There are other lists better suited to discussion of life within the USSR and its satellites, but I can't help making the observation that because of the heavy-handed attempt of the state to stifle internal criticism of "the workers paradise," humor became a primary weapon of the people.
Some of the most delicious and trenchant jokes I have ever heard came to me from Russians, but one I heard from a former East German fairly described what the goods and services sectors were like in the good old days. It had to do with a doctor who had finally managed to save enough money to buy a new car. He went to the car agency, described what he wanted, and put down his money to buy it. The agency director looked into his order book and announced the doctor could come in to receive his car exactly three years from the date of sale. The doctor looked into his diary (calendar to us across the pond) and sadly shook his head. "No good," he said. "That's the day the plumber is supposed to come." I've also heard variants that dealt with telephone service, etc. Regards, Kent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What Every C/C++ and Fortran developer Should Know! Read this article and learn how Intel has extended the reach of its next-generation tools to help Windows* and Linux* C/C++ and Fortran developers boost performance applications - including clusters. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-dev2devmay _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
