Where My Compassion And Faith Come From

By: Mariann Carroll 3/28/26

     I walked the highway of Rural Illinois in the late nineties. I did not have a car at that time. I woke up at four in the morning, got ready for work, and walked my dog before going to work. 

     It takes me only 45 minutes to walk to work. I was young and healthy back then. Yes, I pray every day before I get out of bed. I had two jobs: one at the Jewels Grocery store, in the deli department, cutting deli meat for customers. Their pay was good in Rural Illinois, $12.00 an hour. In the 90’s, that was great pay. 

     I started work at five in the morning before the deli opens. I prepare the cutting machine. It’s a dangerous machine. People had cut their fingers because they did not follow the proper procedure for using and cleaning the machine. You have to use a steel glove when cleaning the machine. It felt like a knight's armored gloves. I worked eight hours with a half-hour lunch break.

     After work, I went to my second part-time job at McDonald's. I also get paid $12.00 an hour at that job. I got a free meal at McDonald's. My co-worker was always surprised when I order a McRib meal. I chowed the whole meal down in a few minutes. I weigh under 98 pounds. Back then, a McRib sandwich was huge. Now it's quite a small sandwich, and they don't offer it as often anymore.

    I worked at McDonald's to get the Beanie Babies Collection. We got them for free whenever a new Beanie Baby came out in the Happy Meals. It was as popular as today's Grinch Happy Meal. It was a busy place to work, especially on the weekend. The drive-thru was non-stop. 

    Illinois is the headquarters of McDonald‘s, so the quality of service was high. They aimed to serve orders at the drive-thru in 2 minutes (120 seconds). I Love Lucy, the chocolate conveyor belt episode had nothing on that McDonald's drive-thru speed requirement back then.

I did not work at the drive-thru cashier, but at the counter Cashier. It's more laid back at the inside counter. By the way, my experience as a McDonald’s cashier landed me a job as a bank teller. 

     It was not fun walking home on a highway under construction at night. There was a tornado watch. The wind and rain were like a battle. The wind blew my umbrella, and I got soaked. I rather walk in the snow than walk on the highway during a tornado warning. 

    I was 20 minutes from home, and I kept giving myself positive self-talk and praying. That wind was getting really nasty; it was like pushing me back, and it was getting harder to walk while getting soaked. A pregnant lady in a small car offered me a ride. She was very adamant in wanting to give me a ride. It was really hard for us to hear each other because of the wind and rain.

    I did end up accepting the ride. She was a sweet lady. She told me where she worked, in the same plaza as the McDonald's. She worked at the beauty Parlor in the Plaza. The Plaza had over ten businesses and two banks. She was probably eight months pregnant because she mentioned the baby would be due the following month. 

   A few weeks later, I bought a McDonald's meal and brought it to the lady’s job. She was so surprised. She did not know how grateful I was for that ride. I finally decided to leave Rural Illinois because of the extreme weather. The people there were down-to-earth and very nice.

     I moved back to New York State, where I can tolerate the weather. I got myself a car after working for six months. Whenever a co-workers needed a ride, I never hesitated to help out because of the lady who gave me a ride in Rural Illinois.