# "Do you have McDonald's money?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553 "2020-05-10T22:10:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/1 "2020-05-10T22:10:26Z")
Said in response to a child asking the question, “Can we go to McDonald’s?” Growing up, I heard this from my mothers and older siblings a lot. (I never heard it from my father because he would take you to McDonalds whether you wanted it or not.) While annoying to hear, it taught me to save my asks for big things. I’d be clowned if I asked for little things that I could pay for if I searched the couch cushions hard enough. It is conventional wisdom on BlackTwitter that this is a “black thing”. I’m inclined to agree, but I don’t really know. So white folks, did you grow up hearing this expression? I’m not talking about something similar. “Do you have money?” doesn’t count. It must be “McDonald’s money.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/2 "2020-05-10T23:33:25Z")
Never heard it until now. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/3 "2020-05-10T23:34:31Z")
Never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/4 "2020-05-10T23:46:08Z")
no, but see I grew up differently because if your on SSI/SSA, if you don’t get a portion of your money in your hand from about 10 years on you, can file a complaint and the parents/guardian/payee will get investigated So most of the time unless it was something big, ridiculous or inappropriate we weren’t told any too often and if we were it was more along the lines us talking ourselves out of it ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/5 "2020-05-11T00:00:01Z")
I heard kids’ parents say it when I was little. I can’t swear that it was or wasn’t only black parents saying it, though it’s certainly possible given that I lived in a diverse city the first ten years of my life and knew a lot of black kids. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/6 "2020-05-11T00:00:59Z")
Never heard that phrase ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/7 "2020-05-11T00:40:55Z")
I never heard the phrase because we almost never went out. And when we did it mostly was never fast food. The only times i really got fast food was when I did something with a school activity - say a band trip/ amusement park - or one of the very few times my mom would not have anything prepared and would take us to the local KFC. For a couple of years my brother worked at a local Long John Silvers and we would get stuff from there every couple of weeks. Ironically I never had a weight problem until i went away to college and discovered “McDonalds.” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/8 "2020-05-11T00:42:44Z")
I’ve only heard it from Black Twitter. We grew up poor and often were denied McDonald’s when we asked but I don’t remember mom ever suggesting we couldn’t afford it, or we could go if _I_ could afford it. She just said no. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/9 "2020-05-11T00:55:41Z")
I certainly heard the sentiment growing up (white), but never that particular phrasing. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/10 "2020-05-11T00:58:05Z")
Never heard the phrase, but I did grow up in a lily-white suburb. What I did hear a lot of was “No.” At the time, I thought it was unfair, but I was the oldest of 5 with a SAHM, and while my dad had a good job, there wasn’t a whole lot to spare. The rare trip to McD’s was a huge treat. And I’m pretty sure if we’d asked if we could go to McD’s with our own money, we’d be told no, because it wouldn’t be very fair to allow one kid to get it, especially if the others were saving for something in particular. If everybody couldn’t, nobody could - that was the rule. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/11 "2020-05-11T01:21:17Z")
Never heard the expression until now. Even asking the question could be enough to get me in trouble and would usually elicit a “if you don’t want to eat our food you can skip dinner” or something to that effect. That’s not to say we didn’t occasionally have fast food, but asking it for it was not a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/12 "2020-05-11T01:30:21Z")
I’ve only heard it on BT as well. A similar meme I’ve seen that was true for us growing up was “We have food at home.” (Or, “We have _xxx_ at home.” when asking for _xxx_.) [Back to the Future (But Black)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rYE01XLhWY). I showed this to my wife and her response was: “They didn’t have McDonald’s in 1945.” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/13 "2020-05-11T01:31:57Z")
The way people are responding, I’m wondering if anyone’s parents have said, “You want to go to McDonald’s! OK! Grab your coat!” ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@cornflakes2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes2)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/14 "2020-05-11T01:53:29Z")
Never heard of McDonald’s money, or BlackTwitter. LOL. This may also explain why african americans have a higher death rate when contracting covid19 than any other demographic group (being that they are poorer and ate fast food all the time to become obese). Also on a side note, I don’t think it’s the burgers that is the problem…we often think of the burgers as the bad food in the fast food imagery…but burgers are actually quite healthy. It’s the excessive amount of soda (refined white sugar) that you drink when ordering fast food that is the #1 problem and then the french fries (deep fried oil…that’s a killer). ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/15 "2020-05-11T02:02:46Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > It is conventional wisdom on BlackTwitter that this is a “black thing”. I’m inclined to agree, but I don’t really know. …“Do you have money?” doesn’t count. It must be “McDonald’s money.” Nope, never heard it. I mean, considering [McDonald](https://www.warc.com/NewsAndOpinion/News/32289)’s itself is a [black thing](https://www.statista.com/statistics/670921/mcdonalds-most-frequent-diners-by-ethnicity-us/), it’s not surprising. It’s been kind of the business model for decades to build in low-income, non-white neighborhoods and advertise to that clientele. Not that “Chick Fil A money” is a thing anyone says, either. ::shrug:: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/16 "2020-05-11T02:08:11Z")
Nope. This is my first time hearing it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/17 "2020-05-11T02:24:16Z")
> [@cornflakes2](#): > > Never heard of McDonald’s money, or BlackTwitter. LOL. > > This may also explain why african americans have a higher death rate when contracting covid19 than any other demographic group (being that they are poorer and ate fast food all the time to become obese). This thread is literally about the trope that black parents don’t let their kids eat at McDonalds, posted by a black woman whose mother didn’t let her kids eat at McDonalds. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/18 "2020-05-11T02:40:35Z")
Never heard of “McD’s Money”. But I remember understanding the concept of “Save your asks” at a very young age. I knew that if I REALLY wanted something from mom or pops, to wait until they’ve had a few cocktails for better odds that they would say yes to whatever the hell it was I wanted. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/19 "2020-05-11T02:52:23Z")
> [@cardinal\_fang](#): > > I’ve only heard it on BT as well. A similar meme I’ve seen that was true for us growing up was “We have food at home.” (Or, “We have _xxx_ at home.” when asking for _xxx_.) > > [Back to the Future (But Black)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rYE01XLhWY). > > I showed this to my wife and her response was: “They didn’t have McDonald’s in 1945.” I caught that hilarious video on Reddit yesterday. The confused comments from obviously white Redditors inspired this thread. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/20 "2020-05-11T04:18:30Z")
Never heard of it. Grew up solidly middle to upper middle class and the money for McDonald’s was always available. We had fast food fairly frequently in summer, better weather and there was one of the McDonald’s with a playground nearby. We had McDonald’s more frequently when my dad was out of town. He wasn’t a huge burger guy so we had Long John Silvers, Arby’s or pizza more when he was home. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553.md?page=2)