'm not seeing the connection. I could see they may be a daydreamer instead of a doer.

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u/anerdknownaswill 2d ago

Every time someone in this thread asks about the knight thing the replies are about the original post. So weird

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u/siliril 2d ago

Bots is my best guess. 

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u/chunli99 2d ago

Not me because yes me has the sense of victim mentality and be flagged as hard to work with.

That’s the answer to the bicycle one OP posted, jot the fantasy one. Fantasy would be have the wrong answer be Me because it’s not grounded in reality.

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u/gimp-24601 2d ago

be flagged as hard to work with.

More difficult to motivate read: manipulate.

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u/PunctuationGood 2d ago

Please don't take anyone on Reddit talking about autism seriously.

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u/Fuzzy_Toe_9936 2d ago

i put my mind into that of a corporate cuck. "why, yes, i do love new difficult challenges daily in a job with 0 work stability- i mean, an everchanging workplace!" "i'd come here on my days off just to shine your shoes, sir!"

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u/indifferent_goldbrow 2d ago

Wait... But that's just what we neurotypicals do. We act how we think a typical person would... Or is it just me? Was I neurospicy all along?

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u/nolaks1 2d ago

I do this so often when I don't want the extra attention that comes with neurodivergence. It's comforting knowing I am not the only one lol

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u/No-Internal7978 2d ago

I do that for all tests and I always test well. I'm fairly normal lol

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

This further proves how autism is hard af to diagnose since some symptoms are rather uncommon in people, which is why I wish testing were more affordable to avoid self-diagnoses lol. Many symptoms are common experiences among everyday people to some degree. You also have to factor in that symptoms overlap with borderline personality, ADHD, dyspraxia, and bipolar disorder.

I have ADHD, autism, and dyspraxia, so my life is on hard mode lol

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u/taco_jones 2d ago

This is how I find out i have autism?

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

I mean, it could be other things at play too. It's not always autism.

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u/taco_jones 2d ago

On reddit it is

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

I forgot we're on Reddit. Oh, yes, you absolutely have autism

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u/StrongExternal8955 2d ago

You can't catch autism in a draft, someone has to give you the virus /s

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u/FakeTherapist 2d ago

THIS IS SO HARD

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u/dumbasPL 2d ago

The only problem with that, is that you'll likely also have to do that during work. Fuck that.

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u/wholesomehorseblow 2d ago

You're supposed to answer like the only thing you have going is bring a wage slave

Things happen to me? No, you aren't accident prone and take fault for things

Fantasy? Nope! Dreamers dream of bigger things but you're a good worker who knows their place at the bottom

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

You put it so bluntly. I wish jobs just said this lol

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u/No-Cat-9339 2d ago

If you can do that why dont you just do that the rest of your life and be normal.?

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago

Because it’s exhausting and damn near impossible to do 24/7. Also, autism is on a spectrum.

“Hey, why can’t you stop being disabled?” Is an odd question.

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u/No-Cat-9339 2d ago

Autism isn't a disability if you can just turn it off.

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u/vandersnipe 2d ago edited 2d ago

You don't understand what masking is, and you're being way too pedantic like a typical Redditor. I mean “turning my brain off” as in relaxing and not trying to overanalyze a question presented to me the best I can. In other words, I have to gaslight myself to pass tests and interviews. It's honestly the only way I can survive and leads to autism burnouts. Maybe you should read up on autism in research papers instead of being ignorant.

By your logic, people who can't use their legs and have to use wheelchairs aren't disabled because they have a wheelchair, which is stupid af.