# Did Kamala Harris work at McDonalds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [September 2, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631 "2024-09-02T15:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/222 "2024-09-04T12:32:45Z")
Well, your post is mostly off-topic, so I fear responding to it would result in a hijack, and those are discouraged in this forum. If you want to start a new Pit thread about Harris, I’m sure lots of people would be happy to join in, either supporting you or correcting your errors. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/223 "2024-09-04T12:32:59Z")
Your well reasoned and thoroughly documented post has convinced me. Kudos sir! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/225 "2024-09-04T12:34:56Z")
Closed on September 4, 2024, 12:34pm UTC ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/226 "2024-09-04T13:32:38Z")
Opened on September 4, 2024, 1:32pm UTC ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/227 "2024-09-04T14:29:23Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Well, McDougals was pretty similar… The Big Mic _is_ a superior burger. Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions, but none of those superfluous sesame seeds on the bun. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/228 "2024-09-04T14:35:12Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > This thread is making me feel weird. **I’ve had dozens of jobs, starting when I was about 14, and I can recall faces and names of many, many people I’ve worked with**. > > Am I some kind of freak ? _(my emphasis)_ I am like you, and thought such a memory was typical among people. This thread makes me want to start an IMHO or MPSIMS thread/poll about “_Memories of past coworkers/classmates/etc_.” But later. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/229 "2024-09-04T14:55:23Z")
Was the last name Mulva? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/230 "2024-09-04T21:32:48Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > This thread makes me want to start an IMHO or MPSIMS thread/poll about “_Memories of past coworkers/classmates/etc_.” But later. Heh. I was considering starting a thread something similar. After seeing yours, I think it would be ‘Memories of past jobs and coworkers.’ We’ve had a bunch of posts on that very topic in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/231 "2024-09-04T22:17:29Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > What’s funny is I remember his first name and feces which rhymed with his last name, but I can’t remember his actual last name. Feces was actually more fitting. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Was the last name Mulva? @Dr_Paprika – I think you have a problem with your knowledge of anatomy. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/232 "2024-09-04T23:33:40Z")
But not with my knowledge of Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/233 "2024-09-04T23:42:20Z")
My head is so full of useless trivia, thoughts of Tacos and Corndogs, music styles I never lived thru(current earworm “Pennsylvania 65000” big band, yeah I know) and pets issues, recipes, current affairs, crossword puzzle clues. Where in that head’o mine is there room for names of random persons, I met along the way? Can’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/234 "2024-09-05T07:47:23Z")
We’re talking names here, right? Full on first name, last name? I find it easy to remember people, but names always go away more quickly. There are Dopers whose names I forget, even when I remember their posts. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/235 "2024-09-05T08:47:08Z")
Y’know, when there are so many ways to attack Harris, why the Republicans are choosing to zero in on whether she actually worked at McDonald’s is beyond me. Maybe it’s because they can’t find anything else to question. It’s really hard to find a sexual scandal when there isn’t one. Similarly for bribery—here’s an incorrupt district attorney to whom the mere thought of bribes is abhorrent, in keeping with her professional ethics. I’m sure they’ll keep digging, but I bet they won’t find much. As for McDonald’s being the best so far that they have to go on, I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. If she worked there, and I’m sure that she did, I have no doubt that she remembers the first names of her workmates: Kevin, Vicki, Dan, Rosalie, and so on. (All fictional, but you get the point.) Last names may be a little more difficult, but the point stands: if she cannot remember the full names of her co-workers at McDonald’s, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she never worked at McDonald’s. It simply means that she remembers “Kevin” because he could make a Big Mac on the double-quick, and Kevin’s surname was not needed. Same for “Rosalie,” who was never thrown by a family with kids who wanted a Happy Meal with the girls’ toy. No, the boys’ toy. No, who wanted last week’s Star Wars toy. And Rosalie never lost her cool, but try to remember her last name. Hell, if I reach back 47 years, I remember working with Omar, Peter, a guy who styled himself as “Boo,” and Sam. Go back 35 years, and I worked with Tim and Jack and Ray and Mark and Bob. At 30 years, it was David and David and Bob and Fil. I could go on, but the point is, that their surnames were not needed on the job. Their first names were, for everyday use. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/236 "2024-09-05T09:05:36Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Y’know, when there are so many ways to attack Harris, why the Republicans are choosing to zero in on whether she actually worked at McDonald’s is beyond me. It’s all they have, so it’s what they’re using. They know they can’t win on a discussion of policy. Attacking their opponents on personal grounds is all they know. We have a whole new generation of Republican politicians who have literally known no other way of campaigning. This goes back at least to Obama’s first election, and arguably further back, to Hillary Clinton. So they’re going with what they know, even as the “attacks” are so lame they’re not even catching on with Republican voters. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/237 "2024-09-05T13:28:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I find it easy to remember people, but names always go away more quickly. I do remember some of the people, though the names are long gone (and the faces were gone instantly or close to it). Some of the people I don’t remember either, though. – hey, I just remembered the full name of somebody I worked in vineyards with in the 1970’s! I don’t expect she’s still alive, though; she’d have to be way over 100. But I don’t remember even the first names of most of them; or of quite a few people I’ve had significant dealing with since then, for that matter. > [@Spoons](#): > > It’s really hard to find a sexual scandal when there isn’t one. Didn’t they try – something about how she got one of her earliest positions? It doesn’t seem to have stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/238 "2024-09-05T13:42:33Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I do remember some of the people, though the names are long gone (and the faces were gone instantly or close to it). Some of the people I don’t remember either, though. What’s worse is _thinking_ I remember people properly, if only their faces, checking via photos or whatever, and realizing I mixed people up between years or even entire cities or companies and would have gone on thinking my memory was accurate if I didn’t have physical evidence to the contrary. As above, trying to defend against this sort of attack is pointless. There’s always going to be some sort of gap or other angle that they will try to pry further open. Offering any sort of proof or evidence misses the point entirely - they don’t really care if Harris ever worked at a McDonald’s or not. They just want a scandal, any scandal, even if they have to manufacture one. If this one doesn’t work (and it’s pretty clear it hasn’t at this point), they’ll just move to something else. And spending all her time and energy fending each of these attacks off as they come is one of the dumbest things she could do. Fortunately, she appears well aware of that. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/239 "2024-09-05T14:39:19Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > We’re talking names here, right? Full on first name, last name? > > I find it easy to remember people, but names always go away more quickly. There are Dopers whose names I forget, even when I remember their posts. I do not know how long Kamala worked at McDonalds. If it was only a month and she was overwhelmed with the ice machine during that time I can understand if she only remembers ‘Cheryl’ her pushy assistant manager. But if this anecdote is brought up in campaign speeches to connect with voters by talking about her roots as a fast food employee then she should have been there long enough to meet a few people. And I am sorry many of you cannot remember the people in your lives, but I and many others can. I have no ulterior motive. I am not JAQing off. I assure everyone here. Kamala is smarter than me, I can easily remember this, it’s strange many are arguing I am some kind of savant that no Presidential Candidate should be expected to compete with. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/240 "2024-09-05T14:45:53Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Y’know, when there are so many ways to attack Harris, why the Republicans are choosing to zero in on whether she actually worked at McDonald’s is beyond me. First, Republicans always attack where the candidate is strongest. Kerry went to Vietnam, Bush didn’t, so they Swiftiboat him. Harris has more modest roots than Trump, so she never worked at McDonald’s. When Rove was running a judicial election, his opponent had been very active with children’s causes, Rove started the rumor that he was a pedophile. Second, it’s part of a general chipping away at Harris, spread enough lies and people question her integrity. Third, it takes up space, look how much time we’re talking about instead of Trump’s crimes, treason and fascism. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/241 "2024-09-05T14:49:17Z")
I’m three years younger than Harris, so three years closer to my high school and college jobs, which were mostly programming jobs with professionals who were there the whole time I was there, not a bunch of short-term McDonald’s employees. I also had a job at college, for two years, working with the same teachers in an on-campus preschool. I don’t remember the names of any of the programmers I worked with. I don’t remember the name of the front desk assistant, even though I had a crush on her. I remember one of the people I worked for because he was a long-time friend of my father’s and remained so after my job was done. I remember the name of the administrator of the pre-school because she had the same name as a famous retailer. I don’t remember the name any other managers, co-workers, or teachers. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/242 "2024-09-05T14:50:07Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Kamala is smarter than me, I can easily remember this For one, and this is a major point, “smart” is not one thing. There are plenty of highly intelligent people who don’t remember names or faces. There are plenty of people who are terrible at, say, math or logical reasoning who can remember names and faces just fine. For two, how she should respond to this even if she does remember names and faces from her time at McDonald’s is an entirely separate question. If she recites off those names and faces, she does two things that IMO she shouldn’t do: one of which is respond to this accusation as if it were a serious issue, thereby letting her opponents set the terms of the discussion; and the other of which is open up those people to a huge amount of publicity which very likely they don’t want, some of that publicity very likely including death threats. I have no idea whether Harris is a super-rememberer of names and/or faces. She might be, because it’s certainly a useful talent for a politician, so I suspect a higher proportion of successful politicians can do this than exists among the entire population. But it has nothing to do with how smart she is, and it has nothing to do with whether she should release such names if she does know them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631.md?page=13)