McDonald’s ‘New Policy’ Bans Customers from Buying Food for Homeless

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/05/22/mcdonalds-new-policy-bans-customers-from-buying-food-for-homeless/

“It took some serious persuasion to convince them I wasn’t homeless. I admit I was wearing scruffy clothes because I’d been working outside all day. That’s no reason to assume I live on the streets. I’m angry that I had to justify myself in front of a massive queue of strangers. Yet what I find most disgusting is that policy like that even exists. It completely victimises homeless people. Surely if you have the money in your hand and you want to purchase a meal, you should be treated like any other customer,” he added.

McDonalds apologized for the humiliating ordeal, but the corporate headquarters insisted that this was not an official story policy.

Just weeks later, a 19-year-old girl named Charlotte Farrow visited that same exact McDonalds in hopes of purchasing some food for a homeless man who she saw on her walk to work. She was also denied service and told that it was their policy not to serve homeless people.

“We queued up and the homeless guy tried to get some money out before I told him I was paying. Then the supervisor said ‘we don’t serve homeless people’. He said the business manager told them they weren’t allowed to serve homeless people. They said it was a new policy,” Farrow told Manchester Evening News.

“It was his attitude towards the guy – we were both customers so there shouldn’t be any difference. I think it’s absolutely awful and completely immoral. We’re all human beings. I wouldn’t expect to be treated like that. If they’re refusing to serve homeless people it’s extremely judgemental,” she added.

[newfie11]

1. Unfreaking believable

Good religious folks no doubt!

[reddread]

2. typically comes down to management attitudes

there was quite a problem at one location, when they refused bathroom access to regular homeless customers, particularly
a lady known as "wheelchair Sherrie" a person who had physical issues best left to the imagination.
That became the basis of a very legitimate lawsuit which never saw it's finish because of her passing.
A death that was complicated by hospital neglect and patient dumping. On one occasion she was injured in the McDonald's parking lot when being dumped there. It is a long and complicated story, with a very unhappy ending for her and those who cared about her.

That McDonald's was/is located in a fairly low rent area surrounded by prostitution and drugs, with homeless people living in dirt lots, parks and formerly underneath a meridian row of Oleanders which the city ripped and and fenced off.

The homeless that they resent often buy coffee there and should be able to sit around all morning like any other elderly patron.
The scope of the problem is not really McDonald's fault. How they choose to cope with a localities demographics is.
When these acts of discrimination occur, it is important to realize that other nearby corporate restaurants and fast food chains
do not usually behave the same.
It comes down to the individual franchise management, and perhaps McD's is particularly a frequent location of problems.
Nobody should be frequenting those places anyway.

[SoCalDem]

3. Never judge a book by its cover..

Years ago when I worked at a bank in Indiana, a scruffy disheveled man came in and asked one of the tellers if he could see an officer. She asked him to take a seat and then called one of our vice presidents (back then they all sat at desks in the big ole lobby)

One came over and introduced himself and took the man to his desk.. Why was he there?

He was there to transfer all his money to our bank.. The bank across the street shooed him out of their lobby, thinking that he was a homeless guy who came in to get warm..

He was wearing a dirty corduroy coat, worn out boots & a raggedy old hat..and he hadn't shaved in a while (stubble was not always a fashion statement)..

Turns out he was a millionaire farmer who happened to race to his bank before he had a chance to get inside & clean up. Banks closed at 3 pm back in those days & he had to race into town..no atms back then either.

He had no credit cards but needed some cash to take his wife to dinner for her birthday..

[JustAnotherGen]

6. This is very true in my life

Add on a few extra points for my husband driving up in a 2001 Yukon after a day of installing gates he custom crafted for some hedge fund guy upon Greenwich. He doesn't complain, he doesn't, bemoan - he's lucky. He just doesn't feel the need o flash around what he has and doesn't want to be anywhere that he would be treated differently. We all put or underpants on the same way.

[DFW]

9. Same thing happened to me personally

In 1986, the car that I kept in Germany, a Datsun with US specs, was running out of parts available in Europe, so I decided it was time for a new one. Due to Reagan's crazy interest rate policies, it was a time when the US dollar was at an artificial high against the D-Mark, and so German products were insanely cheap, including cars.

Where I was, in our suburb of Düsseldorf, there were 3 dealerships right next to each other, so I took an afternoon off to check out what they had. I had certain idea of what I wanted with respect to size (not too big) safety (sturdy) and reliability (don't have the time to run back and forth getting it repaired).

I first went to Audi. They had some models with the right size, but the trunk was so small, I couldn't even get one of my guitars in there. Scratch Audi.

Next in line was Mercedes. Size in the 200 series was fine, mileage, too, Delivery? Oh, in about 18 months. Great. A year and a half? Scratch Mercedes.

The last dealership was BMW. By now it was raining like it was Monsoon season in Calcutta. Drenched, I walked into the BMW place. I was the only customer in there. It seems I wasn't the only one who found the downpour unpleasant. Admittedly, I must have looked like a hobo, or close to it, but even so, I DID walk into a BMW dealership voluntarily. You would think think that people that do that do so because they are interested in cars. There were close to ten salesmen on duty. One by one, they all took one look at me and turned their heads the other way. No way THAT bum was in there to buy a car from us, right? After all, THEY all had blow-dried hair and wore ties.

I gave up and drove my ailing Datsun back to the center of town, where I had something to do at the bank. The bank officer I worked with asked me what car I had decided on. I said none, and told him why. He was shocked at my treatment by BMW, said they had their account with him, and he knew the daughter of the owner of the franchise. She was also the business manager. He asked my permission to call her and tell her what happened. I said go right ahead, there was nothing she could do to make the situation worse at that point. She was appalled, apologized profusely via the bank guy, and said if I wasn't completely pissed off, she would take care of me personally if I would come back.

I said sure, why not, as I still needed a car, and rain or not, it was only an 8 minute drive back to the car dealerships. I went to their reception desk and asked for the name of the woman the bank said to ask for. I was given a skeptical look, but the receptionist called up to the owner's daughter. She came down right away, got me coffee, and asked what I was looking for. I told her the size, that all I wanted was a stick shift, a catalytic converter (not yet mandatory on Germany), and decent trunk space.

She showed me a model they had that fit all of my needs. Because of the crazy exchange rate, my new BMW 525 would cost $15,000 or so (good old days, eh?), and be ready in 6 weeks. I signed a purchase agreement within 30 minutes (my needs were simple, after all). She told me that she was furious to hear that not one of her salesmen would even say hello to me when I walked in there before, and later told me she had fired every single one of them within six months. She remarked, correctly, that they would never be able to pay the rent if the very guys whose job it was to sell cars decided in advance which people walking in could buy one and which could not.

This wasn't an isolated incident, either. Germans can be just as prejudicial as anyone else. One of my wife's girlfriends is a well-educated instructor of severely handicapped children. She comes from a very blue collar neighborhood, dresses simply, and talks with the accent of her area. She is also the wife of one of the area's most successful business consultants, and they are very wealthy. They just don't see any point in showing off. A couple of years ago, she walked into a store to look for some new bed linen. A saleswoman started showing her around, and when she got to looking at some top-of-the-line sheets, the saleswoman told her, "oh, those are too expensive for you." She could have bought out the place, but because she saw no pressing need to dress the part, the particular sheets she liked were "too expensive for her." Being the laid-back soul that she is, she said something to the effect that she thought she could manage the cost all the same. I marveled at her restraint.

[PotatoChip]

4. Only 2 weeks ago in Manhattan, I gave a homeless woman a $10 McDonalds gift card.

It had been a gag gift (long story behind that).

Anyway, when I saw her, I remembered I still had it in my wallet, and handed it to her explaining how much was on the card. She was so grateful, that I wished it could have been something better than that. I hope she will be able to use it without embarrassment or harsh judgement.

I'm assuming this is just that one franchise, but it makes the situation no less infuriating. Far too many people in this country seem to have lost any sense of kindness or decency. Some are just downright cruel. When I read about things like this, it really makes me hope that there is such a thing as Karma.

[Live and Learn]

5. Lame excuse from corporate headquarters.

This disgusting practice should be banned and condemned worldwide. Shame on anyone that would sanction this discrimination.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. Shame on them n/t

[Exilednight]

8. So much for the old saying that everyone's money is the same, totally

Disgusting practice. I wonder if McDonald's can be sued for discrimination.