When Paris started dropping cars

[Stefan Mikes]

Seriously Stefan, I could put that pic up in a gay bar .
Its almost iconic.
'Eastern European men share struggles'.
or, 'See, you can use hedge trimmer’.

Those were lovely years even if lived in a grim reality I'm also surprised about the photo quality but hey, it was taken with a 6x6 Twin Lens Reflex camera

As I got off the tram where I had the conversation with the ex-con, I went to one of my university mates Mirek, and my best friend Wojtek joined, too. The story was a rock star of that era, one Izabela Trojanowska had a session shot by her boyfriend using a good camera on a good film. The singer didn't want her private photos to be published, so he handed out the film roll to Mirek (who was somehow a friend) for the development and producing the prints. Mirek owned a dark-room but had no clue about photography while I and Wojtek had the expertise...

The 16th of July 1981. Can you see her blue eyes?

We made big prints of several takes. Important to mention the real rock music was truly allowed in the Polish People's Republic only since 1980!

Another lovely photo from 1981. Me teaching my brother Jacek play guitar (Commie made musical instruments were as bad as Chinese "e-bikes" are today)

 

[kevinmccune]

The Vistula is a pretty clear river nowadays, and I could actually see some anglers in the warm season. However, I would rather not eat the fish

View attachment 204685is there a mill or something discharging into the stream? Our favorite little tributary(the Jackson) to the mighty James river is clear above the Papermill,black below it,the offending mill(job creator) used to be known as the WVa pulp and paper mill( (Westvaco) now known as the "SmurfittWestrock" plant sure is changing hands a lot these days,it is noted as one of the worst polluting papermills in America,largely due to its production of"bleached board" I am told. Some folks will eat fish from the stream below the Papermill,I wont.on the East in Augusta county was the Dupont chemical plant(closed now) which used to discharge mercury into the"South river" there are warning signs at "Grottoes" advising how many and what size fish can be consumed.

One day we will have to stop treating our"riparian" treasures as sewers and trash dumps,have you heard" We are actually starting to shrink the Mississippi river,it is becoming increasingly unnavigable,it amazing what us little piss ants can screw up!

 

[ChezCheese:)]

View attachment 204695
Can you recognise me? The man standing is a future Vice Minister of Internal Affairs No, I was not a Skinhead. I liked the style for a while (1981)

On those days, I moved around Warsaw on trams. One afternoon, I was approached by a guy who was obviously a former convict.
-- Have they just released you? -- he started
-- Well, yes? -- I replied
-- How come? They give the shave as a penalty? -- he insisted
-- Mind your own business, mate -- It was my stern reply. He backed off quickly.

The man was convinced I had just escaped a prison!

My mistake was I started growing a mustache and beard the same month. As I was leaving the pharmaceutical plant I had practices in, people whispered: "See? Lenin lives forever!"

Hey, Stefan, you were a looker back in the day! (At least your profile view...)

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Hey, Stefan, you were a looker back in the day! (At least your profile view...)

I was completely unaware of it. A shy person and an introvert. I only took my interest in women at age 23, and it took me 3 years more to become a solid man

Seriously Stefan, I could put that pic up in a gay bar .
Its almost iconic.
'Eastern European men share struggles'.
or, 'See, you can use hedge trimmer’.

Funny you wouldn't think "two men of the working class in 1980s Poland" Ah, we hardly ever drank At the practices in the pharmaceutical plant, we did some mechanical work (for example, drilling the flanges or regenerating old valves). We were supervised by a worker with a cleft lip, who was also a slightly retarded person. He took a special interest in me, and was often mumbling: "That f*cking intelligentsia guy!"

Five years later, my University sent us to different sugar-plants across Poland for last "industrial practices". I and several friends were sent to a dilapidated post German sugar-plant in Wrocław/Breslau. At one night, the personnel made some terrible mistake, and I was sent to discuss the problem with the men. I was swearing at them! The men listened to my tirade, which made a great impression on them! Eventually, one of them said: "I didn't even know educated people could swear?"

 

[ChezCheese:)]

Interesting! So even though Poland was communist and the class system was supposed to have been abolished, it still colored how people explained society.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Interesting! So even though Poland was communist and the class system was supposed to have been abolished, it still colored how people explained society.

The system was bad. For instance, the children of farmers and workers were promoted to get the higher education. However, once you have got the degree, your children were intelligentsia and had a harder time to get to the university... Absurd to me!

 

[Chargeride]