McDonald’s jobs fulfill purpose

Leonard Pitts Jr.'s July 28 column “Living on pennies at the Golden Arches” misses the point. Not all jobs are career positions. Some are starting points for learning how to behave and be a valued employee in the workplace.

McDonald's should be commended for providing these opportunities for young first-time workers, others that need to build work skills and people looking for part-time and second-job income.

Pitts quotes an article about a man who worked at McDonald's for 20 years and was making $8.25 per hour. It would seem reasonable that during that tenure, this employee would have been promoted to a higher-paying position within McDonald's or taken his skills to another higher-paying employer. If he didn't, maybe it wasn't the fault of McDonald's.

Jeff Wilkin

Cedar Rapids