# 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:** 14
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/263 "2024-09-05T17:02:14Z")
How do you know she doesn’t remember the names of anyone she worked with? I worked at the same place for two consecutive summers a little over 40 years ago. I would have no problem finding someone that remembered me from the second year, I’m still in contact with someone that worked there and know someone that’s in touch with a few of my other coworkers. But the first summer….no…I remember lots of first names but I only remember the last names of 3 or 4 people. They are common names and I don’t think I could find the people based on that info. I did meet someone with the same name as one of these people about 8 years ago, she’d never been married and was about the right age, but I asked and it wasn’t her. All my old workplaces are all over the place like this, I maintained robust connections with some old workplaces and I draw a complete blank on others, Frankly, people that don’t realize how stupid this controversy is are falling for the same old Republican playbook. Trumps big [reason](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2011/feb/14/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-people-who-went-school-obama-nev/) for doubting Obama’s educational background was always “no one knows him, no one remembers him”. And the idea that someone should have a W2 for her? Back when she worked at McDonalds, her W2 would’ve have been typed by her employer on a typewriter and given to her. She would’ve attached one copy to her tax return, and presumably it would’ve been stuck in a paper file somewhere, which would’ve been buried ever more deeply as the years past. I don’t know if the IRS ever scanned old paper tax returns from the ‘80’s and what kind of priority the returns of minimum wage student workers would’ve been given during that project ( if it existed at all). But even if turned out the IRS couldn’t find this 4 decades old slip of paper, I’d be inclined to blame it on them rather than believe that the paper never existed. As an update, some right wing outlets have decided they prefer another [lie](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/harris-mcdonalds-fired-stealing/), the one that she did indeed work there but was fired for theft? Maybe someone should investigate that but I can make better use of my brain cells. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/264 "2024-09-05T17:07:57Z")
I can remember the name of the burger place that was my first job, but that’s it. Who I worked with, my bosses name…vanished in the mists of time. The memories are of no use to anybody, so they got overwritten by more important information like the lyrics to late-70s Jefferson Starship deep tracks and what Otzi had for his last meal. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/265 "2024-09-05T17:09:57Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Frankly, people that don’t realize how stupid this controversy is are falling for the same old Republican playbook. Trumps big [reason](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2011/feb/14/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-people-who-went-school-obama-nev/) for doubting Obama’s educational background was always “no one knows him, no one remembers him”. Exactly this. Imagine that you’re involved in a thread here on the SDMB, and you mention that you worked at McDonald’s one summer as part of a larger conversation. And, then, imagine that some trollish poster kept pestering you with “cite?” This is **exactly** what Trump and his allies are doing here. ---
**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, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/266 "2024-09-05T17:11:26Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This is **exactly** what Trump and his allies are doing here. Or rather, what they aren’t doing anymore because even they know how much of a nothingberder it is. They’ve moved on to trying other avenues of attack. It’s dedicated internet cranks like us that are keeping it alive. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/267 "2024-09-05T17:16:20Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Guys, she met her future husband Doug there. So now we’re at the point of just throwing stuff on the rolling snowball to see what sticks. This is an excellent demonstration of why it is wise of Harris to ignore silly accusations pulled from the ether, and focus on winning the election. ---
**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, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/268 "2024-09-05T17:19:54Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > So these lists about all the reasons she wouldn’t remember anyone there is desperate nonsense and I’ll stop engaging. I think we’re only having this discussion because you keep insisting that any intelligent person would remember everyone or nearly everyone there. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > How do you know she doesn’t remember the names of anyone she worked with? We don’t know whether she does or she doesn’t. It’s entirely possible either way, because people are different. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/269 "2024-09-05T17:38:28Z")
To all those that can remember random details about their past, I don’t really think you are getting the point. 1. If you were Kamala Harris would you respond with whatever facts and figures you had? 2. If the answer is “yes”, what do you think the response from the Right would be? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/270 "2024-09-05T18:09:08Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Once she gets sidetracked into providing any sort of corroborating information - forms, names, etc - that gets followed up by people digging into those and finding anything to criticize and having to deal with that criticism and then leading into a vicious spiral. > > It’s the same birther and Swift Boat nonsense applied to a friggin’ job at McDonald’s, and people are not entitled a response in a form of _their_ preference. Otherwise, she’d just be constantly responding to this nonsense from the Fox News crowd for the next 2 months whenever they say her responses aren’t sufficient or that there’s some inconsistency in what she said. Exactly. The best response for her is to not get sucked into responding to irrelevant nonsense. In retrospect, HRC should have done the same thing with the manufactured email controversy instead of giving it oxygen. As to this manufactured controversy about Kamala Harris’s McDonald’s job, I will point out that I worked at a McD’s for three summers in the ‘80s from ages 16-18. Other than a couple of nametags that I kept as keepsakes, I have no other proof that I ever worked there. I didn’t even file a tax return because I didn’t have any taxes withheld and didn’t make enough money to have to file a return. Nor do I have any recollection of the names of anyone I worked with. I can picture a couple of faces but that’s it. I’ve also never listed the job on a resume. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/271 "2024-09-05T18:43:54Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I think we’re only having this discussion because you keep insisting that any intelligent person would remember everyone or nearly everyone there. Yep 1. It doesnt matter if she knew the names or not. Simply saying my Managers Name was “Bob Smith” proves nothing, not even if Bob comes forward and says he remembers her. 2. Some people remember useless crap like this, others dont. . 3. It doesnt even matter if she worked there or not. ---
**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, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/272 "2024-09-05T19:28:52Z")
The one way in which it would matter whether she worked there or not would be if she were deliberately lying about her personal history. There is however no reason to believe that she’s doing so; so the whole thing’s a nothingburger. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/273 "2024-09-05T19:33:08Z")
Stolen McValor! ---
**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, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/274 "2024-09-05T19:41:07Z")
I mostly commented on memory because I was surprised anyone could remember the full names of anyone they worked with 40 years ago. That’s longer than I’ve been alive! And I’ve forgotten so many names, even of people I was at one time fairly close with. I know their first names, but not their last names. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/275 "2024-09-05T19:49:36Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > it’s likely that there was at least one friend there who she remembers This “friends” of which you speak was not a variable in any of my scut jobs. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/276 "2024-09-05T20:09:09Z")
I worked lots of shit jobs in high school and college. I couldn’t tell you the names of a single person I worked with during those times (i’ve blocked it all out). (except for Sander, who sold me a broken computer then moved away. Cost me 300 bucks. Fuck that guy) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/277 "2024-09-06T00:10:23Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Didn’t they try – something about how she got one of her earliest positions? It doesn’t seem to have stuck. Then you didn’t see the “truth social” Trump put out last week about Hillary and Kamala: “Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently…” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/278 "2024-09-06T00:18:37Z")
For god’s sake, is every single poster on this board going to continue to chime in on whether or not they remember the names of people they used to work with? Maybe someone can shoot me a PM when we’re done? ETA: not you, @mozchron - I’ll bet you remember the name of every mosquito you’ve worked with, even if you can’t remember your co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/279 "2024-09-06T00:19:24Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Maybe someone can shoot me a PM when we’re done? Maybe I will if I can remember your username. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/280 "2024-09-06T00:25:10Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > For god’s sake, is every single poster on this board going to continue to chime in on whether or not they remember the names of people they used to work with? Well, at Boston Market back in 2001 there was Roxy, and Richard, and Tommy, and Jorel, and Mayra, and Amber and her sisters Shawna and Zaia, and Jesus who went by Chuy, and the twins Indra and Ganesha, and Chris who was my sister’s ex-boyfriend, and Dave who went to prison for manslaughter, and Jim whose first cousin was Molly Ringwold, and… I’m sorry, what was this thread about again? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/281 "2024-09-06T00:28:22Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > and Jim whose first cousin was Molly Ringwold, Wait, seriously, she’s my cousin-in-law’s first cousin. So she (my cousin-in-law) might be related to your Jim. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/282 "2024-09-06T00:36:44Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Wait, seriously, she’s my cousin-in-law’s first cousin. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/riqXhieWU3M/maxresdefault.jpg "Spaceballs [1987]: I Am Your Father's Brother's Nephew's Cousin's Former Roommate") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riqXhieWU3M) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631.md?page=15)