LINE THEORY IN WARSAWA

We managed to distinguish one of the grey buildings near our hotel in Warsaw as a “department store,” so we all went shopping! We were able to observe that when people are assigned jobs that they might not normally choose on their own (as in a state-run market economy), the consequences to the product quality is disastrous. Products, such as clothing and furnishings were scarce enough, but when examining the possibility of purchasing a winter coat (for instance), there was only one style to choose from, but in a couple of colors (that resembled baby-poop green or dirty-scab red). Whoever was put in charge of dying the yarn for this cloth was clearly more suited to a machine-shop or smelting-type job.

It was here that I first learned about the “Line Theory.” Communist economics is based on lines. Goods could not be purchased without a line. All communist businesses were configured to accommodate lines (Disney could learn a few new things from the communists). A store would display its goods all along the perimeter of the store, behind counters that created a barrier between the customer and the goods. The center of the entire store was vacant, so that the lines could form like wheel spokes from the center of the store out to the clerks waiting behind the counters.

For example: When buying toothpaste in a nearby drugstore,
 I had to stand in line to tell the clerk behind the counter what I wanted.
 She then wrote out a little ticket and handed it to me.
 I then had to stand in a line to pay for the item written on the ticket.
 After waiting and paying for the toothpaste to a clerk behind the counter in the “payment” line,
 I was handed another little ticket indicating that I had paid for toothpaste.
* This enabled me to stand in yet another line to actually acquire the toothpaste (hopefully, one that I wanted).
The Line Theory was ingenious, because it cut down on shoplifting, and created extra jobs where none were needed (there’s no such thing as unemployment in a communist economy).

One of the last things we did as a trade mission before going on to Gdansk was to attend a mass at St. John’s Cathedral in Stary Maesto (Old town), Warsaw. Here is where the second oldest European Constitution is housed as evidence to the free and democratic tradition the Poles had always aspired to, in spite of their history of being overrun, marched through, occupied and partitioned. It was adopted on May 3rd, 1791 the oldest constitution being the Magna Carta (1212). This was of great interest to me because my the ancestor in my mother's line, Saire deQuincy was one of the Barons that ran King John down on Runnymede and made him sign the Magna Carta, then went back later and forced the King to abide by it.

Studibert and his Lieutenant, Frank had created an itinerary for the trade mission that was fashioned after a Presidential Itinerary. It encompassed every detail of our activities while on the trade mission, including when to wake up, gather, have breakfast, travel to meetings, how long the meetings would be, when and where lunch was set up, how, when and where we had free time, and when to retire. The unattached men in our group never really went to bed. They would stay up all night and dink and dance at the “discos” wherever they could find one (I have the video). I thought it very nostalgic, because if ever anyone missed the “Disco Era,” they could go to Poland and find it alive and thriving in all its stobbing glory.

After the mass, we gathered to have lunch with the Ambassador in a beautiful restaurant in Stary Maesto. We were served Chateau-Briand, Roast duck (I never could get anyone to tell me if they roasted one of those white ducks, or a Mallard, or a Grebe, etc. . . . .), and baby potatoes and carrots, with salads, fruit juices, breads and creamy butter. Interestingly, all Polish food is garnished with cilantro. All of it!

As we sat and looked out over the old town square, I could remember reading about how the Russians had permitted the Poles to re-build this city in the 50’s. Being there made the cruelty of what happened there seem so incredible. But then, most of what happened under the communists turned out to be largely incredible (and not in a good way). When the Germans had been defeated by the Russians in WWII, and were forced to flee the city, they determined that they would leave nothing for the Russians, and consequently, the Poles. In the finest Nazi fashion, the Germans systematically blew up every ancient building in the square, leaving not one brick on top of the other. The worst of it is, the Russians hung back and allowed it to go on until it was finished before marching into town. What heroes.

This was probably in keeping with the Russian mindset, since they also took ten thousand Polish Officers out to the Katyn forest and executed every one of them. Neither the Nazis, nor the Russians had any respect for Polish life, and it was nothing to them to destroy them whenever possible. They had always viewed Poland as a country to march through in order to get to another country, or to occupy or partition it as they pleased. It amazed me how the Poles were able to remain 98% ethnic Poles, 95% Catholic, and retain their language and culture as though they had been isolated by the Alps for generations!