Do you think there is an American over the age of 10 that has never had a meal at McDonalds?

48 comments

1. Of course. McDonalds might seem they are everywhere, but they are not everywhere.

2. In a nation of over 330 million people surely there is at least one person who has never had it.

3. Of course. People don’t eat at McDonald’s for many reasons from health to economics to availability to isolationism to preference.

4. My son is 12 and has never had a meal from McDonald’s. He twice has gotten orders of french fries, though.

5. Yes. Absolutely.

6. The Amish exist. Families raising their kids vegan or for healthy food only also exist.

7. Definitely.

   Lots of people avoid fast food altogether, and they’re not exactly going to abstain themselves while allowing their children to eat it.

8. I never went to McDonald’s until I was 16. My parents never took us. I didn’t like it and I never ate there again. My 11 year old twins have also never eaten at McDonald’s.

9. Yes, of course. There are 330 million people in the country. I would venture a guess that at least one million of those don’t eat fast food.

10. Knew a dude who had his first McDonalds meal at 18 in California!

11. Absolutely. I know several people who don’t let their kids eat fast food in general. My ex’s niece is about to turn 16 and she’s never eaten any fast food (unless you count Chipotle as fast food, I know she’s gone there).

12. We never had McDonald’s growing up. I think my first McDonald’s experience was a drunken drive-thru when I was in college. We had one around the corner but my parents always told us how disgusting it was, and you know what? Mom & Dad were 100% right on that one, I can’t stand McDonalds.

13. I have a friend that has never had McDonald’s

14. Believe it or not, only 99.8% of my meals are McDonald’s as an American, so I’d imagine there’s about 4 people who havnt had McDonald’s ever

15. Yes. There are families that are specifically anti-McDonalds, some that are anti-fast food. Vegans are not likely to ever eat at McDonald’s even though there are technically options, etc.

16. For sure. I know people, and parents, who basically abstain from fast food.

    I’d say they’re a minority, but they exist.

17. Yes. An acquaintance of mine absolutely refused to give her children fast food. Those kids were homeschooled, grew up in a bubble, and were annoyingly precocious. But they were all brilliant. The oldest now attends Harvard and is a vegan. I seriously doubt she’s ever even considered trying McDonald’s, even out of curiosity.

18. Absolutely.

    I know McDonalds is ubiquitous with American culture – but it’s definitely viewed as a “low tier fast food” option. I haven’t been to a McDonalds in probably over a decade, and growing up my family didn’t go to McDonalds. Not that we were wealthy or didn’t eat fast food – there were just better fast food options growing up. And from my own experience, McDonalds is a little more upscale internationally and has some status as a place to gather. Here, it is very much bottom-tier and I actually don’t see a lot of them any more.

    I still eat fast food – Wendy’s, Sonic, Taco Bell, and a BK Whopper. But there’s nothing at McDonalds that appeals to me.

19. My son is 10 now and he hasn’t. We eat fast food sometimes but there are so many better places, and I personally hate McDonalds burgers, and yes I know hate is a strong word, and I’m sticking with it. Their meat doesn’t taste like meat and their bread tastes like wet cardboard. That place is dogshit. All their money goes into advertising, not ingredients.

20. I’m a near-lifelong vegetarian and McDonald’s doesn’t exactly have great vegetarian options, so I’m one such person. I’ve had a few of their desserts but never a full meal.

21. Oh absolutely. There are plenty of parents who won’t let their kids anywhere near that stuff. A minority for sure, but they’re out there.

    Edit: oh I thought this said under 10. Probably less likely but some people avoid fast food entirely.

22. Definitely. I can’t point to that person and I’m sure most have, but there are plenty of people who are just “against” all unhealthy food, fast food, chains, etc.

23. Sure, though people who pride themselves on it are the type of person you’d want to avoid.

24. I know a couple who were raising their kid as Vegetarian. One day the kid was at a birthday party and finally snapped and grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza off someone’s plate and took a huge bite. Since then he’s gotten certain concessions such as meat on pizza. I’m willing to bet he never had McDonalds before he was 10 (I think he’s 12 now).

25. Statistically yes.

26. Sure. Definitely a minority, but they’ll be out there.

27. People who have kept kosher according to Orthodox standards all their lives wouldn’t have eaten at McDonalds (unless they did so in Israel).

    While the Amish wouldn’t refuse to eat at McDonald’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them never have, especially the ones too young to have been through rumspringa.

28. For sure. Most people I know including myself rarely eat there.

29. Sure. I HAVE been to McDonalds but not for about oh….18 or 20 years, something like that. It’s not actually hard to avoid if you don’t want to feed your kid fast food.

    Edit: just remembered that I have had McDonalds in other countries, actually a few times. In India they have some pretty decent vegetarian options, and in small town France it’s the only place open past like, eight pm. I haven’t been to one *in the US* for 18 or 20 years though.

30. Yes, I am sure. With 330,000,000 people there will be someone who meets the criteria for just about every reasonable question you can ask.

31. Yes. Probably even more than one!

32. My daughter is 8 and has had McDonald’s exactly once. It’s quite possible to get to 10 without it.

33. A lot of rural town is the Midwest are rather far away from the nearest McDonalds. In many rural towns the only franchise will be Dollar General.

34. Definitely. My kid is not one of them, he’s about to turn 19 and has never tasted soda though.

35. 100% a thing.

    In my experience you can usually tell because you can’t get past a single mention of fast food of any variety without them going, “oh I’ve actually never eaten that before, not even once, aren’t I so quirky and special?”.

36. My ex wife never did. Her mother didn’t allow it, and as an adult she never felt the desire to do so.

37. I’m sure there is. It’s not hard to imagine that there are households that have intentionally boycotted and avoided fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s.

38. I can only hope some people have been spared

39. Yes, there’s plenty of people

40. My nephew’s 16 and has never done so. His parents forbade it when he was younger and he then went vegan.

41. Yeah, my kids are all celiac so they’re 14, 12, and 10 without ever having eaten at McDonalds

42. Has to be a kid that lives in the western parts of north and South Dakota (excluding the rapid city and Bismarck areas)

43. Absolutely. Many people do not eat fast food for health concerns, dietary restrictions or allergies. Many people grow up only eating at home.

44. There are 65 kosher McDonald’s in the world, the only one outside Israel being in Buenos Aires. The two halal locations in America closed in 2013 because of doubts they weren’t actually halal.

45. Yes. The Amish, the FLDS, etc. And on a personal note, my nephews because they have crazy bad food allergies and my sister won’t let them eat out at all, ever.

46. yes

47. I don’t think I had McDonald’s before age 10. My dad is a doctor, so he’s not the biggest fan.

48. Probably not super common, but yeah I’m sure they exist