Quote Originally Posted by Crocodile View Post
To tell the truth, I joined the Comsomol simply not to stand out of the crowd. I was not a hero (and I'm not a hero now) to fight the system I dislike. The whole society those days was not really tolerant to those who singled themselves out in any way, and I was a good boy to play by the rules. I have no idea what would have happened if I refused, and I didn't really want to know that back then. Maybe nothing serious. I had other more important stuff on my mind.
Croc... I read this and became saddened by your choice of words and your situation. As a child who was different for many reasons and none of them for being a hero, I can tell you, being singled out in the US was not much of a cake walk. While I am thankful that today, it is much easier being a kid in school and being different/hero, even though in my girl's situation, it is has been the adults who are the meanest. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would have been like in the USSR for a child to say "Umm, ya know what guys, I don't wanna play your reindeer games."