I saw Lenin... in Seattle, Washington

Seeing this huge Lenin monument casually standing on one of the streets of Seattle, was a real surprise for me to say the least. People who are as old as Internet may not know  who Lenin was, so this is especially for you: would you  be surprised to see a 7-ton monument of Fidel Castro standing on the street of New York? Oh, you do not know what 7-ton is? Well, it's heavy, trust me on this, or just take a look (this is Vladimir Lenin):

Here's the story. This 16-ft statue was erected (if you do not know the word, think of Viagra)  in Slovakia back in 1988, and in 1989 it was toppled and was just laying face down on the ground. An American entrepreneur Lewis Carpenter ran into it and like it a lot. I mean really really liked it, so he even  mortgaged his house to buy and transport the statue to Seattle.  This statue is a bit unusual, because it shows the leader or the world proletariat not just holding a book or surrounded by smiling pioneers (a communist-crafted boy/girl scout organization), but standing in flames and guns. Anyway, for 28 Grand Lewis brought it to the USA. Unfortunately he died in a car accident in 1994 leaving his wife with an unpaid mortgage and Lenin.  Lenin was standing in a flea market for a while with a price tag of $150000, but now it's on sale for $250000 (inflation, you know).   

I hope one of these New Russians will be able to shell out a quarter of a mil and bring the Grandpa Lenin back to Russia, where he belongs. Lenin succeeded in building a society of equally poor people, and it should be pretty upsetting for him standing in a city of unequally rich American people. 

If 90 years ago one of the poor people returning from Moscow would say "I saw Lenin" , he'd be the only game in town. People would invite and treat him just to listen to some stories about this idol.  So here I am, back from  Seattle proudly  announcing: "I  SAW  LENIN!"

tags: lenin  seattle  

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