McDonalds Memories and Thankful For Kurds This Thanksgiving

McDonalds Memories

There were small boxing shows in Atlanta, France, and the UK this week. None of which I watched. The UFC came to US TV viewers at 5AM on Sunday from Macau and I only managed to catch the highlights. I was able to watch college football over the weekend, see Colorado upended by Kansas, Indiana dreams crash out at Ohio State, college wrestling, and even the BKFC card on DAZN.

This newsletter is inspired by McDonalds. Sadly, it's not brought to you by them. I'm working on my sponsorship deals and I would be more than happy to provide a discount for chicken Big Macs to readers should the opportunity arise.

Over on X,

Zaid Jilani

highlighted a recent interaction between Bill Maher and guests on his show. No, not the one where a guest claimed a WNBA team would be at no biological disadvantage against the Los Angeles Lakers (and I'm assuming, by this logic, we could expect a competitive bout between Katie Taylor and Ryan Garcia), but the one where guests jeered at Maher's assertion that McDonalds tastes good.

The guests were appaled by this opinion and laughed it off. Many millions would disagree. What is the root of this disdain? McDonalds is generally unhealthy and mass-produced? Probably some of that. However, I would argue that the biggest reason for the reaction is a disdain for McDonalds customers and employees. Jeering at McDonalds, and by extension other fast food outlets, is a signifier that you're of a higher social class than those suffering the indignanties of a value meal. You aren't, “one of those people”, and in the event you are the food is discreetly ordered via Uber Eats, so as not to interfere with the avocado toast vibes on carefully cultivated Instagram stories.

I will counter their disdain with a different vantage point and warm memories of McDonalds. My contention isn't that McDonalds is necessarily great tasting, although it can hit the spot. I personally have some other fast food favorites (5 Guys, Hardees, Culvers, Chick-fil-A, Canes, Dairy Queen, and some local spots); but no place holds the memories for me that McDonalds does.

My childhood is full of McDonalds memories. Getting meals with my grandparents. Going to the old McDonalds boat in downtown St. Louis near the Gateway Arch. My dad sneaking cheeseburgers into the movie theater in his coat for us to eat. My grandpa always buying the plain hamburger and an apple pie. Hanging out with friends at the old McDonalds location on Halls Ferry in middle and high school.

My warmest McDonalds childhood memories feature my grandma. Due to family drama, there was a time when my grandparents were not allowed to see my sisters and I. Grandma and I found a way to circumvent this ban. When my dad and step-mom left for work in the morning she would pull up and take me to McDonalds for breakfast and then drop me off at school. As a kid those mornings were special to me.

I lived in Northern Virginia as a young adult and it was a magnetic and dynamic hub for Muslims from all throughout the world in the 1990s. During this era, most non-Desi Muslims I ran across were influenced by the Saudi ruling that it was permissable to eat the meat in America. Young and broke Muslims like me flocked to McDonalds. In this bygone era, it wasn't implausible to find groups of young Muslim men sitting around McDonalds locations around Falls Church discussing Hijrah plans, future plans of polygamy, and the legal rulings surrounding wiping over one's socks while performing ablution.

Late at night, and up until the time for morning prayers (the era of 24-hour indoor service), I used to sit with a former Iranian academic named Faraj who had since become homeless. At his table he would have copies of several newspapers with articles highlighted that he wanted to discuss. He would encourage me, and tell me that I was smart, but I still had a lot to learn. (Unfortunately, Faraj was found dead in a sleeping bag near a local mosque several years ago).

When I lived in New York, I was always broke. The city has an endless supply of great restaurants from food from throughout the world, but I often found myself eating street food, bodega sandwiches and bagels, pizza by the slice, and the McDonalds dollar menu!

I was so broke that I used to take the train from with an ex from Brooklyn into Manhattan to go to fast food locations near Wall Street, because they were the only locations offering free refills on drinks. One night we were hungry and walking near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Between the two of us we had less than $10. I knew where we needed to be. I saw a hipster looking white guy walking towards us and I asked him if he knew of any fast food or McDonalds locations nearby. He looked as if I'd ask him if I knew where I could buy some explosives. There was genuine horror on his face and he explained that we were in Brooklyn and there were many great restaurants within walking distance. I told him to STFU and we caught the train to Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights to eat at a McDonalds location below a mosque (which basically doubled as homeless shelter) and down the street from the Chabad Lubavitcher world headquarters.

When I moved to the Dallas suburbs to be near my daughter I was on a tight budget and often looking for cheap stuff to do and eat. McDonalds with indoor and outdoor playgrounds fulfilled those needs. As she got older the food got more expensive.

When I travel abroad, I mainly eat local cuisine, but I like to pop into McDonalds to see if they offer anything different. In Indonesia, rice and spicy sandwiches are on the menu. In Poland, Serbia, and the Republic of Georgia, I saw families dressed nice, sitting down and enjoying meals together which is a site that simultaneously puts a smile in my face and a ting of pain in my heart, knowing so many Americans no longer have family moments like these. For those in the former Eastern Bloc, McDonalds represents freedom and throwing off the yoke of state repression and communism. When the Berlin Wall fell McDonalds moved in.

On one such international McDonalds visit I did see critics. In Jerusalem, I saw a member of the Black Hebrew Israelites from Chicago selling incense and oil on the street. After leaving McDonalds, I saw a poster in Hebrew warning locals not to consume McDonalds, and the man from Chicago advised me to avoid it as well. He claimed that McDonalds didn't serve meat; but in fact, served recycled waste from the Chicago sewer system and passed it off as meat!

I would also like to add here that increasingly McDonalds isn't a job for high school students and American retirees. McDonalds is a job for hardworking immigrants when you get to the coasts and the large metros with hot job markets. These immigrants typically take their jobs very seriously, have a very good work-ethic, and will make McDonalds a career. Many of the more expensive urban restaurants out there heavily rely on American kids from affluent family backgrounds who are spending some years slumming it after college after picking bad majors.

Support Locally Owned Businesses

My love for McDonalds and their workers doesn't mean I don't believe in supporting locally owned restaurants and other businesses. I'm very much a fan and try to support locally owned establishments. One of the most courageous things an American can do is open a restaurant, because it's very hard to succeed. You'll never see me buy donuts from Dunkin or Krispy Kreme or order a pizza from a chain. Places like Crown Candy, Favazzas, Pironnes, Imo's, Fritz's, Ted Drewes, and Porters are local essentials. Be sure to think of local businesses like Crown Candy and Dad's Cookies for Christmas shopping.

Thanksgiving Message

On this Thanksgiving, I give thanks to the Kurds. St. Louis isn't a Kurdish hub like Nashville is, but we do have a small community. This past Saturday I bought a set of new tires from a Kurdish-owned tire shop in south St. Louis. I started chatting about boxing and MMA to a young guy working there and told him when I left I was going out to eat. He recommend Sultan in The Grove as the only local Kurdish-owned restaurant and explained to me he would go just for the bread. We went and it was a great recommendation.

BlueSky

I opened a BlueSky account and immediately began blocking and deleting. It is the echo chamber you'd expect and a high percentage of users seem to be suffering from “long covid”. I don't plan on using it. Twitter/X has always had bad actors; but it has a large, vibrant, and global audience. I can follow boxing, college wrestling, football, baseball, history, politics, academics, and religious debates all in one place. Not as entertaining as TikTok, but more informative. BlueSky is a club for MSNBC viewers with post Great Awokening sensibilities (which reminds me… I highly recommend the new book by Musa al-Gharbi, “We Have Never Been Woke”).

Happy Thanksgiving. Family, football, and fun. Political debates and discussion have no place in such settings.