I was invited to share a park bench by this colorful elderly gentleman, who spoke nonstoped for over an hour, on a multiple of topics ranging from football to politics.
He was of the opinion that President Putin gave too much thought to what the West would think, which to him made no sense, since the West was certain to think poorly of Russia in any case.
He was quite positive that if Stalin were president this war would have been won a long time ago. Just look how quickly he put Czechoslovakia in order.
I am seventy six years old and this man is younger than me by possibly ten years. I don’t have any personal memory of Stalin although he was the party chairman when I was born. The first chairman I remember was Nikita Khrushchev.
I didn’t get a word in edgewise so he never knew that I wasn’t a Russian. He was a jolly fellow and I didn’t mind one bit listening to his diverse opinions. Which he offered up in copious quantities.
After about an hour of continuous lecture, he had somewhere else to be. He said goodbye, we shook hands and he walked a way with a pronounced limp. Quite an experience for me.