SF homeless battle McD’s over pricing
Homeless people and their advocates have taken to fighting over one MacDonald’s restaurant decision to raise the cost of their “dollar menu” items fifty cents;
The decision, made by the owner of the franchise, does not particularly affect any of the other McDonalds in the area. However, the restaurant is located across the street from Golden Gate Park and an almost steady stream of homeless people who often order the cheapest items available on the menu now say the approximately half dollar difference in prices sometimes means the difference between eating and not eating.
It is no wonder that some believe the price hike was aimed at the homeless population.
“That means that the Dollar Menu is a hoax, a fraud, a phony,” says Blake Edwards. “If you come here and say ‘I want something off the Dollar Value Menu,’ they say, ‘Well, we no longer have it, but this is what it is.’ Yet, you can’t get it for a dollar. It’s basically a lie.”
I quit going to MacDonald’s in DC because they were all infested with filthy, smelly street dwellers who would panhandle from me while I was eating. The stench was overwhelming and unnecessary. There are empty beds at the shelters every night in DC. Charities deliver food twice everyday to the hobos on their park benches (and then the bums throw their Styrofoam plates on the ground instead of walking the six feet to a trash can).
I’m pretty sure the situation in San Francisco is probably the same. In the eleven years that I lived in DC, I saw the same hobos at the same corners every single day. Being homeless is a career. Raising prices 50 cents doesn’t mean that there will be dead bums lining the sidewalks of San Francisco.It just means that they’ll have to get their food somewhere else like the rest of us who can’t afford to eat out.
Category: Society
I worked in downtown DC for several years and like Jonn saw the same homeless on the streets every day. Its like they stake out their street and then never stray. I was in a McDonalds one afternoon and one of the homeless took a break from panhandling and came in to order lunch. He pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket that would get him busted for selling drugs in other states. The .50 cent raise ain’t gonna hurt them one bit. Jonn is right on when he posts ‘Being homeless is a career’
Off of South Capitol there is an overpass (behind the DMV off Maine Ave. where the school used to be) that was used as shelter by some of them. Some squads made it a habit to run through there for PT being as loud as possible until the District finally fenced off all but a narrow passageway and drove the bums out. Some guys had nicknames for some of the bums; Jamz was one homeless guy that would always get money from some of my coworkers as he would dance for us.
While in Chicago, I saw the same thing. And last March in DC getting off at exit with an overpass…I was stopped and a homeless guy approached. I had no cash, but I had snacks and water. My son rolled the window down to give him a water and an apple. He said, “I don’t want your fuckin’ water.” And I decided right then that I will never give anything to a panhandler again. I will give more to my church.
According to the SF Examiner, the “hardcore homeless” that are left around GGP don’t want help anyway.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Golden-Gate-Park-homeless-ignore-outreach-efforts-69251957.html
Until the Owebowma changes things, I believe McD’s is a private business. That means, they can charge what they want, if the customers buy it, that means the price is still right. If they don’t, and they end up with hamburgers left over day after day, the price is too high. Not up to the homeless or the gub’mint to set the price for McD’s.
We had the same problem at the McD’s in the town I worked at, until we started taking a break in the place, amazing how fast the “homeless” would disappear when someone in blue walked in the door.
You’re right Scott, same problem here, they don’t want the meals served up at the shelters, not rich enough for them, I guess, they’d much rather panhandle and go to McD’s or Burger King.
I live within Palestinian Striking Distance of this McDonalds, and find myself highly amused by the situation. It’s not like the 50 cent increase actually has an effect on the stuff Upper Haight’s homeless contingent (there are actually two; the old career homeless, and the runaway Marin County trustifarians, who are “Weekend-Homeless”), since whatever food they get from McDonalds they pull out of the dumpster anyway. Maybe they don’t understand the price on that stuff is still free.
SF’s got a serious homeless problem, and due to the collective White Guilt of the voting inhabitants, will likely continue to have a problem for the indefinite future. If I thought McDonalds raising prices would reduce the number of homeless here, I’d be petitioning them to change the Dollar Menu to the Ten Dollar Menu.
Shit, and to think I just ordered off it because it was cheaper. Yeah, I know that most of those franchises are ORDERED to sell those items (most at a loss) to bring in more business for their other items. So what if a business wants to stop losing money? Ain’t no hair off my ass if the homeless have to work for a living like the rest of us.
Actually, I’ll even take it one step further. If the homeless (supposedly the worst off) in this country are concerned with the fact a meal might cost a few cents more, what does that say about how REALLY bad off they are, considering some of the shitholes I’ve seen on this green earth where people couldn’t find ANY food at ANY price, not that they had the money to buy any were it available in the first place?
well said, NHSparky. Most of the “poor” in America don’t even know what poor looks like.