Why weren't Soviet citizens afraid of viruses and germs?
In 2020, the world learned about the emergence of a terrible disease - coronavirus. Strict restrictions were introduced: quarantine, self-isolation, mandatory wearing of masks - thin gauze bandages. The population was told that this was a talisman against mortal danger. People stopped shaking hands with each other, and in general began to communicate less. Gradually, mass psychosis began: people swore because someone did not have a gauze bandage, they stopped letting people into the metro without one and began to fine them for its absence.
A scandal broke out in one of the shopping centers: a security guard did not let a woman into the store because she was not wearing gloves. More precisely, she was wearing gloves, but they were her leather demi-season gloves. The security guard demanded that the woman strictly observe safety precautions and wear hygienic gloves. I recall an episode of going to a small cafe for a quick snack: the cashier categorically refused to scan the amount until I put on a gauze mask. When I asked how I should eat in a mask, the answer was that I can only take off this mask during the process of eating, after which I must immediately put it back on. The psychosis grew with each passing day...
Why wasn't there anything like this in Soviet times? The 70s and 80s. There were soda machines on city streets: for one kopeck you could get plain soda water, and for three kopecks you could get sweet soda with syrup added. But the main thing is not this, but that there was only one glass in the machine for everyone who wanted to drink this very soda: today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. One for everyone. Thus, this reusable vessel came into contact with thousands of hands and lips of different city residents and visitors from other regions every day, being exposed to street dust, microbes and viruses that were literally transmitted to each other. Sometimes this glass could be used by a cheerful company to drink alcoholic beverages. They would take the glass for a while and after the end of the street banquet they would return it to its place. Of course, each machine had a special mechanism - a sink for rinsing the glass with clean water after each client. But how effective was this procedure?
There was a brisk trade in pies on the streets and at bus stops, the favorite of which were pies with jam for five kopecks - delicious and aromatic. For meat pies you had to pay more - about ten kopecks. The buying process looked like this: the female seller took a fresh hot pie, wrapped it in a small piece of paper, without fear of possible contamination and infections.
Another popular treat was ice cream in crispy waffle cones, sold straight from a large box containing about forty servings. No disposable packaging or sterile conditions – you take your ice cream and enjoy the taste.
Bread and bakery products were also displayed in the open in stores – anyone could touch a bun with their fingers, check the quality of the bread and choose a suitable loaf on their own: there was no individual packaging. Often, buyers sorted through several loaves in a row, choosing a suitable one, after which they went home with bread in a mesh bag, through which the loaf freely breathed air and absorbed the dust of the streets. On the way, having met a familiar person, they could stop for a conversation, and put the bag with bread on a bench, or even on the ground. Then at home they calmly cut the bread and cooked dinner.
On weekends, when going to the park, forest or beach, people took food for the whole day with them, which they laid out at best on a newspaper, and often just on the ground, on the grass. No one was bothered by such unsanitary conditions.
Also worth mentioning are the famous kvass barrels. People came here specifically to enjoy the traditional Russian drink. The price varied: a small mug cost three kopecks, a large one - six, and a whole liter was sold for twelve kopecks. Despite popular urban legends about the possible presence of insects inside the liquid, the popularity of the drink remained unchanged among the population. It should be noted that glass mugs were used, like in soda machines, many times. They were not in a single copy, but the traffic in mass places was hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of people.
Our company was called to a halt after a long forced march during large-scale exercises in the Belarusian Military District. It suddenly turned out that the water in the flasks had run out and there was no way to replenish supplies. However, the terrain in Belarus is mostly swampy, and soon we found some kind of quagmire. We brushed away the top layer of mud with our palms, scooped up some water and drank. It was impossible to see whether the water in the flasks was dirty or not.
Today's residents, who grew up in conditions of increased sanitation and observe, for example, the picture of food preparation without due attention to hygiene, are indignant and indignant. They are irritated by the way food products are packaged, using gloves repeatedly or not observing hygiene rules at food enterprises.
Modern sanitary and epidemiological surveillance specialists would probably be horrified to see the conditions of storage and consumption of food products in the last century. But most former residents of the USSR remained healthy, their immunity was strong, and no one complained much, and no one wore masks and gloves.
What is the secret of the good health and lack of psychosis of Soviet citizens, unlike modern ones?
Information