Damon Winter. NY Times

Many years ago visiting my family in Central Minnesota, my brother pointed out a corner booth at a McDonald’s that opened into a mall. There half a dozen late middle-aged customers of both sexes, gathered having coffee, watchfully engaged in conversation. Their spot, rain, snow or shine, 7 days a week from 10-12.

 I kept thinking about that coffee-klatch & for sure, each time we entered the mall, there sat the regulars—a few more, few less. But as I watched the gathering, it wasn’t merely the coffee that drew them back each morning; there was the camaraderie—and the people watching.

I thought back to the years I lived in Paris. My first abode was a room up 147 steps to the top floor of a building on Place du Terne, home mainly to Algerian refugees working as maids, street sweepers, produce handlers and the like. There was a sink in the hallway for water, & a Toilete `a la Turque—a hole in the four-foot square, tiled floor with raised foot imprints. You had to pull the chain on the wall tank for flushing, get out of the way quickly, or run the risk of getting your jeans drenched. My people watching fascination began as a few times each week, I afforded myself the double pleasure of a latte, at the café on the first floor, as the price of using their full-blown toilet. Relieved, I could return to my table outside to watch the parade of Parisians sauntering by.

The New York Times recently took up the plight of the elderly in certain McDonalds’ in that city now being threatened with “eviction” following a 20 minute dining limit notice. There, folks had found a home away from home where they could socialize, meet their friends, find out what’s going on, it’s warm, clean toilets, and large picture windows for watching.

 And so for many, a café culture at fast food places has emerged for those who can’t afford or do not feel at ease in Starbucks.