4 ms·
There was joke in the Soviet Union "if you see a line, get in it." It didn't matter if the line was for toilet paper and you had enough. You'd get some extra t
by actinium226 4y ago
There was joke in the Soviet Union "if you see a line, get in it."
It didn't matter if the line was for toilet paper and you had enough. You'd get some extra toilet paper and barter with someone who had extra laundry detergent and not enough TP.
This was common Soviet experience.
It's somewhat surprising to me that Yeltsin, who was obviously high up in the party apparatus, was surprised at the plenty of the US, but nevertheless my point is that the story is not apocryphal.
Was it a trigger for the collapse of the Soviet Union? Honestly, probably. One among many.
- alamortsubite 4y agoI think my comment may have been confusing. The "Soviet experience" was well understood in 1989 (see the clip of the 1984 movie I posted). Only weeks away from Yeltsin's jaunt to the supermarket was the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a true harbinger of the demise of the USSR. Had Yeltsin visited a dreary American DMV, rather than a bountiful supermarket, nothing would have changed.