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Old 11-17-2017, 07:25 PM
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StainlessSteelCynic StainlessSteelCynic is offline
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Location: Western Australia
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No problem
Now that I'm actively thinking about it, I recall some other things that could be helpful for background info.

1. Although politically communist, we know Poland refused to get rid of religion and the Catholic Church was the dominant religion. Polish people would often visit cemetaries to pay their respects to their loved ones by leaving the usual sorts of things we see in the English speaking world (flowers, toys, photos etc. etc.) but also candles.
It was common to see graveyards with lots of candles. Not enough to illuminate the place but enough that you could see points of light from a reasonable distance. I remember once seeing these points of light through a section of light woods during the early evening and not knowing what it was until my friend told me.
EDIT: There was sometimes an older woman or couple who would set up a small stand at the cemetary and sell bunches of flowers and candles so that you could buy them "on site".

The Catholic Church also tried to exert a strong influence on everyday life, they had their own television shows and it was very common to see church buildings festooned with various antenna for radio, television and mobile/cell phones (obviously the cell phones aren't of much importance for a version 1 or 2 T2k game!). Some had so many antennae that they really ruined any aesthetic appeal of the church.
EDIT: These antennae and their associated gear could be a useful source of radio equipment.

2. Many of the newer (i.e. 1960s-1980s) blocks of flats/apartments had a small general store somewhere, either as part of building complex or as a small standalone building. The place I stayed was typical of such apartment complexes - four to six blocks of apartments, anywhere from four to seven stories high, formed around a central square that was grass with playground equipment. In the central grassed area (but I've also seen them off to one side of the group of apartments, outside the central area) was a single story "general use" building, one half was a small general store and I still don't know what the other half was used for, (maintenance staff perhaps?)

The general store was specifically food, drink and magazines/newspapers and also sold alcohol in small quantities. There were a number of parking areas around the apartment blocks but not enough for all residents. A number of people had to park in places away from the apartment blocks, often in secure parking that they paid a monthly fee to access (which meant they were allocated a parking spot that was theirs and theirs only). The apartment that I was staying in belonged to Anna, she owned the apartment but wasn't able to get parking next to it so she had a parking lot in secure parking area that was about 150m away from the apartment complex.
Most apartment complexes also had a collection point for trash that typically consisted of two to four rubbish skips. Everyone in the complex had to take their own household trash down to these skips.

3. You would often see Polish men, either by themselves or with one or two male friends, going to the shop in the afternoon and buying a single can/bottle of beer (sometimes two). They would then go home or go to a favourite spot and drink this one beer before going off to do whatever they planned to do for the evening. They might do this two or three evenings (or more often in some cases), it was almost a part of their weekly routine!

Last edited by StainlessSteelCynic; 09-29-2020 at 01:22 AM. Reason: First Edit: Adding info. Second Edit:changing "Catcholic" to "Catholic"
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