And I should have pointed out that an examination of the graphical data shows that the age expectancy actually rose in the late 80's, no doubt with the anticipation of change in the air.
Following the fall of communism, and all the unanswered dreams, the expectancy merely fell, dramatic though it was, back to the original declining trajectory that dated back to the mind 1960's.
Forget about safety precautions, the government just gave everyone at the plant early retirement at 40 because it was thought that if they worked longer than this in these conditions it would be fatal.
It is sad to meet young smart good looking men who seem as though they should have it all but can't hold a job because they are always drunk.
There was a family I had dinner with whose mother, who is a doctor, found she had a tumor in the last six months since I was there, she is probably 45. Another young woman doctor at her clinic who my girlfriend knows has blood cancer. It just seems as though I know too many people who have these strange ailments. It is frightening.
It isn't as though I know a HUGE amount of people there. It seems too many people are sick. Now it seems they are being hit by AIDS.
It is sort of funny, the medical treatment is crazy there. My girlfriend broke her foot, she went to the hospital and they put a cast on it. Then they just sent her out the door without giving her crutches, a wheel chair or anything. She had to hop home. The bank where her sister works in Moscow keeps a pair of crutches at their office for employs how break bones. They all share the crutches when they need them. It seems the doctors don't think to offer this. Now her mom broke her foot and this old lady is hopping around the apartment
It does seem the people in Moscow are doing okay.