Preparing for Siberia

Tom McMahon reports what preparedness meant when the Soviet Union had Eastern Europe under its iron grip.

The Bundle of Warm Clothing by the Door

Skirmante was telling me that, during the Russian times, her parents kept a bundle of warm clothing next to the door so that they could grab it if they were arrested in the night and deported to Siberia. They never knew, from one day to the next, if the secret police would burst in and exile them for life.

Then asks why classroom doors aren't equipped with dead-bolt locks on the inside that could be used to prevent another school massacre.  Hey, it works for planes.