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That time Boris Yeltsin visited a suburban Houston grocery store....
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:46 pm
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:46 pm
I always thought this was a cool story.
He was visiting the Johnston Space Center and asked to visit a grocery store nearby. So they made an impromptu stop at Randall's grocery store on El Dorado and Galveston Blvd. He was astonished at the variety of available products and the well stocked shelves that were full of frozen foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, etc.
This wasn't the premier neighborhood in Washington DC or New York. It was just a normal American grocery store chain in a typical American suburb.
LINK
By Comparison, this is what a Moscow grocery store looked like at the same time
He was visiting the Johnston Space Center and asked to visit a grocery store nearby. So they made an impromptu stop at Randall's grocery store on El Dorado and Galveston Blvd. He was astonished at the variety of available products and the well stocked shelves that were full of frozen foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, etc.
This wasn't the premier neighborhood in Washington DC or New York. It was just a normal American grocery store chain in a typical American suburb.
quote:
In 1989 Russian president Boris Yeltsin's wide-eyed trip to a Clear Lake grocery store led to the downfall of communism.
It was Sept. 16, 1989, and Yeltsin, then newly-elected to the new Soviet parliament and the Supreme Soviet, had just visited Johnson Space Center.
At JSC, Yeltsin visited mission control and a mock-up of a space station. According to Houston Chronicle reporter Stefanie Asin, it wasn't all the screens, dials, and wonder at NASA that blew up his skirt, it was the unscheduled trip inside a nearby Randall's location.
Yeltsin, then 58, "roamed the aisles of Randall's nodding his head in amazement," wrote Asin. He told his fellow Russians in his entourage that if their people, who often must wait in line for most goods, saw the conditions of U.S. supermarkets, "there would be a revolution."
LINK
quote:
"Even the Politburo doesn't have this choice. Not even Mr. Gorbachev," he said. When he was told through his interpreter that there were thousands of items in the store for sale he didn't believe it. He had even thought that the store was staged, a show for him. Little did he know there countless stores just like it all over the country, some with even more things than the Randall's he visited.
The fact that stores like these were on nearly every street corner in America amazed him. They even offered him free cheese samples.
By Comparison, this is what a Moscow grocery store looked like at the same time
quote:
The overall takeaway is that much of America’s greatness lies in the ordinary.
“He toured New York City, he saw the Statue of Liberty, Trump Tower — he wasn’t impressed,” Mack said. “He saw NASA. Again, no big deal. But it was a grocery store that made him realize that communism is a lie.”
This post was edited on 2/21/22 at 4:48 pm
21
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:47 pm to member12
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:47 pm to member12
dear Facebook
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:50 pm to member12
If only he could see grocery stores today. He would feel much more at home
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:51 pm to member12
I moved from BR to Clear Lake a few months after this happened and shopped that same Randall's often.
Yeah, I know. Cool Story Boris.
Yeah, I know. Cool Story Boris.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:53 pm to member12
quote:
variety of available products and the well stocked shelves
Ah yes, an era of a day gone by...
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:56 pm to member12
The Great Reset party is trying to make Boris feel more at home.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:56 pm to member12
quote:
He had even thought that the store was staged, a show for him.
He thought that because it was a standard Soviet trick to pull on dumb Westerners visiting the USSR.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:57 pm to member12
Randalls sold vodka?
soft core pron for Bernie Bros
quote:
By Comparison, this is what a Moscow grocery store looked like at the same time
soft core pron for Bernie Bros
This post was edited on 2/21/22 at 4:59 pm
Posted on 2/21/22 at 5:01 pm to member12
One of my favorite Cold War stories.
My daughter had asked me about communism - apparently they were learning about it in school - and I told her what I knew about it. I told her how the communists would barge into people's houses, tell them "this is too much home for you and your family," then move another family they have never met into their home. How people would wait hours in breadlines just to feed their families. How they were watched at all times by agents of the government, and how people were taken away - never to be seen again - because they spoke out against the government.
Then I made her read this story. I told her "Now think about this: The Russians couldn't just go to a store and choose whatever they wanted. Even their leader was amazed at the abundance and choice in American markets. Now think about how much better it must have been under American Capitalism than Communism. Always keep this in mind as you get older, and you come across people preaching the virtue of Communism."
My daughter had asked me about communism - apparently they were learning about it in school - and I told her what I knew about it. I told her how the communists would barge into people's houses, tell them "this is too much home for you and your family," then move another family they have never met into their home. How people would wait hours in breadlines just to feed their families. How they were watched at all times by agents of the government, and how people were taken away - never to be seen again - because they spoke out against the government.
Then I made her read this story. I told her "Now think about this: The Russians couldn't just go to a store and choose whatever they wanted. Even their leader was amazed at the abundance and choice in American markets. Now think about how much better it must have been under American Capitalism than Communism. Always keep this in mind as you get older, and you come across people preaching the virtue of Communism."
Posted on 2/21/22 at 5:12 pm to member12
The American media labeled Gorbachev a “good” communist, but did their best to convince people that Yeltsin was a dangerous drunk that couldn’t be trusted.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 5:13 pm to member12
My wife immigrated to America when she was 10 from Venezuela and cried the first time she saw an American grocery store.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 5:19 pm to member12
quote:
He was astonished at the variety of available products and the well stocked shelves that were full of frozen foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, etc
This could never go away, right? Right?
Posted on 2/21/22 at 6:18 pm to member12
After watching that Russian grocery store video how in the hell does a Russian spy that lives for any time in the United States go back to that dump piece of shite of a country? Like the show The Amerikans. Can’t believe they wanted to go back to ‘Mother Russia.’
Posted on 2/21/22 at 6:28 pm to member12
This was a very common tactic utilized by the CIA to illustrate the bounty of the USA enjoyed by our normal citizenry. It was and is a very effective tool in their arsenal.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 6:33 pm to member12
“Is this cheese too?”
Posted on 2/21/22 at 6:47 pm to member12
I went to USSR in 1990 for 24 days, was a sophomore in HS. I went to a grocery in Moscow, you could smell the stink before you walked in. They had plenty of the basics, but only basics. We stayed a weekend at a country home of a member of the party. Ate like kings.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 7:24 pm to member12
Mike rowe has a great "The Way I Heard It" podcast about this story. Episode 3
Posted on 2/21/22 at 7:36 pm to member12
quote:
He was astonished at the variety of available products and the well stocked shelves that were full of frozen foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, etc.
My how the tables have turned.
I remember watching footage of Soviet Russia, with their lines, empty shelves, lack of choice, etc... and yet here we are with outrageous inflation and supply issues with vehicles, food, building materials, etc.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 7:41 pm to member12
This would be a great lesson for a modern high school history class.
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