Old Jewish Russian Men Mourn the End of Unlimited McDonald's Toilet Access.

"Those weren't just toilets. They were a place to sit."

Gymor Ozlavsky, an eighty-eight year old Jewish welder from Siberia, never thought this day would come.

“One day you have a beautiful public toilet, and the next day it’s gone,” says a teary eyed Ozlavsky, after using what he calls his ‘lucky toilet’ for the last time.

Ozlavsky wasn’t the only Old Jewish Russian man using the bathroom in the downstairs of the McDonalds branch on Tverskya Street all these years. In fact, an OJM investigation discovered that, until the Tverskya branch closed last week, at least fifty Old Russian Jewish men used one of the three toilets there as their primary BM depository

“I liked the way it flushed. I liked the cool feeling of the seat. I liked the way my feet felt on the floor.” Boris Hellzyck tells us, describing the toilet in the lefthand stall. Boris also insists that he was the first person to give this toilet a ‘spin’ on the Tverskya branch’s opening day some twenty-years ago.

For many of the men the bathroom in the Tverskya McDonalds was a life-line, a raison d’etre, a place to go on cloudy days, a hideout from wives, tax collectors and family. A sanctuary where no one asked questions, and one never had to clean up after themselves or re-stock toilet paper.

“I woke up every morning with a purpose. I used to go right in there and use the toilet,” Hellzyck smiles, remembering all the good times. “Sometimes I didn’t even have to crap. I would just sit there for hours reading my fishing magazine or zoning out. It felt right. I’m not sure what to do with my time now that it’s gone.”

Despite having never formally met, Hellzyck and Ozlavsky both describe precisely the same daily strategy they’d use to access the restroom without being hassled: before entering the restaurant, the men would rummage through the outside trashcan for a paper coffee cup emblazoned with the McDonald’s logo and bring it inside.

“This way it looks like we are paying customer,” chuckles Ozlavsky. “But I always make my coffee at home. I never buy a thing. McDonald’s is rip off. But sometimes if lady is nice at counter you can get free refill.”

After speaking with more than two-hundred Old Russian Jewish men about their time in the Tverskya McDonald’s bathroom we asked them the same question: why use McDonald’s bathroom instead of your own?

Most of the Old Jewish Russian men chuckled heartily, and then gave the same, obvious answer:

“Why use my water when I can use theirs?”