We will call the political wanderer by the name of Vadim.
His past is drowning in darkness.
Vadim's life turned out to be in the rays of local, provincial, political glory during the period when Vadim was in places not so distant.
The accident, or the political instinct, or any other circumstances, prompted him to protest against something or against someone and to make a tattoo of US flag onto the own chest.
Gradually, he became a "political prisoner."
Did he know about the approach of 1991? An invisible hand was leading him ...
After 1991, Vadim became a not large human rights activist of a local scale.
Another participant in the events described was a lawyer-journalist (let's call him conditionally Andrei) - a restless person who was investing his energy in various kinds of litigation.
Those were times of a some heyday of the media.
Vadim and Andrei succumbed to this fashion ... Each of them produced (own) newspaper of relatively small volume and small circulation.
In those days, a Decree (Ordinance) appeared, that obliged representatives of the executive branch to respond to media publications - to report to the editorial office on measures taken after publications.
Lawyer-journalist Andrei wrote some text on some topics. There was no response from the mayor. There was an idea to test the action of the Decree.
Human rights defender Vadim (a person who passed through a fire, water and copper pipes) was pleased to agree to file a complaint against the mayor. Why the mayor stays idle? Why doesn 't he comply with the Decree? This situation offended Vadim, as an initiative journalist.
A complaint was filed, and the case went at a fairly rapid pace. A response came from the City Hall [mayor's headquarters], which said that the answer was sent (at the right time) to the newspaper's editorial office (in a simple letter). A photocopy of the page from the journal of sent correspondence was attached to the response. It remained to assume that the mayor did everything right, but the mail delivery did not work as it should.
A legal dexterity was felt in the mayor's recall [official response] ... The mayor respects the Decree and the media ...
The complaint (by human rights activist Vadim) by that time gained popularity in local circles. A small crowd of local journalists gathered to watch the consideration. A special revival in this crowd was caused by the strict paper from the regional administration. The strict paper threatened the mayor with punishment if it would be found that the mayor had violated the Decree. The strict paper was signed by the managing the affairs of the regional administration - the wife of the mayor.
The New Year holiday was approaching. A break was announced in the consideration of the complaint filed by Vadim.
Vadim with a holiday mood walked along the central street of the regional city, decorated in a New Year style, under the hand with his wife.
Why can't people drink some vodka on New Year?
Vadim went into a cafe, ordered vodka ...
It can be assumed that human rights activist Vadim was not the first visitor to this cafe who ordered vodka. And if we consider all the cafe visitors (who ordered vodka), then he was not the most uncultured of them.
However, it was with Vadim that the waiter had a major conflict.
The waiter turned out to be a very quick and skilled person. Fifteen minutes later, Vadim was driving in a state-owned car to the intended place.
And after some time, Vadim moved to a not-so-comfortable room for ten-fifteen days.
Lawyer-journalist Andrei even started to worry. Not only did human rights defender Vadim lost opportunity to attend the next formal procedure of his complaint against the mayor. Some intuitive unpleasant premonition about Vadim 's life and future engulfed Andrei.
Andrei found a journalist with hierarchical weight. That man called an interesting phone number, and Andrei, along with this influential journalist, visited Vadim in his not very convenient temporary housing.
Vadim was morally depressed, but he was glad to the visit.
As a result, it turned out that the mayor is well done - he respects both the Decree and the media. And he sent the response to the publication in time to the editor. And he is not responsible for the mail.
And the complainant (human rights activist Vadim) is a frivolous, not serious person.
Lawyer-journalist Andrei was disappointed. The human who passed through a fire, a water and a copper pipes (human rights activist Vadim - a man who had a huge life experience) turned out to be against the mayor as if a sheep against a successful man.
It so happened that an interesting event happened with Andrei around the same period. He met two energetic people. One of them lost his wallet, and disappeared from sight, and the second in the presence of Andrei found this wallet, picked it up, opened it and suggested Andrei to share the money lying in the wallet. Why such kindness? In fact they found a wallet together - therefore, it is fair to share the money between them.
Andrei was skeptical about this proposal.
The action participant was unpleasantly disappointed by Andrei 's refusal to participate in the partition of the found money and tried to ask some clarifying questions ... Forcedly becoming the owner of the full amount from the wallet, the action participant left the scene following the original owner of the wallet and of the financial means.
Nevertheless, when Andrei walked along the main street of the city past the City Hall, right in front of his nose - almost tightly - a gorgeous car proceeded towards the parking lot (located next to the City Hall). From the car that made such a pretty maneuver there was a cheeky laugh. This, apparently, was a success - a successful action - something average between a magic sign and a ritual crypto algorithm.
As for Andrei's relationship with human rights activist Vadim, apparently, Vadim felt Andrei's disappointment; the acquaintance has exhausted itself and finished.
The mayor demonstrated obedience to the laws - in any case, to the law of conservation of matter. As you know, matter does not arise from nowhere and does not disappear to nowhere. She only moves from one state to another...
April 22, 2020 - May 1, 2020
Translation from Russian into English: May 2, 2020 07:49.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Мэр и журналист. Рассказ.'.