Well, there was one once.

The point is they *did not know I was a foreigner* until after they'd treated me because *that* was the point at which my father told them and asked how a fee for treatment could be made. My father and I spoke Russian *only* when we went into the office. It wasn't until *after* I was treated that they knew I was a foreigner. That's when they panicked. If they'd known before treatment, I'd have probably been sent to (at least) the embassy. Being a local clinic, I doubt seriously the practitioner would have wanted to chance an international incident by treating a US citizen and having something go wrong.

So you can fsck-off telling me what my own experiences were and the reasons for them. No one better than I knows how well (and differently) U.S. citizens were treated in the Soviet Union than Soviets. We were the "Golden Children" everywhere we went and we'd been raised to reject that "special treatment" for ourselves. Which is why, in public, neither my brother nor I *ever* spoke a word of English and it is also why we wore our school uniforms almost everywhere we went because we knew our Western clothes would make us stand out. We intentionally *always* tried to pass for Soviet children. We were often successful, as we were the first and only time I was treated by Soviet clinicians.

Quoting some US government propaganda site and suggesting that trumps my own, real-life experiences is beneath you.

Post #413,942 by mmoffitt 9/26/16 2:29:39 PM 9/26/16 2:29:39 PM Reply	Well, there was one once. I know because I personally benefited from being mistaken for a Russian child in the Soviet Union. ;0)
Post #413,951 by Another Scott 9/26/16 3:25:07 PM 9/26/16 3:25:07 PM Reply	Re: Well, there was one once. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1025801/ Reliable information about the system of health care pertaining to the average Soviet citizen is difficult to come by. The health care offered important officials, artists and foreigners who become ill is at a much more sophisticated level than that available to the general Soviet community. Anectodal reports [1-5] depict the personal encounters of Western travelers with the health care system and reflect the preferential treatment given sick foreigners. ;-p Cheers, Scott.
Post #413,955 by a6l6e6x 9/26/16 3:38:09 PM 9/26/16 3:38:09 PM Reply	So, Mike was privileged even as a youth! :) Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #413,960 by mmoffitt 9/26/16 4:01:53 PM 9/26/16 4:01:53 PM Reply	So, you know my own experiences better than I? The point is they did not know I was a foreigner until after they'd treated me because that was the point at which my father told them and asked how a fee for treatment could be made. My father and I spoke Russian only when we went into the office. It wasn't until after I was treated that they knew I was a foreigner. That's when they panicked. If they'd known before treatment, I'd have probably been sent to (at least) the embassy. Being a local clinic, I doubt seriously the practitioner would have wanted to chance an international incident by treating a US citizen and having something go wrong. So you can fsck-off telling me what my own experiences were and the reasons for them. No one better than I knows how well (and differently) U.S. citizens were treated in the Soviet Union than Soviets. We were the "Golden Children" everywhere we went and we'd been raised to reject that "special treatment" for ourselves. Which is why, in public, neither my brother nor I ever spoke a word of English and it is also why we wore our school uniforms almost everywhere we went because we knew our Western clothes would make us stand out. We intentionally always tried to pass for Soviet children. We were often successful, as we were the first and only time I was treated by Soviet clinicians. Quoting some US government propaganda site and suggesting that trumps my own, real-life experiences is beneath you.
Post #413,963 by Another Scott 9/26/16 4:06:16 PM 9/26/16 4:06:16 PM Reply	Point is, you were a sample of one. That is all. :-)
Post #413,964 by mmoffitt 9/26/16 4:09:21 PM 9/26/16 4:09:21 PM Reply	Okay, Twas not the thrust anyway. :0)

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