Let's see.. what does McDonald's, or other fast food franchises, give you?
A uniform;
Work experience;
Responsibility;
Life Skills;
Real penalties for goofing up;
Interaction with peers, authority and the public;
Structure;
A low stress introduction to the working world;
Some financial independance;
A fair wage; and
A pretty good idea what you "DON"T" want to be doing the rest of your life because of a lack of education.
Cadets gives you:
A uniform (partly);
Responsibility (somewhat, at higher levels);
Structure (only if you take it seriously, and are not one of the goof off, spoiled brats, so often seen in Cadets);
Some money, if you attend summer training;
Some training, like how to use a compass, if you ever get far enough out of the city to get lost, and remembered to bring it with you.
If I had to hire someone based on the previous criteria, it would probably be the person who spent a couple of years, doing regular shifts three or four times a week, flipping burgers. If you think it's beneath you, there's always tomatoes to be picked or corn to be detassled, bathrooms in bars to be cleaned.......
Get off your high horses. A job is a job, until another one comes along. And most jobs are a stepping stone and training for a better one.
Cadets, while seemingly noble, equate to little nowdays. It pulls about as much weight as saying you spent three years as a Boy Scout.
