Now it’s impossible to remember in detail what the population of the “free republics” experienced in the early 90s of the last century. And that was all. Following the collapse of the USSR, factories were shut down, salaries were delayed for several months, and prices rose so quickly that the six million they asked for a used car today was only enough to buy a block of matches in six months. But our people were not particularly discouraged. “We survived the war,” they said, “we will survive the devastation.” Here is a short story from the life of a small town, written in hot pursuit of that time. Funny story. That’s precisely why it’s funny, because when things get really unbearable, it’s better to laugh than to cry.