Last year I walked into a McDonald's at 8am and a bunch of old white guys seemed to be using the place as just such a venue.

I live in a small, predominantly white town in northwest Iowa and this is true here as well. Every morning, all of the tables and seating areas at every gas station in town are full of older men sitting around chatting about the town, school, sports, politics, etc.

I live in a chinese neighborhood, and bakeries serve the exact same function for older locals.

The barber shop is a "third place" after work and home.

https://theartofcharm.com/art-of-personal-development/what-i...

What a strange stereotype...is this something people get from TV? How many black people do you know that use their barbershop as a place other than to get a haircut?

Black people go to their friend's house or a bar, just like white people do.

I would guess that's fiction imitating reality. I'll only generalize about my own race's behavior here, by saying that most people reading this are probably white and therefore less likely to have useful input into your question.

On what basis do you say it's imitating reality?

I found some more information on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wCbRfoWgmQ

https://www.ted.com/talks/joseph_ravenell_how_barbershops_ca...

https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-empowering-evo...

> is this something people get from TV?

Well my wife is Nigerian, and she claims they have similar type barbers in her country. But mainly through TV, yes. I recently watched the latest Barbershop movie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3628584/) which really made me think about it.

Ask your wife how often Nigerians men hang out at their friends or a bar, versus how often they hang out at a barbershop.

And rich WASPy men also do those things. Doesn't remove the special significance of the country club as a social space in that society.