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[clhw AT InfoAve.Net (clhw)]

Interesting, Clansgian; you confirm what the Russian refugees I sponsored
told me.

When I took the first one, actually he was a Byelorussian, and his wife
Ukranian, for the first shopping trip 2 days after they arrived, it was an
interesting experience for us both.

First, she refused to go to the store. That was something for MEN to do,
not women. OK, so I told them to make a list of what she wanted. This was a
long, drawn-out chore because she didn't know why you would want to write
down what you wanted. She said, in Ukranian/Russian, "flour!" I said, in
English, "flour" and then asked what kind of flour. Blank stares. I said,
in Russian, "Do you want it for bread, cake, blinis, or what?" "Just
FLOUR." I said, "What kind?" More blank stares. "Self-rising, regular,
white, whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel?" "JUST FLOUR!!"

Well, after a while, we went to the store. The guy marched in through the
door, turned right, marched through the produce section, selecting a few
things. No problems. We headed to the back where the meats were.

He came to a dead stop. Bent over the coolers. Looked all the way down the
length of the building, seeing more and more meat. Turned grey. Then green.

I wasn't ready for us to buy the meat, so I beckoned him to turn up the
aisle with the flour. I gestured to the flour shelves, which only went
about 1/3 the distance of the aisle. I said, "Which flour?" and started
enumerating. He said, with tears in his eyes, "YOU DECIDE" and ran out the
front door of the store.

My husband followed him out while I shopped for their family of 6 as best I
could. Turned out, the guy had become physically nauseated by the sight of
more meat than he had ever seen in his life. The impact was more than he
could handle and he was a very shaken guy, sitting silently in the car on
the way home.

The next shopping trip, SHE wanted to go!! She talked with him a mile a
minute until we entered the store. Then she virtually started tiptoeing....
But SMILING! He was an old hand at this, so he escorted her around, FIRST
to the meat counter....

This email is long enough. I could relate the day of the grapes (what my
organism demands, my organism must have), the ripping Russians off grocery
store,  and the tales the next Russian (a true Russian) lady told me about
shopping in Russia. If anyone is interested, I can post that. The Russians
make beautiful bread, but I don't know if you want to know about
turkey/goose feathers, and spitting over the bread...

 >I had hoped to find a link to this but I'll have to try to give you my own
>summary so bear with me.
>
>The talk show person Neal Boortz told the tale of how just after the collapse
>of the Soviet Union he went to Russia to visit an Russian acquaintance.
>Communism and the communist mindset didn't fall with the Soviet Union and
>is in a
>transition to this day.  Back then all the mechanism for a communist economy
>and society were still in place.  So Boortz relates how that during the
>stay he
>waited in a long line to buy bread at the breadstore and they had only one
>kind of bread.  He went to a separate dairy store and stood in line for a 
>long
>time to find he had a choice of three cheeses.  Same with the butcher and
>several other stores.  When he was discussing his experience with his
>hostess, she
>asked what was different in America.  He related grocery stores and marts.
>
>She was skeptical to the point of disbelief.  And individual concern would
>buy goods and put them on shelves against the outside chance that someone
>would
>buy them at a higher price??  Preposterous!  It would never work.  Oh, it
>might be the way to do business for a few degenerate capitalist but surely 
>the
>poor people would suffer immersurably.  Nyet, not even to be remotely
>considered
>as a general plan.
>
>Shortly afterwards Boortz was able to invite her to come visit in the states
>and as soon as the plane touched down at Hartfield, he took her to a grocery
>store before aught else.  She was confused and dazzed, unable to believe what
>she saw.
>
>It reminded me of the flick Moscow on the Hudson where the character played
>by Robin Williams defects to the US and when the person he is staying with
>sends him to the grocery store to buy coffee, he is faced with dozens of
>choices:
>Folgers, Maxwell House, Starbucks, freeze dried, beans, drip grind,
>Columbian, Arabica, Brazilian, dark roast, hazlenut flavored ....  he
>freaks out and
>collapses.
>
>Those firmly within the PS mindset, or just the schooling mindset whether
>governemtn schools or not, are much like Boortz's Russian friend.  They view
>'education' as a single piece of mirthless bread got after waiting in a
>long line
>and there is NO other way to distribute bread that would not leave the masses
>hungry.  Those outside that paradigm are in an extensive bakery shop full of
>rye, pumpernickel, sourdough, salt risen, raisin, brioche, tortillas, pita,
>doughnuts, eclairs, etc. with no waiting in the thirteen year long line.
>
>The edges of the indoctrination bubble are impenetrable.  Any attempt to to
>explain the nature, purpose, and function of schooling is bounced back
>from the
>walls of the bubble as "Not all schools are bad."  "I know some teachers and
>they are good people."
>
>Yes.  I doubt that the Soviet bread stores were *bad* per se.  Doubtless they
>were run and manned by people who were good people.  But it doesn't follow
>that that way of merchandising was the only way or was anything but very bad
>itself.