”Cabernet cu pepsi”
“Keep them bored for months, keep them in worship for the rulers, keep them in shame for their condition, and from time to time, allow them a small indulgence – a short holiday, a bit of carnal pleasure, a foreign movie, or one kilogram of pork for Christmas”. This was the communist recipe for keeping a whole nation in leash for 45 years.
I keep remembering those times, I cannot forget them. The warm “homages” for the leaders were replacing our breakfast, the agents of the secret police always “ringed twice”, people had their lunches with the “Scanteia” (the official newspaper) as tablecloth, the trembling in fear and cold, the hate and shame determined our daily life. Every 1st of May or August 23rd (the glorious day of our “liberation” by the Red Army), our leaders used to wave at us from the shelter of the high tribunes.
Were those times so bad? Definitely yes, but I was so young back then!
What we have and what left for us? Do you remember the even and odd numbers from the cars’ license plates on Sunday days? Or the Ceausescu’s portraits on the front page of any magazine or on the walls of every classroom? Do you remember the “small” and “large” application forms needed for emigration, the blue paper used to cover the notebooks, the Bulgarian perfume packed in car-shaped bottles or the “shared” telephone lines? Do you remember the “Free Europe” broadcasting station? Do you remember the immense joy when, with some luck we were able to find an empty table at a restaurant downtown, to ordering an “Cabernet with Pepsi”?
”Cabernet cu pepsi”
“Keep them bored for months, keep them in worship for the rulers, keep them in shame for their condition, and from time to time, allow them a small indulgence – a short holiday, a bit of carnal pleasure, a foreign movie, or one kilogram of pork for Christmas”. This was the communist recipe for keeping a whole nation in leash for 45 years.
I keep remembering those times, I cannot forget them. The warm “homages” for the leaders were replacing our breakfast, the agents of the secret police always “ringed twice”, people had their lunches with the “Scanteia” (the official newspaper) as tablecloth, the trembling in fear and cold, the hate and shame determined our daily life. Every 1st of May or August 23rd (the glorious day of our “liberation” by the Red Army), our leaders used to wave at us from the shelter of the high tribunes.
Were those times so bad? Definitely yes, but I was so young back then!
What we have and what left for us? Do you remember the even and odd numbers from the cars’ license plates on Sunday days? Or the Ceausescu’s portraits on the front page of any magazine or on the walls of every classroom? Do you remember the “small” and “large” application forms needed for emigration, the blue paper used to cover the notebooks, the Bulgarian perfume packed in car-shaped bottles or the “shared” telephone lines? Do you remember the “Free Europe” broadcasting station? Do you remember the immense joy when, with some luck we were able to find an empty table at a restaurant downtown, to ordering an “Cabernet with Pepsi”?
