First McDonald's in Russia (Moscow)

[Angry White Male]

January 30, 1990.  They were still the Soviet Union then...  Iron Curtain strong!



They were expecting 1,000 people to come. 30,000 people arrived on the first day, making it the largest restaurant launch worldwide, ever.



These people just wanted the choice to eat the shitty fucking burgers and drink the over-priced sugar water, and not long after the Soviet Union collapsed.  Obviously McDonald's is not responsible for this, but changing trends were clear, and they could not continue on as they were...









http://i64.tinypic.com/k4v0bt.jpg">

http://i64.tinypic.com/2eyw2sz.jpg">

http://i66.tinypic.com/142r18w.jpg">

http://i63.tinypic.com/30iuza0.jpg">

http://i65.tinypic.com/5v4xmc.jpg">

http://i64.tinypic.com/511u0p.jpg">

http://i63.tinypic.com/14v2zxg.jpg">

[Bricktop]

Queuing in the Soviet Union was a national pastime.



A Soviet man walks into a shop and asks, "You wouldn't happen to have fish, would you?". The shop assistant replies, "You've got it wrong – ours is a butcher's shop: we wouldn't happen to have meat. You're looking for the fish shop across the road. There they wouldn't happen to have fish!"

[Angry White Male]

They kept that regime going for as long as they could, have to give them credit for being able to do so for so long...



Interesting to read some of the comments on those posts, from people that actually lived in Soviet Russia.  Seems to come down to this:  If you are dumb, you had no worries.  You were well (relatively speaking) taken care of.  No homelessness, and a guaranteed job if you could hold one down.  The basics of life (for an idiot) were guaranteed.



On the flipside, anyone with even 75% brain capacity was held back in almost all regards.  They wanted freedom from that regime.

[Anonymous]

I found service in supermarkets and restaurants terrible when we were in Russia.

[Anonymous]

That is the biggest Mickey D's in the world.

[Bricktop]

I found service in supermarkets and restaurants terrible when we were in Russia.

Rude people. Arrogant without reason.

[Angry White Male]

I haven't traveled Russia, but they do seem, and have historically been, cold to any outsider.



They prefer to stick to their own, both in their own nation, and abroad also.  They may look White, but they are no Western Euro, that's for sure!



Simply just not as 'evolved' as Western Whites are.  Remember, they couldn't even get a McDonald's burger until 1990...

[Anonymous]

I found service in supermarkets and restaurants terrible when we were in Russia.

Rude people. Arrogant without reason.

They don't understand customer service.

[Angry White Male]

They don't care about customer service, especially to foreigners...  They would rather you not be there at all.

[Angry White Male]

These are people that hated the West, and were living behind the iron curtain up until recently.  Old habits don't disappear overnight.



Again, they may look White, but they are by no means 'Western White.'

[Bricktop]

These are people that hated the West

They still do!!!

[Anonymous]

They don't care about customer service, especially to foreigners...  They would rather you not be there at all.

They don't have quality customer service with each other either..



We travelled  to  Russia several times when we lived in Kazakhstan,

[Angry White Male]

They still do!!!

Fair enough...

[Zetsu]

Unfortunately from my experience too most Russians just dun seem as friendly as the folks from the West, but then Chinese aren't really much better tbh.  One thing both of them have in common is having an asshole government.

[Bricktop]

Governments that discourage being nice to each other.



If your government is an asshole, you follow suit.