#norcs

McDonald's: Global Mega Corp, Local Senior Hangout

The NYT has followed up on their coverage of a group of badass Korean seniors occupying the "courtside seating" at a Queens McDonald's, to the chagrin of management.

The lesson here is simple: people like to choose where they spend their time; generally they want that place to be in the center of the action, provide amenities they enjoy, and serve a functional social purpose.

The Flushing McDonald's Social Club (as I am boldly and very creatively calling it henceforth) is no anomaly in this regard:

They don’t use the local senior center, they said, because it’s in a church a mile and a half away. (Never mind that it’s in a church basement.) “There’s a van that will take us there,” Kun Pae Yim, 86, one of the McDonald’s regulars, told me. “We’re grateful for the offer. But we are not schoolchildren or government workers. We want to see our friends when we choose.” 

Ah, yes. The power of choice afforded by mobility and independence! Any 11 year old making their first solo trips to the local grocery store can relate to the rush of joy you get with freedom.

But for these seniors, there is another element at play. Having a regular meeting spot allows them to check in on each other and have company during otherwise long solo days.

“It’s how we keep track of each other now,” Mr. Yim told me. “Everybody checks in at McDonald’s at least once a day, so we know they’re O.K.” 

Seniors have been on the block for a while. As everyone with a sassy grandmother knows, they know where the best seat in the house is, and how to get it.

After several decades on the planet, they have a finely honed appreciation for quality space that I can only hope the rest of us will acquire with age.

McDonald's could use a little classing up and maybe a new image as a friendly neighborhood senior center rather than a purveyor of pink sludge.

And as the US population continues to age, they might find it beneficial to adapt and welcome older customers rather than call the cops on a bunch of geriatrics.