While the adjacent Pizza Hut and Hardee's have since re-opened following the recent Tahrir clashes, McDonald's restaurant on Mohamed Mahmoud St. remains closed. As I passed it today, workers were giving the exterior a fresh coat of paint and getting rid of any traces of street art. While there were no murals on facade, there certainly was spray-paint.
Despite the prospect of new spray-paint and more shattered-windows, the restaurants and storefronts on and around Midan Tahrir consistently cleanup, and cover-up any traces of violence, as soon as it is safe to do so. In contrast when I visited the famed Cafe Leopold in Mumbai months after the 26/11 attacks of 2008, there were still bullet holes visible in the Cafe windows. And it turns out that they're still there.
While shattered clash should certainly be swept away, what about bullet holes and graffiti? It is itself evidence, isn't it best to let it remain and serve as a reminder? I think it adds a sense of character and authenticity.
But I suppose McDonald's has never been concerned with that.
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