Attending Hamburger University, Robin Leidner observes how McDonald's trains the managers of its fast-food restaurants to standardize every aspect of service and product. Learning how to sell life insurance at a large midwestern firm, she is coached on exactly what to say, how to stand, when to make eye contact, and how to build up Positive Mental Attitude by chanting "I feel happy! I feel terrific!" Leidner's fascinating report from the frontlines of two major American corporations uncovers the methods and consequences of regulating workers' language, looks, attitudes, ideas, and demeanor. Her study reveals the complex and often unexpected results that come with the routinization of service work. Some McDonald's workers resent the constraints of prescribed uniforms and rigid scripts, while others appreciate how routines simplify their jobs and give them psychological protection against unpleasant customers. Combined Insurance goes further than McDonald's in attempting to standardize the workers' very selves, instilling in them adroit maneuvers to overcome customer resistance. The routinization of service work has both poignant and preposterous consequences. It tends to undermine shared understandings about individuality and social obligations, sharpening the tension between the belief in personal autonomy and the domination of a powerful corporate culture. Richly anecdotal and accessibly written, Leidner's book charts new territory in the sociology of work. With service sector work becoming increasingly important in American business, her timely study is particularly welcome.

True stories from an experienced Uber Eats delivery man in Chicago and the suburbs. The book begins with all the information needed to apply for the job. The many requirements that must be satisfied before being considered for the job are detailed. The next part of the book tells how technology and food delivery companies have improved the job in recent years for the delivery employees. Subsequent chapters detail the delivery person's expenses related to the job and reveal the possible income a driver can expect to receive. In narration, following chapters have many ideas to greatly improve a delivery job for a delivery employee. There is a chapter to assist customers in getting the fastest, freshest, and most temperature-appropriate food and beverage delivery. Another chapter is about restaurants, including the trials and tribulations that occur with the many restaurant partners of whom a delivery person must interact on a regular basis. The book has a concluding chapter in which a great many true delivery stories are told. The stories not only inform but also entertain the reader. An addendum at the end of the book lists all of the localities in which Uber Eats is available throughout the world. This book informs potential delivery employees with helpful and needed information, assists current delivery people with many helpful and creative ideas as well as delivery facts, and entertains the reader who is curious about what a food delivery person encounters on the job. "Food Delivery Tales" is a quick, easy read that readers will enjoy.

Set a timer for five minutes, select one of the more than 300 "prompts" at random, then immediately start writing and don't stop until time is up. The rules of Fast Fiction are simple; the results, liberating. By telling you what to write about ("write a story about a coward", "...warmth", or "...a whisper"), the timed exercises focus all your energies on the telling. By imposing a deadline, they force you to write spontaneously, bypassing the inner critic and allowing your voice - as well as surprising images and associations - to emerge on the page. Step by step, Allen shows how to turn your five-minute writings into short short stories - intense fictions that use language with power and precision. She then shows you how to use the timed exercises to built longer stories and novels. You'll see, for example, how one of her students turned eight of his exercises into a chapter for his novel. By looking at your fiction a piece at a time, the writing process becomes less intimidating and more open to experiment. Allen illustrates all the possibilities with examples of students' work, as well as a variety of published shorts - from classics by Anton Chekhov and Robert Walser to contemporary pieces by Joyce Carol Oates and Mark Strand.

Delicious, nutritious, quick, and easy recipes from bestselling author Dr. Andrew Weil's own kitchen. These days, fewer people than ever are cooking meals at home. Convincing ourselves that we don't have time to cook, we've forgotten how fast, simple, and wonderfully satisfying it can be to prepare delicious meals in our own kitchens for the people we love. In Fast Food, Good Food, bestselling author Dr. Andrew Weil reminds us, with more than 150 easy-to-prepare recipes for delectable dishes that are irresistibly tasty and good for you. These recipes showcase fresh, high-quality ingredients and hearty flavors, like Buffalo Mozzarella Bruschetta, Five-Spice Winter Squash Soup, Greek Style Kale Salad, Pappardelle with Arugula Walnut Pesto, Pan-Seared Halibut with Green Harissa, Coconut Lemon Bars, and Pomegranate Margaritas. With guidance on following an anti-inflammatory diet and mouth-wateringly gorgeous photographs, Fast Food, Good Food will inspire the inner nutritionist and chef in every reader.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A brilliantly funny tribute to the simple pleasures of eating” (Parade) from the author of Dad Is Fat Have you ever finished a meal that tasted horrible but not noticed until the last bite? Eaten in your car so you wouldn’t have to share with your children? Gotten hungry while watching a dog food commercial? Does the presence of green vegetables make you angry? If you answered yes to any of the following questions, you are pretty pathetic, but you are not alone. Feast along with America’s favorite food comedian, bestselling author, and male supermodel Jim Gaffigan as he digs into his specialty: stuffing his face. Food: A Love Story is an in-depth, thoroughly uninformed look at everything from health food to things that people actually enjoy eating.