Pin Politics

At the end of last year, I had the chance to spend a few days in Newfoundland. During a trip to the junk store I found this pin stuck to a hat:



There were all sorts of little Soviet nick-nacks at this store. Pins with cyrillic writing, etc. Russian naval ships apparently pass through St. John's from time to time and the sailors pawn this stuff for cash.

I admit it: I bought this pin because I thought it looked cool. No other reason. It's a relic from the past you don't often see. If anything, it reminds me of watching international hockey when I was really young. Team Canada would be playing the scary Russians, players I knew nothing about, with these odd sounding names that all ended in the letter 'v'. And these guys were good. But no one knew how good, because that was a secret. They were automatons, bred by the state to dominate the game. I heard rumours that they weren't even allowed to smile.

Come on, I was a little kid.

It was a special event whenever our team played against the Soviet Union. I'd see that flag and I'd get kind of scared because not only was the Soviet team manned by hockey supermen, but their country also had nuclear warheads pointed at us. I guess that was kind of scary too, in a different way. Not as thrilling as the hockey thing.

But the ole' hammer and sickle wouldn't be scary for long. Communism failed, and that was the end of it. I look at the pin now and laugh at how frightening I found this symbol as young kid in the early 80s. To me it still has a dangerous, threatening look about it (this must be deeply engrained in my mind), yet in reality it's just a meaningless relic. I think that's why I chose to wear it. It's not like a swastika; that represents something which unfortunately is still very real. In my mind, Soviet communism is not.

Lately though, I've been starting to rethink wearing this pin. I wonder if it may give some people the impression I'm actually a communist. To friends and indie-rock-hipsters-in-the-know I say "no, it's got nothing to do with communism... it's a tribute to Malcolm McLaren-era New York Dolls. Ha ha."

But I dunno. One time I was in line at the grocery store and when I got my plastic out to pay by debit, the guy behind me goes "What, no rubles?". Another time, I went to get a slice of pizza and the guy behind the counter warned me about the dangers of communists in his home country...although he did admit he was friends with some of them. Now I find myself taking off the jacket before I enter the building where I work. They think I'm weird enough as it is...

The danger of this symbol is what made me decide to wear it. But with danger comes hassles. And hassles are what weed out the men from the boys. So... uh... I guess I kind of have to keep wearing it now. Ha.