The Other Morning Crew at McDonald’s

If you’ve ever stopped by the McDonald’s at Beechmont and Wolfangel for breakfast, you probably noticed the group of gentlemen sitting in lawn chairs in the parking lot drinking coffee together and laughing.  I know many of you have noticed them because I received multiple requests from readers to learn more about the group. Well, yesterday I finally got the chance to meet them and here is what I found out.

A man named Dave, who insists he is not the leader of the group, accepted my always awkward pitch to photograph and interview them, after he recognized Beechmont Stories from Facebook.  

“You did a few stories on some folks from Mount Washington, right?” Dave asked.  After I confirmed, I told him I was surprised he heard about Beechmont Stories. “I’m on Facebook more than I should be,” Dave replied.

I’m told most of the gentlemen have been meeting inside the McDonald’s for the last 10 years or so, before Covid shut down the dining room and forced them outside.

“We were actually separated in three or four different groups inside before we got kicked out, and since then we all got to know each other out here and formed one big group,” Dave told me.  Clearly, this is a rare example of how Covid actually brought people together.

Ed, who Dave insists is the real leader, said, “We’re all from different walks of life. The only thing we have in common is McDonald’s,” which caused a chuckle from the group.

“Are you guys all retired?” I asked.

“No, we’re just tired,” chuckled Ed.

Who is who

Dave retired from Emery Industries chemical plant in Saint Bernard 10 years ago, about the time he started coming to McDonald’s. When he’s not socializing at McDonald’s he tells me he likes to write. In fact, he had several articles published in the Enquirer and USA Today back during the Obama era.  

Dennis is a tailor who owned his own dry cleaning business in Fairfield. He also worked for the Hudepohl brewing company before they went out of business in 1987. “I was in sales at Hudepohl,” Dennis told me.  “I sold beer out on Colerain Avenue and that area up there.” Dennis is also a veteran who served in Vietnam and he shortened a pair of Elvis Presley’s pants back in the 1990s for a collector who obtained them from an auction.

Initially Dennis said he was skeptical about the authenticity of the pants that supposedly belonged to Elvis. “But when I opened up one of the seams,” Dennis said, “I found a tag that said, ‘Memphis Tennessee, Made for Elvis Presley,’ so I was pretty positive they were the real deal.”

Ed retired from Cincinnati Water Works in 1992.

Henry worked for 34 years at UPS. He’s been retired for about 22 years.

Joe, who is 89, sat on an orange Home Depot bucket. He retired from the Cincinnati Fire Department in 1991 as a lieutenant.  “I was stationed all over the city, but the last 10 years I spent at Lunken as a crash rescue officer.”

“Do you miss it?” I asked Joe.

“Oh God yes, very much so.”

John who is originally from Beaver, Ohio in Pike county, retired from a chemical plant in Michigan.  

Charlie retired from the Cincinnati Enquirer mailing room. “We received the papers from the press room and then dispatched them out to the truck drivers who would get them to the carriers.” Charlie worked there for 40 years.  He also served in Vietnam from 1965-1967 with the Big Red One, 1st Infantry Division of the Army. 

“We were part of a big build up,” Charlie said. “I’m told there were 3,500 of us on the tube ship that took us over. We off-loaded in Saigon and when we got there, I remember thinking where the hell are we at? I didn’t know anything about Vietnam.”

“Jim is the comedian of the group,” someone said. Jim retired from Fifth Third Bank in 2001.  He smoked a cigar and told me,”The good thing about this group is that if you forget what someone said today, you’ll hear it again tomorrow.”

“So what do you guys talk about?” I asked.

“The weather,” Jim replied.  “Our biggest topic right now is where the hell are we going to go when it gets cold outside.” 

Winter is coming

So far the guys have mostly kept it going even in bad weather. I’m told when it’s chilly they will sit in their cars and chat as best they can. If it rains, sometimes they’ll bring umbrellas.  But obviously the winter will present challenges they haven’t experienced yet.

“We’ll figure something out,” Dave said.

“Maybe we’ll go to Burger King,” Ed added with a laugh.

“We can also go to Wendy’s,” Dave replied.

“IHOP is open too,” added Henry.

It’s clear they won’t let winter stop them from meeting, whether it’s at McDonald’s or elsewhere.  

Want to join?

I’m told they are open to new members, including women. “It would be nice to have a woman or two in the conversation,” someone added.

“We’ve never had anybody come up and want to join us,” Dave said disappointingly.

So if you are retired or know someone who is and they are looking for some companionship, have them stop by the McDonald’s any day between 9:30am and 10:30am. I’m told the group is bigger during the week days, but Dave and a couple others meet on the weekend as well, rain or shine it seems. And it appears they would be happy to meet you. Just make sure you bring a chair or a bucket.

Why they matter

In a society where our elderly have almost no presence in public, it makes me happy to see this group congregating and interacting with each other.  They tell me people often wave to them and some even stop to take pictures with them.

So what draws people to them?

I think people like to know their group exists.  There is something historically human and comforting about a group of old men, who are links to the past, congregating in the pubic square. The image of old men playing checkers in Central Park resonates with me. They are important characters in the human story.  

It’s also a sign of a healthy community when the elderly can convene in public unassisted without fear. Their slow gadget-less presence provides an authentic calming effect to the rush of the never-ending rat race all around them, not unlike the eye of the storm.

I’ll be curious to know how they handle the winter.  Will they have to migrate to another establishment? Will McDonald’s open their dining room or perhaps provide some kind of shelter for them? Only time will tell, but I will certainly keep in touch with them and report back.

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Did you miss the last Beechmont Stories, Who is the Beechmont Ave Preacher, read all about it right here.