In 1973, Mayor Daley pulled a real power move and dropped the dime fee to use the restroom. People were so excited about it, they couldn’t hold it in!
Reportedly, a group of friends – let’s call them Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer – were out on the town when they heard the news. They were so ecstatic, they decided to celebrate by drinking all the coffee they could handle.
But little did they know, their bladders would be put to the test. After the third cup, they all had to go – and fast.
Jerry ran into a nearby restaurant, and the employees looked at him like he was crazy when he tried to toss them a dime for the restroom. “Didn’t you hear the news?” they asked. “Mayor Daley dropped the dime fee!”
George tried to sneak into a fancy hotel lobby, but the doorman stopped him. “You can’t just waltz in here and use our facilities,” he said. George argued that he didn’t have a dime, but the doorman didn’t buy it. “We take all forms of payment,” he smirked.
Meanwhile, Elaine was frantically searching for a store without a “restroom for customers only” sign. She finally found a gas station, but it was out of order. Feeling desperate, she resorted to begging a construction worker to let her use the port-a-potty.
And poor Kramer – he was stuck on a crowded subway train with no bathroom in sight. He tried to hold it in, but the jostling of the train was too much to handle. Let’s just say, he made headlines for all the wrong reasons that day.
Despite the initial excitement, the drop in the dime fee led to chaos and confusion amongst the people of the city. Public restrooms became congested and overused, and some people even vandalized bathrooms because there was no fee to deter them.
In the end, the city had no choice but to bring back the dime fee. But for that brief moment in 1973, Mayor Daley gave the people a taste of true liberation – and a lot of discomfort.
