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My first visit to the Russian Federation was in 1998, not long after the fall of the Soviet Union.

We hired a driver, since driving there is aggressive far beyond New York and Boston standards.

In conversation, I learned that our driver had a masters degree in physics. I asked why he wasn’t working in his field.

He replied, “As an engineer I would receive the equivalent of $30 per month paid in roubles. As your driver, I receive $15 American cash per hour.”

He told me that a surgeon in Moscow can expect to earn about $150 per month in roubles.

He said they have a little motto, “They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work.”

The reason everybody in the old Soviet Union had a job is because of the hideously ineffecient way they did things.

In 1998, the supermarket was a relatively new idea in St. Petersburg: you know, where you could select things off the shelves, put them in a basket, and checkout.

The Soviet way was to stand in line to present a list of the items you wanted to a clerk, who writes up a bill.

Then you stand in the next line to pay the bill and obtain a receipt.

Then you stand in a third line to present your receipt in order to retrieve your goods.

Oh, and bring your own bag.