I think to your point, they have (or feel they have) more options and as a result, don't want to work in fast food for any reason. I think the elimination of manual labor type of jobs (e.g. Textiles) being good enough to establish a credible middle class also is a factor. The kids coming up now do not have any other example other than sedentary work so fast food is out. For us, we didn't want to work at Mickey D's but wanted to (legally) get a check. I remember the "luxury" teen job was working at a grocery store or at the mall vs Fast Food, LOL.