Working in Fast Food in Your 30's

Why is it that when you are in your 30's and working in a fast food restaurant, it's assumed that you are too slow for other types of job or you don't have any other skills? That may not be the case, but that's certainly the way I feel at my job. I am 35 years old and I work in a McDonald's.

Now, I want to say right now that I am not slow, and I have very good computer skills. Unfortunately, I live in a rural area which affords very few employment opportunities without driving at least half an hour away. Working in fast food is not my first choice of job, but until another job opportunity presents itself this is my only option.

Another barrier I have is that I am on Social Security Disability(SSDI) due to having a condition known as Fibromyalgia. For those of who are unfamiliar with the condition, it's a chronic condition which is best described as an arthritis like condition in the muscles. So, I have two strikes against me - my age and the fact that I am on disability.

Plenty of times I feel like I am looked upon as a inferior person. People find out my age, about the fact that I'm on disability, and they immediately discount me as someone slow, someone who is not good for anything but the scrub work that no one else wants to do. I feel like screaming at them, "I'm a real person with feelings and even though I'm older and on disability it doesn't mean I'm less than you are!"

Another pet peeve of mine is the fact that all these teenagers working there stand around and flirt, don't do any stocking, cleaning, sweeping, anything. It really frustrates me when they ask me to get ice, fill the sauces, or anything else because they just don't want to do it. I do it, but I feel like saying to them that we're all getting paid to work. One of the other women I work with is about eight years older than I am, and they treat her the same way. She said to me once that we're being given all the 'slave' work. Thats not the word she used but I don't wish to offend anyone.