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In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

theguardian.com

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Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#111

Post by brianwawok »

smokey_the_bear wrote: post #6

McDonalds is the only restaurant I enjoy eating at with my 2 and 3 year olds. Every other restaurant is a slog to get through the meal. Honestly I'd eat there more often if it weren't for the social stigma of it. (I live in Berkeley). I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. When I was a kid, my…

> I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal.

Sounds like a false dichotomy. Why not prepare actual healthy food, and not 'slapped together kids meal' ?

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#112

Post by peterwwillis »

Wal-Mart and McDonald's are the modern equivalent of the diner and malt shop that middle-class white people may be more familiar with (it seems this article was written with a specific readership in mind). Go to any small town or poor rural area, and these are the places people congregate. It has almost nothing to do with food, and more to do with a social space designed for people to gather comfortably.

In Italy it's the piazza. In the UK & Ireland it's the pub. In more enclosed neighborhoods in the US it may simply be your neighbor's stoop, or a certain street or alley. Access to a social space facilitates human interaction & culture.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#113

Post by bitwize »

greenspot wrote: post #102

McDonalds is the master in orchestrating food. I love McDonalds and I think their hamburger is the best hamburger, their french fries are the best and all the other menu options have this typical McDonalds design--everything, every single piece and ingredient is meticulously thought through and the final dish has a perfect taste. The taste you get for the carb in-take is unmatched. It's cool to hate McDonalds, I know…

I must admit, occasionally I still have a Big Mac Attack and nothing else will do.

Doesn't sit well with my digestive tract later, but the instances are rare enough that the accumulated cell damage is hopefully still small.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#114

Post by balls187 »

greenspot wrote: post #102

McDonalds is the master in orchestrating food. I love McDonalds and I think their hamburger is the best hamburger, their french fries are the best and all the other menu options have this typical McDonalds design--everything, every single piece and ingredient is meticulously thought through and the final dish has a perfect taste. The taste you get for the carb in-take is unmatched. It's cool to hate McDonalds, I know…

Have you tried making your own mcdonald's french fries?

This process was tedious, but surprisingly effective: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/the-burger-lab-h...

I did not have an accurate way to measure the temp of the oil, which is important.

Also I reused peanut oil, fresh oil would make the color nicer and a more pure taste.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#115

Post by distances »

niftich wrote: post #97
distances wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which parts? Where I currently am I would not admit going to a McDonald's (or Burger King for that matter). There are lots of grubby independent places such as cheap, greasy kebab joints here, and even they seem to place above the chain fastfood restaurants in social acceptableness. Not trying to be snobby, just curious what's below McDonald's if it can be considered "upmarket".

In terms of social standing, below McDonald's is not going out to eat at all. You avoid going out unless you're with friends, and instead pack your own lunch. In Budapest, Hungary, many of the kebab vendors have little seating room, so McDonald's becomes the cheapest place to sit like you would in a Starbucks (which also exists, and is considerably more of a luxury). I've seen the same phenomenon in Slovakia, Czech R…

Right, thanks for the clarification.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#116

Post by amelius »

topspin wrote: post #68
niftich wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some parts of Europe, McDonald's is actually a somewhat upmarket option, and fulfills a purpose similar to Starbucks in the US. Some downtown ones are in historic buildings with elegant furniture. This is a bit atypical, but here's a nice one in Budapest: https://mic.com/articles/85625/this-is-the-world-s-fanciest-...

When McDonald's opened in Moscow in the 1980's one of the things people frequently mentioned after standing in line for hours was the high quality of the food. It was normal McDonald's fair tailored to the local market. We're pretty spoiled people in the US. Some large fraction of the species can only dream of eating food as good as what McDonald's sells.

I've heard a story about people in China actually dressing up before they visited the McDonald's with their families.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#117

Post by blastrat »

zem wrote: post #95
notliketherest wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social stigma? Why do you care what other people think?

why do you not? it's a very strongly ingrained part of human nature, and a lot of civilisation depends on it. in particular, the whole notion of a social contract would likely collapse if no one cared what other people thought; neither empathy nor game-theory-style rationality are strong enough as universal motivating factors.

and to add to that, the headline on the article that we are discussing contains the phrase "McDonald's: you can sneer, but..."

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#118

Post by balls187 »

tetromino_ wrote: post #49
smokey_the_bear wrote: post #6

McDonalds is the only restaurant I enjoy eating at with my 2 and 3 year olds. Every other restaurant is a slog to get through the meal. Honestly I'd eat there more often if it weren't for the social stigma of it. (I live in Berkeley). I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. When I was a kid, my…

Your kids are your kids and it's your choice how to raise them given your financial and time constraints, but teaching a 3-year-old to associate comfort and happiness with unhealthy food doesn't strike me as the wisest decision. When they are old enough and responsible enough for their bodies, they might decide on their own that they enjoy nicotine, corn syrup, salt, starch, and fry oil - but why bias them towards su…

> Your kids are your kids and it's your choice how to raise them.

Full stop. No need to continue with the rest of your judgements.

Parenting is a very hard job, and it's only made worse by all the parents (and even worse--non-parents) that want to make judgements.

Being a parent, I now have a profound respect and appreciation for my parents (especially my mother). Things weren't always great, but they did the best they could.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#119

Post by _Codemonkeyism »

What astonishes me, is how often poor people go eating in a restaurant (e.g. breakfast in the first paragraph) when making breakfast at home (or lunch) is so much cheaper (as a fun exercise we often calculate the prices of our home lunch).

Although I have a nice income, 80% of the time I bring my own food to work because restaurants are too expensive in my opinion to regularly use them.

As a side note: I have the suspicion I'm addicted to fast food (McDonalds/Burger King). When I don't go there for some weeks, I have no urge and I'm fine. But as soon as I eat there, I have the urge for days to go back and have another burger.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#120

Post by kristianc »

stcredzero wrote: post #76
smokey_the_bear wrote: post #6

McDonalds is the only restaurant I enjoy eating at with my 2 and 3 year olds. Every other restaurant is a slog to get through the meal. Honestly I'd eat there more often if it weren't for the social stigma of it. (I live in Berkeley). I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. When I was a kid, my…

People finding community of some form is not just a good thing, it's an essential thing to human life. It should always be lauded. However, there is a lot of socioeconomic and sub-cultural in-group/out-group judgement in US society, all of which feels absolutely justified by those doing the judging. http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberali... In reality, it's all exactly the same sort of crap that…

> Knowing, for example, that the Founding Fathers were all secular deists. Knowing that you're actually, like, 30 times more likely to shoot yourself than an intruder. Knowing that those fools out in Kansas are voting against their own self-interest and that the trouble is Kansas doesn't know any better. Knowing all the jokes that signal this knowledge.

Doesn't Vox exist to perpetuate this kind of nonsense? It's undergraduate level politics dressed up as stone tablet commandments. Isn't Vox's very reason to provide political analysis to those otherwise 'too stupid' to know what's going on?

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