From outsourcing to "outsaucing!"

A McDonald's restaurant in Hermiston, Oregon on Highway 395 has outsourced one of the most important jobs at the drive-through window -- order taking, according to this story.

When a customer drives through, they'll be patched through to Grand Forks, North Dakota to place the order. Why? Because the minimum wage in North Dakota is $5.15, compared to Oregon's $7.25.

If you are geographically challenged, like me, you might think that Hermiston might sit on the North Dakota border. Nope. To get to Grand Forks from Hermiston requires a drive across Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota (Grand Forks is in East North Dakota, near the Minnesota border. That's 1050 miles as the crow flies, or 1395 miles by interstate highway system.

According to the AFL/CIO, Idaho and Montana have the same minimum wage as North Dakota, so why in the world would anyone send the order through North Dakota?

Sorry. I don't have an answer for that. But understandable, the Oregon AFL/CIO is objecting since this undercuts the Oregon's minimum wage by $2.

My theory is that if it's ok for a major company to send phone calls to India, then it's ok for a drive thru to send drive through orders to North Dakota.