My father sent me this informal email poll from one of his friends in Chicago. It is a little long but I thought worth passing along. (Please feel free to answer the poll in the comment section as well… leave age, sex, relationship status.)
The Question: Would you go out with a 50 year old guy who works at McDonald’s simply because he’s cute and charming?
RESULTS: 24 females polled through email; 18 responses; names are fictitious; ages actual
RESPONSES
Females – in a relationship (answered as if they were not in a relationship)
Jane (over 50): yes with reservations; if doing McDonald’s so can do other things like read or art, yes; also depends on position at McDonald’s – manager, yes. If a fry cook, she would question his aspirations.
Katrina (26): obvs (obviously!). He’s probably doing some mindless work to step back from his life and write the great American novel.
xoxo
Kris, aka ConfuciusNina: As much as I would like to think I would not date a guy who works at McDonalds just because he’s cute and charming – I suspect I probably would – and experience the occasional bout of embarrassment. At least he has a real job?
And he would have to be a little more than JUST attractive and charming.
Females – married (answered as if they were single instead)
Paula (54): Probably not. Because most good looking and charming men I have come to know are full of shit and with very big egos to feed.
Maybe I would go out with a 20-year-old who works at McDonald’s that I could have as a boy toy.
I hope you weren’t looking for a yes or no answer.
Maureen (34): A date to get to know him better – maybe. If he were practically poverty-ridden, though, that – in combination with being nearly 16 years my senior – would be a definite NO for me.If he were my own age: I’d definitely still be worried about being in the position of having to support him financially, if we ever became serious. If he were completely broke, and unlikely to motivate himself to do anything to cease being completely broke in the near future, I wouldn’t want to deal with him in a serious relationship and probably wouldn’t bother getting involved with him at all. I’d rather adopt a child than a grown man. If I were a wealthy lady of leisure with money to burn, I’d probably have a blast with him.
Ida (mid 40’s): Depends on whether he is someone that I can have a conversation with. I can’t draw any assumption from your question whether this guy has brains or not.
Beatice (55): humm… sure. Why is he working at McDonald’s? In-between opportunities or good health insurance?
Alvene (56+): I am happy to participate in your poll.
My answer is yes.
Yes, I would go out with a 50 year old guy who works at McDonald’s simply because he’s cute and charming. . . because of this:
I wouldn’t feel obligated to look for someone “worthy” of spending my life with, so a cute, charming date would be just the right way to pass a few hours here and there.
My thinking is this: If I was suddenly single, it would be because I no longer had my current near-perfect mate. That would mean he was either no longer of this world, had dumped me, or I’d thrown him out for poor behavior. Losing him to the first condition would cause me to raise him in my memory to even higher god-like status, so knowing I would never find a mate as fabulous as he, I wouldn’t look for a serious life-partner replacement, and any fun person would be fine to pass time with occasionally.
If he dumped me or earned being dumped, I’d rationalize that, if a near-perfect mate could disintegrate so, I certainly wouldn’t allow myself to be put into another dangerous situation, and so would never consider time spent with anyone to be related to the future.
But wait. Who am I kidding? The real reason is I’d never consider allowing a new man into my life for longer than a few hours, regardless of whether he worked at McDonalds or ran American Airlines. I’m considerably too independent and self sufficient to ever need one, and given how much trouble they are and how many, many years it takes to train even a good one, I certainly wouldn’t allow a new one to take on an important role.
Jamie (59): Yes, I would probably go out with him once and then ask a lot of questions. Is this your only job? Why are you working here? Can I get free fries??????
Do you still live with your mother? How much money does this job pay? Are you retired and this your fun job?
Melinda (50): Yes, because I think one has to be smart to be charming, or at least, to charm me.
Vickie (mid 40’s): Nope. Not unless there were extreme extenuating circumstances.
Females – single
Carissa (54): part time or full time?
Full time, I would have no problem. Part time would set me on another series of questions, but that’s just me.
Kabby (55): Hmmmmmm. That takes some thought, not actually a very simple question. If he is charming, what does that mean? Why is he working at McDonald’s is the question, and then I could better answer. I guess I am open to the possibility. Has he always worked there, since like high school? Or was he a successful stock broker who went through rehab and then wanted to make a fresh start. Maybe he is an artist who is doing some research for a project. I could go on and on which is not what you want from your survey. When do I get my stipend??
Ada (50+): Why not? Is the problem that there’s no money to be found in the guy?
I’d take cute and charming in an instant over “loaded.” Especially after having a marriage where there was money, but not the cute and charming…
I want a relationship. There’s other ways to find money. Fun/good relationships are much more difficult to find.
Okay, if the person has money and is cute and charming, that’s great. However, if I have to make the choice, I’d choose “cute and charming” (until I found out something negative about the guy that helps to explain why he’s working at McDonald’s).
Never a simple yes or no from me.
Reaba (52): Is he an employee at McDonald, Inc.? Or, is he an employee at a restaurant? Does he work with burgers or with milkshakes?? Is there a punch line here???
If the guy is cute and charming and we’re both only looking for cuteness and charm (spelled S-E-X), I’d probably say yes. Otherwise, I’m not really sure that I’m interested in meeting any guy—either behind the counter or behind the big desk!!
Please share the results of your survey!!
Addison (48): Only if he told me he was writing a book about the experience, like Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, “Nickled and Dimed.”
Cute and charming aren’t enough at 49. Maybe at 22, but not now. I like men who are ambitious. I think that my biological clock is speaking (even tho it’s moot now), it’s subconsciously looking for the best mate to share my offspring with, and that means best breadwinner & genes, too. I’m not sure we’d have enough in common, too. Besides, I never eat there. I think the fast food industry is gross: what it does to the environment and animals, how the food is standardized, etc. I veer closer to being a vegan/vegetarian, not entirely, but close. Also, I hate fake food (their milkshakes are fake).
Cimberly (54): A cute and charming man in his 50’s who worked at McDonald’s might attract me, but I wouldn’t go out with him until I knew something a bit further about him. In fact, I wouldn’t go out with anyone until I knew something further about them. After finding out that the person was not an axe murderer or on the state’s most-wanted list, I wouldn’t rule him out because he worked at McDonald’s. There are many reasons why people might work at there. For one thing, McDonald’s stock usually does well. Possibly the person is starting at the bottom to learn all the details of running his own franchise, or is training for a management position. Or the person may be doing research on the charities of McDonald’s or the chain’s diversity employment practices.
If the question is would I go out with a cute and charming 50 year old fry cook at McDonald’s who wanted to do nothing else with his life ~ even then, maybe, because it is really what’s on the inside of the person that interests me. Am I really any better of a person than he is? I’d go out with the fry cook not simply because he is cute and charming; but if he is a really super person who loved me tremendously, treated his family, friends and strangers with consideration and kindness, and made me feel like a million bucks even though he doesn’t have a million dollars.
Good people come in all shapes, sizes, and employment stature.
Chatke (50+): If cute and charming = fun, yes, I would go have some fun.
If cute and charming were traits I generally fall in love with, I’d go out with him and first explore the reason for a McDonald’s job (before I fall in love). You never know why people choose the interesting things they do….could be a sociologist collecting data; could be poor and need free food; could be a wealthy retiree looking to do something with himself during the day. You just never know, but the answer could end up being funny.
Penelope: Hmmm…this question brings up further questions, such as:
Is he just a clerk at the counter or in mgmt? Is McDonald’s fulfilling his life ambitions?
In the end, I seriously doubt I would date him if he were just a clerk. Maybe if he was in management but not just because he was cute and charming. There would have to be a lot of other factors on his side. As would be the case no matter where he worked.
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