Do you want fries with that?

Do you want fries with that?

Kamala Harris claims to have worked at McDonald’s to earn extra money while in college. The left wing media merely nodded its head and accepted the admission without question. The right wing media lost its mind, delving into employment records and questioning Harris’ sincerity. Of course, if Trump or Vance had made the statement the media’s coverage would be the opposite. Just like all the attention made about Vance’s comment on childless cat ladies which dominated the left’s reporting for weeks, the Daily Beast and MSNBC would have devoted at least a week of investigative reporting of Vance’s possible employment at McDonald’s.

Was it true that Harris worked at McDonald’s?  Maybe. I worked as a bus boy at IHOP during high school because my father insisted that we work during the summers unless we went to summer school. One summer I worked construction as a hod carrier. In college, my parents forbade me from working insisting that I spend all my time studying. So of course I worked to buy a car that my parents never knew about. I would drive it to the bus station and ride the bus home. I waited tables at a local restaurant in Athens that no longer exists. I got fired. All the white help could take their once daily meal in a section of the dining room but all the black help had to eat in the kitchen. When I decided to eat in the dining room instead, I was fired. Now I doubt very seriously if any of the above is documented in any fashion. Just like I doubt if there is any record of Harris’ time at McDonald’s. I really don’t care. What I wonder about is what Harris learned from working at McDonalds. My parents insisted that we work to learn the discipline of work. Get up. Get to work on time – although Dad insisted that on time was 5 minutes late. Make some money. Save it for a particular goal. Work hard and be rewarded. But most of all, realize that without a college education you were condemned to low paying menial jobs like busing tables and carrying hods. 

Did Harris learn these things at McDonald’s? Did she realize that many if not most of McDonald’s managers started out flipping burgers and asking if you wanted to super size your order? BTW I guess that is what they say at McDonalds because I have not been in a fast food restaurant in the past 30+ years except when I used to stop by Hardee’s for hot tea and a couple of biscuits at 6 AM enroute to a deer stand.

I read one report scoffing at Harris’ claim stating that as the child of two PhDs it is likely that she is making stuff up to seem down to earth. But I know the need for extra cash and perhaps she (like me) didn’t want to ask her folks for more money. Again, did she understand that very few of McDonald’s employees work there as the major earners in their households. Most are dependents. Most will look at this as a starter job not a permanent one. Importantly, Harris should realize that many are adversely affected by government mandated increases in minimum wages. She would now see automation replacing even low wage workers as management is forced to substitute capital for labor. She should see the cost of fast food rising making it more difficult for poorer households to eat out. She should realize that this is the consequence of her advocacy of policies which make energy more expensive and is inflationary. The disappointment is that Harris does not seem to have learned these things from her job at McDonald’s. Her response is likely that of the typical leftist devotee: push people out of work and make them totally dependent upon the largesse of the state. The poor become unemployable and then have to resort to welfare and the black market. Let them eat cake.