dirtyrottenshame

Ahh... memories!

This brings back a lot of them, and why you could see that the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse.

I was there in 1988 for a while. It was pretty much as the OP says: plenty of shops open, with nothing in them. Clerks and attendants wandering aimlessly like zombies because they still 'had to go to work.'

Trying to buy food was like trying to buy hard drugs. IF you could get someone to tell you where there was food, it was usually something like, 'Go there. Take right. take second left. Take fourth right. Fourth door on right. Black door. Knock many times. All said in a 'hush-hush' tone.

Hard Currency Stores. Like duty free shops in the airports of the world, but in busy downtown areas. EXCEPT you couldn't use the national currency, rubles. Imagine being able to buy all the shit you wanted, and expected to buy, but the only way to purchase it was with foreign currency, in your own country? American cigarettes, candy bars, music, etc. Always (usually) had to show a foreign passport to make sure you weren't a local trying to cheat the system.

LOTS of home made beer, wine, vodka. Old ladies would make home made juices from berries that they picked. Those fuckers were poor, but damn, they were resourceful.

Smoke, drink, everywhere! I've still got an old picture of me lying around here somewhere, where I'm waking through an almost empty 'department' store, with a Cuban cigar in one hand, and a big bottle of vodka in another. Thanks, hard currency store. No one batted an eye!

LOTS of counterfeit American currency. Black-marketeers would try to buy your French francs, German marks, etc. with bogus American bills. Thing was, the knock offs were so bad it was hilarious. Printing ink leaking through to the other side of the bill, etc.

No Coke. Pepsi.

Yes, line-ups. Line-ups for line-ups...

Lots of Ladas abandoned by the side of the road. No gas.

Very surreal place when I visited. You really could see the end coming, and it came as no surprise to me when that form of communism fell. A lot of people in the Baltic states had rigged up antennas on their shitty TVs to get stations from Finland, and Sweden, etc. They could see what people in the west had, and how they were living. They wanted that shit.

The people, however, were for the most part, friendly, and decent. Optimistic, even. Spend a little time taking to them, and they became very open and generous. "Comrade.... I have cognac bottle. Not sheeet booze. Tonight we make party."

So... my question would be, do you run into any older people wishing for 'the good old days?'

Hey amigo, as one fellow Torontonian bartender to another, I gotta say, I respect your wishes about taking yourself out of the game. We should all (whenever possible) be masters of our own destinies. I've been fairly close to that point as well (depression)

Having said that, I beg you to think long and hard about your decision. I'm sure you have, but I think you should at least give yourself some more time. You relearned to walk, right? You may very well heal in other ways as well.

Things happen. Or, in the words of 'The Dude', new shit has come to light.

I don't know what kind of pain you're in, if any, but I'm sure that that could have a huge impact on your day to day outlook.

I'm really sorry that you got fucked over by the cops. Hey! I've been in that place as well.

I'm off to work shortly (Bloor st.) but if you wanna pm me, or even hang, drop me a line.

Alright brother. I respect your decision. Rest easy.

Any thoughts, comments on the Knee Defender?

Should have said 'udderly' wrong.

.....sorry... couldn't help myself...