Mom, John Lennon, and Larisa

"Maaskva is what happens to you while you're busy making plans."
-- mng paraphrasing mom paraphrasing John Lennon (I think)

"Tyranny and arbitratriness. Full on despotism. Horror.
-- Larisa on Maaskva

I met Larisa today walking out of the metro. She wanted to hit me up for 10 rubles. As a rule, I don't like to give spare, er, banknotes. And, if have a chance, I do offer to buy a person food. Larisa wanted a belyash, a fried meat pastry. The belyashi stand was too far away, so she settled for a ham and cheese stand at a Kroshka Kartoshka fast food stand. Kroshka Kartoshka's main menu item are baked potatoes and toppings. They are a must-try for anyone wanting to experience local fast food.

Try sausage in tomato sauce, mushrooms in smetana, or mushrooms and pickles with your baked potato. And do make a point of savoring the moment when the server insists that you got more than one topping. They seem to have gotten their customer service training from the same company. And if you don't get an extra topping, they all seem to have been trained to give you a deflated, unpleasant, sour look...The customer as traitor?

Larisa refers to Moscow as full of proizvol (despotism, tyranny, arbitrariness) because of her plight. She is on the street because she can't get an internal passport. She can't get an internal passport because the local militsia (police) have designs on her apartment. She can't prove it's her apartment because she doesn't have a passport. Her story is a common one.

I asked her if she'd sought out Andrei Babushkin, a Moscow human rights activist and lawyer known for helping out the down and out. She said she had for another case.

Indeed, Moscow was, is, and continues to be a very cruel place. What happened to Larisa could happen to anyone.