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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 4:48 pm to upgrayedd
I've never had Jello Pudding Pops. Are they still around?
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:50 pm to upgrayedd
Pudding Pops used to be some dang good eating.
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
quote:
I've never had Jello Pudding Pops. Are they still around?
No, they were recalled because they made people too drowsy.
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 4:52 pm to Basura Blanco
quote:
Yeah, I know. Cool Story Boris.
It's actually Broseph.
Broseph Stalin
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 4:53 pm to member12
Jello pudding pops were legit.
Posted on 2/21/22 at 4:54 pm to kywildcatfanone
quote:
Ah yes, an era of a day gone by...
About 8 months ago.....
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 dewster
quote:
It's actually Broseph.
Broseph Stalin
Dammit. I tried not to laugh at that. Pictured Sean Connery saying it and I was done.
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 5:03 pm to boxcarbarney
quote:
Always keep this in mind as you get older, and you come across people preaching the virtue of Communism."
Yea but true communism has never been tried. This time it will be different....
Posted on 2/21/22 at 5:10 pm to Basura Blanco
quote:
I moved from BR to Clear Lake a few months after this happened and shopped that same Randall's often.
I live in the Clear Lake area now. Could have been me.
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.
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