There were jokes about striking writers taking minimum wage jobs, but one has come forward to say that’s exactly how he passed his time. The Hollywood Reporter says:

[My Name is Earl creator Greg] Garcia spent the month of January working at an occupation in a world perhaps better suited to his lead character, Earl Hickey (Jason Lee): as a cashier and janitor in a fast-food restaurant that Garcia prefers to keep anonymous. And anonymous also happened to be what he remained throughout his 30-day gig, taking the job without revealing his identity until he was about to turn in his uniform.

Garcia enjoyed his time there, and liked one of his co-workers so much that he gave an unnamed employee $10,000 as a parting gift.

He brings up an interesting point: writers sometimes run out of life experience to write about. I’ve often wondered how long it’s been since Hollywood types have been out in the “real world” and I think this was a great thing for him to do.

What would you do if you found out the guy at the next register was a millionaire looking to learn more about life? If you were a millionaire, would you be willing to work fast food just to see what it was like?