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(ANALYSIS) “Would you like fries with that?”
Who knew that question might play a role in the 2024 presidential campaign?
Given my quarter-century on the Godbeat, I can offer insight on a variety of subjects: Faith-based disaster relief. Religion in public schools. The role of faith in sports.
But my expertise on another buzzworthy matter predates my career as a religion reporter.
I’m referring, of course, to the golden arches.
In case you missed it, McDonald’s — yes, the Chicago-based fast-food chain — has emerged as a hot topic of conversation in the race for the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, has talked about working at McDonald’s to earn spending money during college. Her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, has accused her of lying about that summer job.
Trump, meanwhile, made headlines this week by donning an apron and taking a turn at the fryer at a McDonald’s in the swing state of Pennsylvania. As you might expect, his performance drew mixed reviews. Unrelated to Trump, the company found itself in the news as the result of an E. coli outbreak.
An often-cited figure estimates that 1 in 8 Americans worked at McDonald’s at some point. The chain boasts more than 13,500 locations across the U.S.
In some ways, McDonald’s is like a church. Nearly every town has one. And people of all kinds are welcome.
As a 16-year-old high school student in 1984, I got my start making Big Macs, Quarter Pounders with Cheese and Chicken McNuggets. For those old enough to care, I can provide behind-the-scenes wisdom on the short-lived McD.L.T. — “hot side hot, cold side cold.”
My arrival coincided with the launch of a new national advertising campaign that declared “It’s a good time for the great taste” of McDonald’s. I’m pretty sure that timing was just a coincidence.
I made minimum wage — $3.35 per hour at the time — when I started and celebrated when I got a 40-cent raise after just a few months. I worked nights and weekends for two full years and returned for a holiday break or two while home from college.
In that same decade, Robert Fulghum wrote the best-selling book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” extolling simple virtues such as sharing, being kind and cleaning up after oneself.
I’ve always maintained — only half-jokingly — that all I really need to know I learned working at McDonald’s:
Nearly every U.S. town has a McDonald’s. (Shutterstock photo)
• I learned the value of showing up on time and working hard. I also learned that not everyone does this, so don’t answer your phone on your off day if you don’t want overtime.
• I learned the value of working as a team. On any given night, my assignment might change — from squirting tartar sauce on Filet-O-Fish sandwiches to greeting customers at the drive-thru window to clearing tables and mopping the floor. But each crew member had an important role to play.
• I learned the value of responding with kindness when patrons were upset. Or trying to, anyway. Hell hath no fury, don’t you know, like a hungry human who orders a cheeseburger with no pickle and bites into one anyway.
• I learned that if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.
• I learned the value of acknowledging mistakes and moving on. And in case anyone missed my apology, I really am sorry for that morning decades ago when I mistook a white powdery substance used to clean grease vats for flour. In retrospect, I thought the biscuits looked a little flat that Saturday morning.
• I learned the value of friendships. My fellow crew members became some of my best friends. We donned our ugly burgundy uniforms and paper hats together, then enjoyed hanging out at the mall, going to see movies or even scouting the competition (there was a Wendy’s across the street).
Bobby Ross Jr., right, played on a McDonald’s co-ed softball team as a teen in the 1980s. He’s pictured with his younger brother, Scott.
Friends who worked together at McDonald’s in the 1980s reunite at a Texas Rangers game in 2023. Pictured, from left, are Barry Ryan, Rick Kalifa, Scott Ross, Bobby Ross Jr., Tony Cintron and Cintron’s wife.
We even had a co-ed softball team, and man, I was skinny back then. I got an employee discount and ate a full McDonald’s meal during every shift, so that’s particularly surprising.
Eventually, I left the fast-food business for the retail industry, spending a few summers as a Walmart checker. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Not only did I make $5 an hour, but when my shifts ended, my hands didn’t smell like pickles or onions.
I’m not sure what it says about America that we’re talking about McDonald’s at a time marked by so many pressing concerns — from wars and immigration to taxes and trade.
Perhaps it says we love fast food and soft serve cones (on those occasional days when the ice cream machine isn’t broken).
READ: Planes, Trains And Automobiles (Even Motorcycles): The Road To Religion News
Perhaps it says we can’t get enough of Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, Grimace or the other friends we made as kids.
Perhaps it says that not a whole lot has changed.
Trump may be the first president to ride down the golden escalator and end up as a fry cook — albeit briefly — under the golden arches. But he’s not the first to voice his affection for the burger chain.
Remember former President Bill Clinton? He apparently still loves McDonald’s.
For my part, I’m forever grateful for my McDonald’s experience and its positive influence in my life.
And, oh yeah, I learned one more thing: the value of suggestive selling.
“Would you like fries with that?”
Inside The Godbeat
Tick tock.
Election Day is just a week from this Tuesday.
Did you know the Amish could decide the outcome? Religion Unplugged’s own Clemente Lisi explains how.
The Amish could play a crucial role in the 2024 presidential election. (Unsplash photo)
Elsewhere, the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas delves into religion’s role in the campaign’s home stretch.
Both presidential candidates are fighting for the support of Arab and Muslim American voters and Jewish voters, The Associated Press’ Zeke Miller and Joey Cappelletti note.
And finally, the New York Times’ Ruth Graham chronicles the faith — inside and outside the Black church — of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Final Plug
Do all dogs go to heaven?
I’ve contemplated that question a bit more since Frannie — a 5-year-old basset hound rescue — came to live with my wife, Tamie, and me a few months ago.
Tamie Ross and Frannie go for a walk on a cool fall morning in Oklahoma. (Photo by Bobby Ross Jr.)
Speaking of man’s — and woman’s — best friend, Angela Youngman did an interesting feature for Religion Unplugged on “paws in the pews.” Writing from London, she explores how some churches go out of their way to welcome dogs.
READ: How Covering Pope John Paul II’s 1999 Visit To St. Louis Changed My Journalism Career
Meanwhile, The Associated Press’ Giovanna Dell’Orto travels to Cambridge, New York, to detail how Orthodox monks breed and train canines — and learn about God from them.
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.
Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.