A true Russian

The General relates his own personal story..

My inner Frenchman tells a true story:

A friend of mine was tasked with helping to coordinate a photo op when Boris Yeltsin visited Washington State in 1994. The plan was to have dinner with an average Washington family (it was important to his domestic media for some reason) and then pick an apple from a tree in the family's yard (which was very important to the WA Apple Commission for obvious reasons).

Yeltsin was drunk on his ass when he arrived for the media event. He scared the hell out of the family. He told crude jokes in front of the kids demanding that the translator translate everything. He also very aggressively hit on the wife.

Finally, they completed dinner and headed into the backyard to pick the apple. Since it was spring, my friend had to tie the apples to the tree. Between his drunkenness and the quality work my friend had done in attaching the apples, Yeltsin had a hard time picking one. After a couple of unsuccessful tugs, he fell to the ground and threw up. They had to carry him back to the limo.

Somehow this story makes me feel a little better about myself.