‘I still have the liquidator’s medal, which he pressed on me.’
Prize catch: John Lampen on the Chernobyl liquidators
An unkempt stranger once fell passionately in love (or maybe lust) with me on a public bus in Minsk. It was not a good experience. He was drunk and disinhibited, and I couldn’t understand most of his Belarussian advances. He knew no English. His clothes were shabby, and he was not very clean. He looked older than me, but I now think he had probably aged prematurely. His attentions were attracting the notice of other passengers, but no one came to my assistance. The presence of my wife Diana made the situation even more difficult. The man was unwelcome, embarrassing and more than a little scary. There was not much room to feel pity: I was simply thinking, ‘How can we get away?’
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