Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 07-15-2019, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Barrington
63,919 posts, read 46,498,517 times
Reputation: 20674

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by RMESMH View Post
Some of the old folks might pick McDonalds over the library re not being able to bring a beverage into the library.
Policies about food and drink in libraries are highly variable.

Given the limited choice of sitting in a library or McDonalds solely for socialization purposes, I would likely choose McDonalds.

McDonalds has longer hours.

I could observe employees and the ever changing patrons and cluck about them with my peers, all day long.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-15-2019, 11:07 AM
 
6,896 posts, read 4,361,812 times
Reputation: 22507
I had no idea this was a problem. I would rather be home than in a fast food place. I think 45 minutes is reasonable for this type of place.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-15-2019, 11:09 AM
 
77,815 posts, read 59,987,722 times
Reputation: 49195
Quote:
Originally Posted by middle-aged mom View Post
Policies about food and drink in libraries are highly variable.

Given the limited choice of sitting in a library or McDonalds solely for socialization purposes, I would likely choose McDonalds.

McDonalds has longer hours.

I could observe employees and the ever changing patrons and cluck about them with my peers, all day long.
My dads got a bunch of morning coffee buddies that meet up at a local gas station (mom and pop operators from the far east) and sit in their tabled area and basically gossip lol.

They definitely buy stuff there and also don't sit there all day and the owners love them (and vice-versa).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-15-2019, 11:10 AM
 
77,815 posts, read 59,987,722 times
Reputation: 49195
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
I had no idea this was a problem. I would rather be home than in a fast food place. I think 45 minutes is reasonable for this type of place.
I'll admit that if I didn't have air conditioning that hanging out most of the day at the library would definitely have more appeal.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-15-2019, 11:11 AM
 
Location: Upstate NY 🇺🇸
36,754 posts, read 14,733,341 times
Reputation: 35584
Why should they expect that they be allowed to just sit there, nursing a cup of coffee all day?

That's not "bashing" seniors, either.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-15-2019, 11:24 AM
 
36,000 posts, read 30,534,728 times
Reputation: 32269
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy View Post
My dads got a bunch of morning coffee buddies that meet up at a local gas station (mom and pop operators from the far east) and sit in their tabled area and basically gossip lol.

They definitely buy stuff there and also don't sit there all day and the owners love them (and vice-versa).
This is common where I live but Hardees not McDonalds. A bunch of retired men sit around and talk, drink coffee. They have nothing better to do. They also hang out at local diners.

I've never known any of them to sit there all day though, a hour or two maybe between rush times.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2019, 01:09 AM
 
Location: California
2,083 posts, read 1,076,877 times
Reputation: 4422
Quote:
Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post
An update to this 5 year old thread:

The Flushing McDonalds closed in October of last year unexpectedly with no notice to patrons. (One can only imagine what would have happened had there been notice.) A local politician acknowledged that the five year long struggle with the elderly Korean group probably had something to do with it.

The store's employees were reassigned to other McDonalds stores.

A Burger King nearby -- also populated by lingering Korean seniors -- went out of business shortly before the McDonalds store.
I remember this story. Thanks for the update. Yes this group would sit there all day and hog all the tables and booths. Nobody else could come in and sit down and eat breakfast or lunch. Working people or people with families stopped going there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2019, 01:32 AM
 
Location: California
2,083 posts, read 1,076,877 times
Reputation: 4422
Quote:
Originally Posted by middle-aged mom View Post
Most homeless shelters require guests to depart by 7:00 AM. Libraries in walkable communities throughout the US have found themselves in the daylight homeless shelter business, especially during winter.

Then there are the older adults who park themselves for the day to socialize.

Locals oftentimes resent their libraries being monopolized by homeless and/ or ethnic elderly and the increasingly common need for security. A percentage of the homeless and elderly demonstrate dementia/ mental illness.


Others view the situation as a demonstrated need for places designated for daylight sheltering, socialization and hot meals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy View Post
All good points. Civic centers, libraries etc. are just what makes do when you don't have the funds to do more. Imagine how bad it is in places like CA, FL etc. where the weather allows for a more substantial homeless population.
This is happening out here more and more. Homeless taking over the libraries. They come in and charge their phones and take up all the comfy chairs or computer cubicles and never leave. One of our local libraries had to replace some furniture that was more regular material as the homeless ruined the chairs with their body odor and stains from accidents. Everything is plastic now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2019, 02:01 AM
 
1,850 posts, read 1,129,821 times
Reputation: 2435
This McDs must have been company owned. No franchisee could have lasted 4-5 years with all this freeloading.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2019, 02:04 AM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
2,752 posts, read 2,374,386 times
Reputation: 3150
The McDonald's closest to me has a sign explicitly stating you're only allowed to sit around for 30 minutes after your meal has been consumed. After that, they'll kick you out. I've seen it happen before.

This should be a company-wide rule. The whole franchise thing must be why there's such huge discrepancies in enforcement.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top