Thread by @zoyashef

And I'm sorry to build a thread on top of a thread, but to illustrate the extent to which Soviet state was corrupt: When I was a wee child, I had to have surgery. My mum had to bribe someone so that I got the full dose of anaesthesia ... 1/4

https://twitter.com/zoyashef/status/1499216354964291585

And to bribe someone so she could stay overnight at the hospital with me. I have such a distinct memory of my mum walking from one child's cot to another, soothing the other kids who had also had surgery. At the time, I was furious with her. 2/4

She was my mum, and she was spending all this time with these other kids, while I was in pain. Later I realised what an incredible woman she is. She saw all those other kids, whose parents either didn't have the means or quick-thinking to pay a bribe, and she soothed them. 3/4

Think about this. Think how corrupt a state has to be, that a parent has to bribe someone to be allowed to stay with their small child overnight after surgery. Bribe someone so their child gets anaesthesia. This is the Soviet state Putin is rebuilding in Russia. 4/4