While any article will be a simplification this one does match my own anecdotal experience. To wit: My current mother in the law was a simple accountant in a m

While any article will be a simplification this one does match my own anecdotal experience. To wit: My current mother in the law was a simple accountant in a mid-sized Baltic city. She was able to go to a sanatorium in Crimea (without husband of course) for the yearly vacation due to a slipped disk in her back. Where she apparently had a platonic affair with another vacationer who kept writing her letters afterwards.. Similarly I was able to attend Artek (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artek_(camp) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artek_(camp) ) in Crimea solely due to my grades. Our village grade school in Latvia had one ticket allocated. Now this was in February which is not in season. Our komsomol - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komsomol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komsomol guide mentioned that only extremely privileged kids with parents high in the party got to go in the summer to meet with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Smith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Smith and other VIPs. Note: It might not have been solely due to my grades. I was visiting Kiev on an academic trip in late 2021. The head of institute mentioned that Artek tickets were quite expensive and not everybody with an opportunity actually went. She mentioned price being 200-300 rubles - which was about twice my father's official salary.