But the desire for immediate action has long and firmly gripped the Russians. We are used to the fact that if you want something, there is one step to make the purchase of your dream come true. I needed a phone, sneakers, a laptop, a car – instant loan, installments, 2NDFL and quick possession. The dream did not have time to grow old, it was immediately embodied, as it arose. It was this speed that removed the queue from everyday life. Including cars.
But the queue, if someone forgot or even did not know, was a symbol and the most important organizational moment of the previous era, when consumption was complicated by the lack of implementation. I always wanted the same thing, but in my past life, instead of satisfaction, there was a queue. And wait. Sometimes within a few hours. Sometimes several years. Sometimes decades. Adjusted due to lack of goods.
There were no shoes. Jeans were not for sale. They were obtained by pulling, from under the floor, through a commission, on checks from Vneshposyltorg, in a speculator’s apartment. On a motorcycle, Yugoslav furniture, a full Chekhov, a carpet, a car – they were queued. It was obligatory to celebrate it at sunrise. Roll call with numbers and a thick notebook in the hands of a senior.
And as a result, a panicked picture emerges of ailing urban dwellers who cannot afford a new car, not even the cheapest domestic one.