Services IV

The bare necessitites

If you needed soap (one brand), razor blades (one brand) or condoms (one size), you went to see Mishka B. who opened his shop (a small cupboard) once a week. He didn't have much else: shoe laces, shampoo (for those with long hair only), cigarettes (2 kinds of the murderous variety), matches (one kind), toothpaste (one kind), tooth brushes, toilet paper (coarse), coffee (Turkish), biscuits (dry) and a few other things. There wasn't much, but the little there was, was free.

REVOLUTION!

40 square metres of floor space, shelves full of goodies, some still free (see list above), most to be paid for. The control over the supplies remained in the family: Hadassa, Mishka's wife, ruled supreme.

1996
Gone are the days of free biscuits and Turkish coffee. Hard headed business people are in charge now: Computerized and open about three hours a day. Well...