Fast Food Cycles

I wish I had a picture of what I saw a few days ago.  The scene was perfectly laid out as I walked into a subway attached to a gas station in Holland, Michigan.  Standing behind the counter were three white males, one looking to be in his late teens, one in his early twenties, and the other middle aged.  All slightly obese.

For me it was a haunting reminder of our class discussions about cycles.  It was as if all three were representing progression through one person's life repeated three times.  It seemed to me like they were all trapped in a repeating cycle in which they start with nowhere to go but a low level job and because of this are forced to stay in these types of jobs for the rest of their lives.

The counter also seemed to separate them from the higher class people who came in to get food.  This reminded me of in our discussion in "social class station" when someone made the observation that the lower classes always stayed separated from the upper class because of the direction they usually ride the train.  Do you think I'm being to cynical about the young worker's prospects?  Do you think he is trapped in this cycle or do you think he has more opportunity than that?  Please comment.