I worked at ICPMS, a special workplace, in the field of chemistry. We were protected by "Madam Leana" (Elena Ceausescu). When a hole appeared in the asphalt, it was immediately repaired as if a visit were to take place. No wall should have had holes and had to be limewashed. People were sworming to prepare Ceausescu's visits. Once we waited for him for hours and he did not come and then I told one colleague to fetch some ethylic alcohol. We prepared it with caramel custard and hid in the bushes to wait and after a while we went out. We asked some women if Ceausecu came and they were stunned to hear us. He was already there and we were drunk those moments. We were a solidary team there and did not give a damn on that! (C.M., 27)

I used to visit different factories as "extra school activities" from the 1^st to the 4^th grade (apart from visiting museums, going to the theatre or cleaning the school yard). Usually a parent talked to the director of the factory he worked in and the visit was settled.

First we visited "Suveica" ("Shuttle") (I think I was in the 2^nd grade). I only remember I had seen some huge machines and my teacher took us quickly to the yard for we made faces because of the noise.

Someone used to explain to us the manufacturing process we paid no attention to and we usually got "a present" at the end: half a hot loaf of bread, craps of those who broke when they were baked, from the bread factory "Graul" ("Wheat"); a bar of soap from "Stela" ("Star") factory; a bag which contained other small bags designed with cartoon characters from the Plastic Mass Enterprise (I had never seen such a thing until then and kept them carefully for long) and a plastic yellow cup. Before we received the present we were sure we would leave with a souvenir and one could find plastic grains in our pockets which were to be melted, but were turned into bullets used in our fights in the school yard. (74)