"McTragic Memories" by Youngmi Mayer and Frankie Wears Fat Gold
Guess what? McDonald’s sucks. It’s cheap. It’s gross. It’s a terrible Corporation. It is pretty much the worst. And this we know. However, one night, while lamenting over whiskies about our shitty McDonald’s-filled childhoods, we both came across the same sort of memory that made us think differently about the conglomerate eatery. McDonald’s came up in a very dark portion of our conversation, about the dark portions of childhood. After two different, yet similarly traumatizing memories, we realized that both of our parents had reacted by taking us to McDonald’s. Speaking to our friends on the matter, we discovered a handful who had similar stories, darker stories, stories involving domestic violence, divorce, and adultery. They were relayed over drinks, in a casual almost humorous manner. How can McDonald’s be sad or even serious? McDonald’s and their aggressive subliminal advertising campaign had achieved the impossible, they knew how to instantly make a child happy and safe. Our parents respected the incredible power it had. We can’t really remember if we were actually happy while eating our post-traumatic meal. Our memories of the events surrounding the meal are too weighted with sadness. Painfully enough, maybe we were really happy for the 30 minutes we were eating. I mean how depressed can an 8 year old be with a chicken McNugget with BBQ sauce in their mouth? The only issue was the temporary nature of the experience, the food was temporary, the happiness was temporary. The idea of McDonald’s as a cheap, gross, terrible corporation that is pretty much the worst, is not only popular, it is obvious. However, this overwhelmingly negative view of the company negates the impact that it has on the lives of people who to some extent socially depended on it. The dining areas are filled with strange mascots, oversaturated colors, and playground equipment signify how much fun kids are suppose to be having. For our parents, as well as other families who were financially strapped, McDonald’s served as a convenient option for food, as well as an obtainable reward and a site of relief. Maybe we didn’t get the new Air Jordans, but we got to eat at McDonald’s. The juxtaposition of the plastic environment and our affecting childhood moments are almost worth having in a tragic and hilarious way. As sad as those times were, McDonald’s doesn’t allow us to be sad. We walk into one today (that’s right we still eat there) and still crave the shallow happiness of a sweet and perfectly acidic cheeseburger.
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