4 ms·

Growing up with my grandparents in the 80s in Moscow, I remember standing in line in front of a place literally called 'Store' for hours. Nobody knew what the l

by tinbad 11y ago

Growing up with my grandparents in the 80s in Moscow, I remember standing in line in front of a place literally called 'Store' for hours. Nobody knew what the line was for or what it was the store was getting in that day. Some people spend the night waiting just to be in front. After standing in line all day, finally by dusk a truck pulls up. Everybody looking in anxiety and worried about not being enough merchandise, still not knowing what was inside. A few men start unloading the boxes inside the store. All of a sudden people at the front of the line start spreading the rumors, "it's bananas!", "what is a banana?" I thought to myself. I was 5 years old and had no idea what it was. We made our way from outside, into the store. The store was full of empty shelves, there was literally no inventory. Finally we got the cashier, it was our turn and my grandpa got handed a big box and he handed the clerk money. "Hurry" my grandpa said, we rushed out of the store and started walking back home. "There's no more!" I heard somebody shout out of the store. There were still at least a hundred people in line. We kept walking, not looking back. We got home and opened the box. It was full of green bananas. We tried to eat them, I loved it. Only later in life I found out bananas supposed to be yellow and not bitter :)

x0054 11y ago
Yes, indeed, the "магазин" or the "гастраном" :) I also still remember the experience of having to bring a 3 liter pickle jar to buy milk from a barrel on wheels. It's funny because sometime we would see the barrel pull up, but we wouldn't know what they were selling. Could be mil, could be beer, could be kvas (not sure how to translate). We would rush in, because what ever it was, it's better than nothing ;) I also remember a really funny story from my friends dead about his visit to Cuba. He went there in the early 80s, I am guessing. He went there with a delegation on some kind of diplomatic mission. Up on arrival he bent over to pick up his bag, and, as luck would have it, ripped his pants. Now, as you might imagine, being a proper Soviet and all, he was only traveling with that one pair of dress pants. So he asked their translator if there is any way they could go to a store of some kind to purchase another pair, before his fancy diplomatic meeting. So they went to the store, supposedly the main fashion store in the center of the city. When asked, the clerk told them: "Oh, no, we haven't had dress pants in for at least 3 weeks." My friends dead, desperate, asked: "Well, what about just needle and some thread?" Clerk: "Well, we have thread, but needle? Hmm, we haven't had those in years now." Eventually they ended up finding a seamstress who fixed the pants, but it was all very hush hush, because it was a crime for her to offer a private service, or for them to solicit it. Yeah, so communism rocks indeed :)
- brc 11y ago
  So I'm genuinely curious - what's your attitude towards socialism and communism now?
  - zbraniecki 11y ago
    you're kidding right? People who lived through it don't find it funny... As my mom always said "Communism is such a great idea, but they should test it on mice first".
    - brc 11y ago
      Not kidding, genuinely intersted. I think you have answered the question. The reason for asking is occasionally I read about stories of people who are sad that they no longer live in a communist country. There was a movie made about that storyline as well. I always thought that - given the mass movements of people after the borders were opened - everyone would have seen it as a gigantic waste of years of their life and would hate the very mention of it. But I've only met a handful of people who lived under communist regimes and usually they don't want to talk about it.
      - x0054 11y ago
        I only lived through the tail end of it, I was borne in Kiev in 1984 and moved to US in 1996. Politically I am libertarian, very much so. I think every one should do their own thing, marry who they want, smoke what ever they want, and take care of them selves and their family, and not expect the government to do anything for you. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am just swinging too much in the other direction after communism, but it is what it is. My parents are largely the same, they hate communism, hate Russia, and would never want to come back to communism. My grandfather was a Military Colonel, but on the medical side, he was a Doctor. I guess he could be considered a "party" man, but he hated the party and the government. He loved his work, and cared deeply for the soldiers he was helping, but he couldn't stand the communist party. He was incredibly happy to see the day Ukraine became independent. My grandma, on the other hand, loved the communist party. She was always well taken care of by the system, and she thinks communism is awesome, or at least that's what she says. In reality what she is missing are the good days, when she was younger, had lot's of friends, and had a generally good life. She never experienced the really horrible side of the Soviet union, so she only has good memories. That said, if I was to ask her if she thinks I would be better of in a communist state, he answer would be "God NO!" She is a realistic woman. She knows intellectually that the Soviet government was evil, but their current situation in Ukraine is very bad as well, and she can't help but be nostalgic.
da02 11y ago
Did you see the abacus being used in "stores" or restaurants back then? John Stossel visited a govt restaurant back then and the waiters were lazy even when the cameras were around. I do remember reading that many people who fled East Germany wanted to go back. I'm guessing it was mainly adults. One couple who left Soviet Russia mentioned on a daytime talk show the one thing they did not like about the US was the higher taxes. (Book: For Good and Evil by Charles Adams)
- pandaman 11y ago
  I've seen abacus being used. Most stores sold everything over the counter (as opposed to pick-stuff-up-and-bring-to-the-register-yourself, which was called "Self-service store") but often there has not been a cash register behind the counter. In order to buy something you had to stand in line to the counter, ask the clerk for the goods you wanted to buy and the clerk would put them aside and tell you the total price, then you had to go to the cash register line and pay the price to the cashier, then come back with the receipt to the clerk (they'd allow you to cut in the line for this) and pick up your purchase. In big stores there were multiple counters so you would get all the receipts at once by telling the counter's numbers and prices to the cashier. Cashiers usually did not have to use an abacus since the cash register worked as a calculator but the clerk had to calculate the price of your purchase and for that she often used an abacus though some stores had an electronic calculator at the counter. The whole system was very bizarre. I am not sure why they had to do this. One theory was that it was to prevent people who were handling food items at the counter from touching money but this also happened in the stores that sold non-edible goods. They did minimize the number of the cash registers I imagine, since one register could be shared between multiple counters. Could be easier to account for fewer registers?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
- warkdarrior 11y ago
  Yes, except for the fact that iPhones are not a food item you need, while milk, meat, bread, flour are.
dsmolovich 11y ago
Bananas were a common good sold in Moscow back in 80-s. Every time my grandpa was on his business trip to Moscow he brought a bunch of them. Green, but in a few days they go yellow and sweet enough to eat. Lines formed nowadays for buying a newer version of iPhone remind me those days back in USSR. No kidding. :)
- tinbad 11y ago
  They got more common over time indeed, but most things you could buy abroad just weren't available. Mostly tropical fruits and vegetables that wouldn't grow in most of Russia and since there was little import of anything... I remember tasting Kiwis for the first time after we moved to Europe. As far as standing in line for the latest iPhone: no thank you indeed, been there done that :)
rokhayakebe 11y ago
Oh man, I laughed at your story. I am amazed at how you are able to find irony in such a tough moment. Or perhaps kids are just able to enjoy even the smallest things. This is definitely a story to tell (someday) your kids and grandkids during summer breaks, around the fireplace. Thanks for sharing.
shas3 11y ago
Growing up in not-quite-communist-just-socialist India, we had 'ration shops' (they probably still exist in rural India). Similar principle, but most people used it for optimizing their budgets- buy certain things at ration shops and other things at privately owned grocery stores/farmers markets. For poorer people, ration stores were a very useful way of saving money. I think kerosene, which is a fuel used by low-income sections of the population is still rationed in this manner. It is not uncommon to find lines of people at parked trucks towing kerosene tanks with their ration cards and plastic containers for filling up with kerosene. 'Ration cards' were even the main form of government identification till they opened up the economy, streamlined tax, etc. in the 1990s. They still are, for older people and in rural areas.

by tinbad 11y ago

x0054 11y ago

Yes, indeed, the "магазин" or the "гастраном" :) I also still remember the experience of having to bring a 3 liter pickle jar to buy milk from a barrel on wheels. It's funny because sometime we would see the barrel pull up, but we wouldn't know what they were selling. Could be mil, could be beer, could be kvas (not sure how to translate). We would rush in, because what ever it was, it's better than nothing ;) I also remember a really funny story from my friends dead about his visit to Cuba. He went there in the early 80s, I am guessing. He went there with a delegation on some kind of diplomatic mission. Up on arrival he bent over to pick up his bag, and, as luck would have it, ripped his pants. Now, as you might imagine, being a proper Soviet and all, he was only traveling with that one pair of dress pants. So he asked their translator if there is any way they could go to a store of some kind to purchase another pair, before his fancy diplomatic meeting. So they went to the store, supposedly the main fashion store in the center of the city. When asked, the clerk told them: "Oh, no, we haven't had dress pants in for at least 3 weeks." My friends dead, desperate, asked: "Well, what about just needle and some thread?" Clerk: "Well, we have thread, but needle? Hmm, we haven't had those in years now." Eventually they ended up finding a seamstress who fixed the pants, but it was all very hush hush, because it was a crime for her to offer a private service, or for them to solicit it. Yeah, so communism rocks indeed :)

brc 11y ago
So I'm genuinely curious - what's your attitude towards socialism and communism now?
- zbraniecki 11y ago
  you're kidding right? People who lived through it don't find it funny... As my mom always said "Communism is such a great idea, but they should test it on mice first".
  - brc 11y ago
    Not kidding, genuinely intersted. I think you have answered the question. The reason for asking is occasionally I read about stories of people who are sad that they no longer live in a communist country. There was a movie made about that storyline as well. I always thought that - given the mass movements of people after the borders were opened - everyone would have seen it as a gigantic waste of years of their life and would hate the very mention of it. But I've only met a handful of people who lived under communist regimes and usually they don't want to talk about it.
    - x0054 11y ago
      I only lived through the tail end of it, I was borne in Kiev in 1984 and moved to US in 1996. Politically I am libertarian, very much so. I think every one should do their own thing, marry who they want, smoke what ever they want, and take care of them selves and their family, and not expect the government to do anything for you. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am just swinging too much in the other direction after communism, but it is what it is. My parents are largely the same, they hate communism, hate Russia, and would never want to come back to communism. My grandfather was a Military Colonel, but on the medical side, he was a Doctor. I guess he could be considered a "party" man, but he hated the party and the government. He loved his work, and cared deeply for the soldiers he was helping, but he couldn't stand the communist party. He was incredibly happy to see the day Ukraine became independent. My grandma, on the other hand, loved the communist party. She was always well taken care of by the system, and she thinks communism is awesome, or at least that's what she says. In reality what she is missing are the good days, when she was younger, had lot's of friends, and had a generally good life. She never experienced the really horrible side of the Soviet union, so she only has good memories. That said, if I was to ask her if she thinks I would be better of in a communist state, he answer would be "God NO!" She is a realistic woman. She knows intellectually that the Soviet government was evil, but their current situation in Ukraine is very bad as well, and she can't help but be nostalgic.

da02 11y ago

Did you see the abacus being used in "stores" or restaurants back then? John Stossel visited a govt restaurant back then and the waiters were lazy even when the cameras were around. I do remember reading that many people who fled East Germany wanted to go back. I'm guessing it was mainly adults. One couple who left Soviet Russia mentioned on a daytime talk show the one thing they did not like about the US was the higher taxes. (Book: For Good and Evil by Charles Adams)

pandaman 11y ago
I've seen abacus being used. Most stores sold everything over the counter (as opposed to pick-stuff-up-and-bring-to-the-register-yourself, which was called "Self-service store") but often there has not been a cash register behind the counter. In order to buy something you had to stand in line to the counter, ask the clerk for the goods you wanted to buy and the clerk would put them aside and tell you the total price, then you had to go to the cash register line and pay the price to the cashier, then come back with the receipt to the clerk (they'd allow you to cut in the line for this) and pick up your purchase. In big stores there were multiple counters so you would get all the receipts at once by telling the counter's numbers and prices to the cashier. Cashiers usually did not have to use an abacus since the cash register worked as a calculator but the clerk had to calculate the price of your purchase and for that she often used an abacus though some stores had an electronic calculator at the counter. The whole system was very bizarre. I am not sure why they had to do this. One theory was that it was to prevent people who were handling food items at the counter from touching money but this also happened in the stores that sold non-edible goods. They did minimize the number of the cash registers I imagine, since one register could be shared between multiple counters. Could be easier to account for fewer registers?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

warkdarrior 11y ago
Yes, except for the fact that iPhones are not a food item you need, while milk, meat, bread, flour are.

dsmolovich 11y ago

Bananas were a common good sold in Moscow back in 80-s. Every time my grandpa was on his business trip to Moscow he brought a bunch of them. Green, but in a few days they go yellow and sweet enough to eat. Lines formed nowadays for buying a newer version of iPhone remind me those days back in USSR. No kidding. :)

tinbad 11y ago
They got more common over time indeed, but most things you could buy abroad just weren't available. Mostly tropical fruits and vegetables that wouldn't grow in most of Russia and since there was little import of anything... I remember tasting Kiwis for the first time after we moved to Europe. As far as standing in line for the latest iPhone: no thank you indeed, been there done that :)

rokhayakebe 11y ago

Oh man, I laughed at your story. I am amazed at how you are able to find irony in such a tough moment. Or perhaps kids are just able to enjoy even the smallest things. This is definitely a story to tell (someday) your kids and grandkids during summer breaks, around the fireplace. Thanks for sharing.

shas3 11y ago

Growing up in not-quite-communist-just-socialist India, we had 'ration shops' (they probably still exist in rural India). Similar principle, but most people used it for optimizing their budgets- buy certain things at ration shops and other things at privately owned grocery stores/farmers markets. For poorer people, ration stores were a very useful way of saving money. I think kerosene, which is a fuel used by low-income sections of the population is still rationed in this manner. It is not uncommon to find lines of people at parked trucks towing kerosene tanks with their ration cards and plastic containers for filling up with kerosene. 'Ration cards' were even the main form of government identification till they opened up the economy, streamlined tax, etc. in the 1990s. They still are, for older people and in rural areas.