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'And how did we survive at all ...': reflections on children born in the USSR

'01.07.2020'

Source: Sea Diva

If you were born in the 50-80s of the last century, then you probably do not quite understand how we survived in those conditions, writes Sea Diva.

Photo: Shutterstock

When I was little, dad drove me in a car without a child seat and seat belt, there were none and that's it. And when I came to the village, I rode a horse-drawn cart with my grandfather. What comfort, what security? If the hay under the fifth point turned out to be good.

The walls and bed in the room where I slept were painted with “dangerous” paints with lead in the composition. There was no protection from children on drugs and vitamins at all. Covers for the corners of the cabinets so that the child does not hit? I beg you, we didn’t even lock the front doors, because we knew all the neighbors, what cabinets ?!

Instead of filtered, ultraviolet-treated and ozone-saturated water, I gladly put my hand under the delicious water from a column on the street. To assemble a scooter from a board, somewhere obtained wheels with your father’s screwdriver - please. An unforgettable descent from the mountain and immediately home, get the thorns and smear your knees with green.

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I left home immediately after breakfast, and returned when it was simply impossible to play due to the darkness. We fell and wrung our hands, got cuts and abrasions, the boys fought. Someone called an ambulance or the police? No, it’s true that from mom it was possible to get an additional crack.

I could eat a dozen ice cream with cakes in a day and calmly drink it with sweet soda. Neither I nor my friends were obese. And where can he get it if you run 10 hours a day?

We did not play on the computer, did not put likes and did not swear in the comments. We did not have this, nor was there any need for this. But we could easily get together with ten of us at someone's house to watch a cartoon on the air.

Do any of you remember the problems with socialization? For example, I do not. Even when we just moved, I went out for a walk in the courtyard, and by evening I got bosom friends, with whom I keep in touch now.

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If I needed to meet a friend, I did not write or call, or rather, I called right away at his front door. If there were no toys, but it was necessary to occupy ourselves with something, we mercilessly cut old mother's dresses, found beautiful sticks and pebbles. Leaves torn from trees perfectly replaced currency for playing in the store.

We were engaged in schools. If the child could not cope with the program, he was not pulled artificially, so that later he would be thrown out of school and forgotten. He was dealt with, and if necessary, left for the second year. Multilevel tasks, 100-point system, a set of points in Bologna? No, everything is simpler and more effective - 5 points and learn. And the fact that out of these 5 were good maximum the first 2, only complicated the task.

We were always responsible for the actions. Now it’s hard to imagine it, but before the parents did not redeem the children from the police department or the military registration and enlistment office. Good - serve, blame - you will be punished, that's all!

People of this generation have learned to think quickly, are not afraid of responsibility, do not run away from work. If you understand what I'm writing about, then you are incredibly lucky.

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And how much can you write about an amazing savvy. Right now, a man needs 3 jars, 5 tubes, 2 towels, a newest shaving model, as if from an advertisement, to shave. My dad shaved with a blade, smeared soap solution on his face, and sealed cuts with a newspaper or toilet paper. Do you think he was an ugly man?

And how happy car owners tried to stand out! What are the fur covers on the steering wheel, the doll’s head on the towbar, the veils carefully tied by the grandmothers, which protected the seats from wear.

Who else came up with 1000 and 1 way to use gum from cowards? Or I guessed to use a string bag to organize an additional refrigerator in the winter.

Photo: Shutterstock

And what dexterity was required to use a conventional ZIL refrigerator! Pull it weakly - you won’t open it, you jerk sharply - you flip all the contents, or even the refrigerator.

How many years have I racked my brains trying to figure out what the general window is from the kitchen to the bathroom? Watch the cutlets while you wash? Only later did I find out that this was done for hygiene. All kinds of bacteria and fungal spores live in wet bathrooms, but they do not respond well to sunlight, so they solved the problem of all sores, simply, cheaply and brilliantly.

You need to brush your teeth - take toothpowder, headlights dimly shine - take toothpowder, silver has darkened - well, you understand ...

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If I did the same today as I did 40 years ago, no one would understand me. Take, for example, Gazvoda assault rifles. There was one at all, I’ll clarify, sometimes a faceted glass was spread over the entire area of ​​the city. Remember how it was washed - with a light touch of a hand and trickles of water. Imagine now if you would calmly drink soda from the same glass as a stranger!

And the “tasters” of Soviet liquors, tinctures, and sometimes colognes. They also took these glasses. Note, they took, did not steal. After the “tasting” they always returned to the place and rinsed sympathetically.

The sale of tickets in public transport was on the conscience of passengers. Ticket mechanism, composter and ticket office were not connected in any way. If you want - at least rewind yourself the entire reel, but no one did it, but they could. No, everyone put in hard-earned 5 kopecks, tore off a ticket and punched holes in it.

Now imagine, you come home, and your 8-year-old son sits in puffs of smoke with a red-hot piece of iron in his hand. What reaction is a fire, save-help. And so we made gifts to our mothers, and this burning was called. How many boards were hopelessly spoiled - never count.

Tell a modern child that you yourself printed photos without a printer. At your disposal were a film, a solution and a red light, and another 1 hour, until everyone returned from work and requested a bath for themselves.

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Or try to explain to him what it means to buy not at an online store, but on the platform of the station, or better yet, tell about ingenious brands from Chinese craftsmen, such as “Abidas”, “Puna”, “Reboock” and so on.

But it’s worth remembering, but you shouldn’t tell the children: we ourselves went to school safely and returned, attended evening classes at a music school or sports sections. We could be left for a couple of hours with the neighbors. Despite all these “dangers,” we have grown up as worthy people.

Composted, and now look at modern realities:

  • To open the refrigerator, you must almost scan your fingerprint.
  • There are 300 numbers in the phone book of people whom you call by force twice.
  • To contact a colleague, you do not go to the next office, but send an email.
  • You stopped talking with your friend because he did not install the messenger.
  • If you forgot your phone at home, then you fell out of life for a whole day.
  • The first thing in the morning is to unlock your smartphone or bring your laptop to bed.

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