# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/21 "2024-09-02T17:35:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My Social Security statements just tell me how much I earned each year. It doesn’t indicate the names of my employers. Looks like form SSA-7050-F4 which you can submit for these records says on page 2 of the form: Itemized statement of earnings will include names and addresses of past emploers ---
**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 2, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/22 "2024-09-02T17:39:52Z")
When I was a wee child working at McD’s last century, girls weren’t allowed to work the fry station or the grill. Front stations only. ---
**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 2, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/23 "2024-09-02T17:41:14Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Our political culture is so screwed up now that claiming to have worked at McDonalds opens you up to accusations of stolen valor [![](https://d26horl2n8pviu.cloudfront.net/pictures/images/000/027/955/large_v3/image.jpg?1425600417) ](https://d26horl2n8pviu.cloudfront.net/pictures/images/000/027/955/large_v3/image.jpg?1425600417) > [@susan](#): > > When I was a wee child working at McD’s last century, girls weren’t allowed to work the fry station or the grill. Front stations only. Women are too delicate to serve in back kitchen ‘combat’ positions. Front line customer-facing roles only! > [@Hampshire](#): > > Looks like form SSA-7050-F4 which you can submit for these records says on page 2 of the form: Itemized statement of earnings will include names and addresses of past emploers But it will list the name of the franchisee, which may not have “McDonalds” in the incorporation name. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/24 "2024-09-02T17:46:12Z")
My first job, at 16, was a Subway sandwich shop. The location still exists – indeed, I stopped in there a week or two ago – but I’m sure the owner/manager, whose name I’ve long forgotten, is likely dead by now. I had one coworker who I had a deep, _deep_ crush on: I thought about her day and night, I made a point of visiting the store in my off time just to chat with her, I concocted a thousand different ways to ask her on a date which of course I never built up the courage to actually follow through with… you know, the whole teenage obsessive crush thing. Now, 28 years later, I can’t even picture her face or remember her name. My second job was at a Waldenbooks in a local mall. Waldenbooks no longer exists. Its parent company, Borders, no longer exists. The mall where it was located no longer exists. I _do_ remember the name of my boss at the time and in fact could contact him fairly easily as his son was in my scout troop when I was the scoutmaster. I don’t remember the names of any of my other coworkers even though I absolutely loved that job and can’t remember a single unpleasant thing about it. But it’s been a quarter century since I’ve worked there. (Shit. Typing that out makes me feel old.) My third job was as a housekeeper/janitor at a local nursing home. The nursing home shut down decades ago and the management company is long defunct. Other than my now wife and her sister, who were both working there when I started, I have no way of contacting anyone who I worked with. I know my boss passed away many years ago. So really, verifying my first 5 years of employment history would be difficult. I could probably track down my Waldenbooks boss to vouch for me, and my wife and SIL could vouch for me working at the nursing home. I have no pay stubs, W2 forms or tax returns, or any other “official” documentation proving I worked at any of those places. After those jobs I moved into healthcare. I did get a CNA license which while long, long expired could be verified easily enough. My longest single employer was ~6 years and I know for a fact they long ago destroyed the employment records from my days working there. Everything was on paper and they had very limited storage. I’m still sort of in contact with one of my old supervisors and have at least one of my old coworkers on Facebook, so while there are people that can vouch that I worked there I doubt there’s any official documentation that I did so. The more I think about this the less certain I am that I could _prove_ with official documentation any employment I had previous to my current employer, for whom I’ve worked for for 12 years now. Perhaps I could request my late 90’s, early 2000’s tax returns from the IRS? That may be my only option as I certainly don’t have anything that old. Proving one worked at a McDonalds for a season or two in the mid-80’s is likely impossible. Not that Harris should try as its just trying to placate the frothing-mouth fascists and she’s a better person than that. Edit. Now I remember. Her name was Heather. I still can’t picture her face though. ---
**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 2, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/25 "2024-09-02T17:46:35Z")
My W-2 from 1988 says Haddad Group and Brewster Companies LLC. One was a McDonald’s the other a Hardee’s. One of them is in ink! ---
**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 2, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/26 "2024-09-02T17:59:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My Social Security statements just tell me how much I earned each year. It doesn’t indicate the names of my employers > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > FWIW, even the [IRS advises that one only needs to hang onto tax return info for seven years](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/how-long-should-i-keep-records) (and most people don’t need to keep more than three years’ worth). Yes, I know. I saved all mine. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. But the point is SS has that info and you can probably just ask for it. ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/27 "2024-09-02T18:01:54Z")
> [@susan](#): > > When I was a wee child working at McD’s last century, girls weren’t allowed to work the fry station or the grill. I worked at Burger King briefly in high school in 1974 (girl). French fry station. It was miserable. Burn splatters all up my arms (short sleeved uniforms). I quit after 2 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/28 "2024-09-02T18:02:14Z")
This is just more desperate thrashing about by the Trump knuckleheads. They have nothing and they know it, whereas his troubles are a room-long buffet of misdeeds to pluck from. ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/29 "2024-09-02T18:05:47Z")
McDonald’s claims that 1 in 8 Americans have worked at a McDonald’s. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/30 "2024-09-11T16:25:59Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [Keyhotea Cornfielded Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyhotea-cornfielded-posts/1007125/40) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/31 "2024-09-02T18:09:32Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > McDonald’s claims that 1 in 8 Americans have worked at a McDonald’s. Yeah, but Democrats come out of the womb as elitists who would never think of working at a McDonalds. ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/32 "2024-09-02T18:11:20Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Yeah, but Democrats come out of the womb as elitists who would never think of working at a McDonalds They don’t work at White Castle, they work at Ivory Tower. ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/33 "2024-09-02T18:17:11Z")
I see little reason for Harris to claim this if untrue. I’d be satisfied if she could finish the sentence “two all beef patties, special sauce…” Really, who cares if she can prove it? **It’s a nothing burger!** However, I am prepared to believe Trump never worked at McDonald’s, even if he kinda looks like an angry Mayor McCheese (or at least the same colour scheme). [![](https://www.mashed.com/img/gallery/the-real-reason-mcdonalds-got-rid-of-mayor-mccheese/intro-1619701822.sm.webp) ](https://www.mashed.com/img/gallery/the-real-reason-mcdonalds-got-rid-of-mayor-mccheese/intro-1619701822.sm.webp) ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/34 "2024-09-02T18:18:29Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Yeah, but Democrats come out of the womb as elitists who would never think of working at a McDonalds. And that, I think, is both (a) why Harris has talked about working at McDonald’s – which, along with her family’s modest living situation after her parents divorced, helps to portray her as coming from a non-elite background, and having a first-hand understanding of the needs and concerns of the working class, and (b) why it’s something very minor, but which the Republicans are choosing to challenge (because it doesn’t fit with how they portray liberals). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/35 "2024-09-02T18:20:08Z")
Republicans fussing about whether or not Harris worked at McDonald’s and listed it on her CV is the most ludicrous attempted political gotcha I’ve ever heard of.\* I had a few short-term jobs before age 20. that I never bothered listing on a CV. It’s a good thing I’ve never run for office. The scandal would be _immense_. \*if Kamala claimed to have operated the deep fat fryer at McD’s but only worked the cash register, then _that_ would be stolen valor. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/36 "2024-09-02T18:25:06Z")
Generally speaking, record retention requirements aren’t all that long- the longest are healthcare ones, and I think the longest one is something like 10 years. You may say “Well, it doesn’t cost anything to keep records around now that things are all digital!”, but that’s not true. The cost isn’t so much in the storage, it’s in the volume, conversion, and truing-up that happens when systems are changed and/or data is migrated from one to another. It doesn’t buy Chili’s anything to keep millions of old records from 1989 around when they have to pay to convert them into the new system and pay for all the storage, etc… I would be amazed if Chili’s has a record of me working there as a busboy in 1989. I would guess that Chili’s has switched payroll systems/providers multiple times in the past 35 years, and that in at least one of them, they purged records that haven’t been updated in some time frame. And yeah, I remember a lot of first names of co-workers, but only a single last name because it was a guy I’d gone to middle school with. Outside of him, it was just relatively common first names like Jim and Bob. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/37 "2024-09-02T18:27:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And of all of my entry-level jobs in high school and college, I can only remember the name of one co-worker at one of them, and that’s only because that guy was already a friend of mine from before that job (in fact, he’s the one who told me they were hiring). Similarly, my first “real” job was at the local library. It was blocks from my high school, and all the entry-level pages came from there. So, I knew my coworkers and could remember lots of their names _because they were my high school classmates BEFORE they became coworkers._. All the other minor jobs I had before then were nearly all babysitting jobs. Two stick in my mind because the divorced moms had married brothers and each had one son, who were cousins. I babysat for both of them. I filched a book of matches from The Daisy from one, because she was always out clubhopping, and The Daisy was the hot club back then. Ah, memories. > [@Chronos](#): > > But how the moose got in the break room, I’ll never know. Groucho shout out! ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/38 "2024-09-02T18:27:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I would be amazed if Chili’s has a record of me working there as a busboy in 1989. > > I would guess that Chili’s has switched payroll systems/providers multiple times in the past 35 years, and that in at least one of them, they purged records that haven’t been updated in some time frame. And, as with McDonald’s, the answer may be different if the Chili’s you worked at was corporate-owned, versus franchised (historically, they have had both). If the latter, you didn’t actually work for Brinker International (the corporate parent of Chili’s), but for that local franchisee. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/39 "2024-09-02T18:30:37Z")
I worked for three fast food franchises from about 1980-1985. First, I worked at franchises so the franchising companies wouldn’t have any records. My W2 would have had the corporation name rather than the well-known company’s name ( PELM restaurants , not Roy Rogers). There are some coworkers and even a manager or two whose full names I remember - but even though I’m still in contact with at least one person from each place over 40 years later, that’s because they are my actual friends and therefore not impartial proof - sure the assistant manager remembers me working there in 1985. He also goes to 20 baseball games a year with my husband and me. Two of the locations no longer exist as any sort of restaurant and the third has been through at least a couple of owners so even if corporations kept records for 40 years those ones wouldn’t exist. Only someone who never worked for any sort of franchised or small business would imagine that a simple phone call would prove anything about who worked there 40 odd years ago. Even a McDonald’s owned location wouldn’t have the records of part-time workers from 40 years ago. I’d almost be more suspicious if she came up with someone who remembered her working at McDonald’s ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631/40 "2024-09-02T18:30:39Z")
I honestly don’t know, although considering that it was Houston in 1989, it may well have been a corporate store. There weren’t many in Houston at that point (I worked at the one just west of 59 on Bissonnet) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kamala-harris-work-at-mcdonalds/1006631.md?page=3)