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Comment by pweissbrod | Hacker News Reader

I wish I could upvote this more. I also dont blame McDonalds as a company. Like any other restaurant they're forced to strike their own line between quality of ingredients vs price. Like any other restaurant they must pander to what their customer base wants. Their success is a reflection of what we have become as a society, gladly choosing such a faceless generic landmark as the focal point of our community. There is just something about it that feels soulless and submissive to me.

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So where should the focal point of your community be? What super-sophisticated place do you socialize at? A bar? Starbucks? The mall? At home in front of the computer?

It's really not hard to find a communal gathering spot a little more high-brow than McDonald's

For example, I live in the suburbs of San Francisco. Not far from me there is a delightful and quaint organic bakery, and across from that is a gorgeous park. On weekends after my kids finish lacrosse practice, my wife and I take them there and enjoy some cheap ($9 each) chocolate croissants while they play on their tablets in the park.

People choosing to congregate in a McDonald's is as inconceivable as choosing to meet up in an outhouse or an abbatoir to me.

But you live in a San Francisco suburb. Try a small town in West Virginia or Alabama. It's very different.

Then the people that live there should make an effort to move out west. Again, not hard -- take some CodeAcademy classes.

That's pretty silly. You both imply we can all fit in the bay area, and that poverty is a trivially solved problem. Both are definitely not true.

I assume you're being a troll. Because the alternatives I can think of are a lot worse.

I can't tell if this comment is sarcastic or not. $9 croissants? I never thought I would defend McDonald's - comparing that place to an outhouse along with your croissant comment just comes across as being incredibly privileged, and not in a very nice way.

Well your comment suggests I'm a privileged and snobby type person, maybe youre right about the privileged part. I live in Maine and I wouldn't say in this town there's one focal point. Different types of folks can be found frequenting different places such as the town rec center and the locally owned coffee shop and yes there's two bars people commiserate at after work. For the most part this community still integrates the wealthier living with the poorer in the same neighborhoods and generally speaking everyone privileged and lesser fortunate take pride in the local economy and integrate well. Now maybe I am being snobby but I do hope everyone in a community has a unique place that defines their community to call their own. I realize that isn't always possible for everyone to put together

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