# Old folks using McDonald's as an old folks' home. What would you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926 "2014-01-16T02:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/201 "2014-01-25T19:19:34Z")
> [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > I would try to avoid growing old. > > I mean, what else could I do? Not be a complete ass if/when you become old. That’s my suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/202 "2014-01-25T19:46:21Z")
> [@weemart](#): > > I think they need to clarify themselves more. They can’t on the one hand offer free refills (plural) to customers who buy 1 drink but also at the same time say that customers need to leave within 20 minutes. The 2 sets of rules aren’t compatible and they should discard one or the other. At least then ppl would know where they stand when they enter the restaurant. Keep fighting the good fight! I’m still working on the free refills from a coffee I purchased in 1989. They didn’t put a limit on when the refills ended, did they! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/203 "2014-01-26T15:22:14Z")
The elderly? Insist that they buy supersize fries each time. Eventually that will solve the problem. eta: Just joking of course. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/204 "2014-01-26T15:36:03Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > Keep fighting the good fight! I’m still working on the free refills from a coffee I purchased in 1989. They didn’t put a limit on when the refills ended, did they! 😃 Of course you’re joking, but [this article](http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/01/116_150528.html) from The Korean Times quotes someone on a message board (presumably a Korean-American one) as saying, “These Korean seniors share a $1 cup of coffee between two to three people and get refills. Sometimes, they even take the cups home, wash them and bring them back for refills. As a Korean, it’s really embarrassing to see this.” The jist of the article is that Korean-Americans are embarrassed by the behavior of the loiterers. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/205 "2014-01-26T16:10:07Z")
Some people suggested playing rock music to try and drive them away. But I doubt that would do it. I’m surprised no one ever suggested playing Japanese music. That should drive them away. They all should still have very anti-Japanese feelings from WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/206 "2014-01-27T22:05:09Z")
Before this weekend, I have not been in a MacDonald’s in probably 5 years. In this case I was hungry, wouldn’t have another chance to eat for 6+ hours and MickeyD was the only show going. So I walked into this suburban Atlanta fast food joint and immediately saw a table full of Asian gentlemen, each with one small coffee in front of them, shooting the breeze. I watched while I ate, thinking of this thread. They were still there when I left, having refilled their small coffees. They probably wondered why the anglo guy was so smiley. I couldn’t help it! ---
**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:** [January 27, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/207 "2014-01-27T22:25:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The jist of the article is that Korean-Americans are embarrassed by the behavior of the loiterers. This one certainly is. I totally understand defending them in public, though. That’s partly cultural. In private, I can see Korean-Americans saying some really nasty things about them. > [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > I’m surprised no one ever suggested playing Japanese music. That should drive them away. They all should still have very anti-Japanese feelings from WWII. I sincerely hope this is a joke. (Oh, and in any case anti-Japanese feelings extend from well BEFORE WWII) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926/208 "2014-04-18T14:02:50Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Yep. When I worked at McDonald’s, lo these many years ago, we had something similar, though not to this extreme. A group of old guys would come in every day, order a coffee and a biscuit, and sit there shooting the breeze with each other for 3-4 hours. For us, it wasn’t a big deal, because there were always enough seats for all the patrons. The old guys usually left before lunch rush. Morning ROMEOs. I see them at virtually every McDonald’s, Burger King, Denny’s, Perkins, and similar places. When I was a kid, the neighborhood McDonald’s had a very low tolerance for teenagers that stayed more than a half hour or so, even those that were quiet, but they’d let seniors and those from a nearby group home for retarded adults hog booths for hours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-folks-using-mcdonalds-as-an-old-folks-home-what-would-you-do/678926.md?page=10)