Sunday, 17 April 2005
Ronni and General Jeruzelski
[21 July 1983] No one told me that in Warsaw, men – even Communist heads of state - kiss women’s hands in greeting and farewell. Graceful acceptance of this gesture is a social skill I had not mastered.
COMMENTS FROM PREVIOUS WEBSITE
av_producer @ 2003-10-05 said:
A girl (now a woman) I once worked with carved a wonderful pumpkin with the face of General Jeruzelski on a dare from me using a cover from The Economist as her study. I wish I had a picture of it.
av_producer @ 2003-10-05 07:29 said:
To get back to the historical importance of the General - he was faced with the Solidarity movement and John Paul pecking at the Communist authority - an authority that was hollow at best. Fascinating time.
ronni @ 2003-10-05 said:
We were interviewing Jeruzelski for 20/20 on the occasion of his lifting martial law after two years of putting down the Solidarity movement. It didn’t make much difference because he had transferred most martial law to civil jurisdiction.
serendipity @ 2003-10-05 said:
Nothing like a frontal assault to breach the other side’s defences ;-)
zinetv @ 2003-10-05 said:
Great moment, and you carry that ton and half of paper in left arm so naturally. I understand these days network producers have reduced the paper to a slim laptop.
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 02:52 AM | Permalink | Email this post
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You are looking really elegant in the picture - and with a general, no less! The man who ruled Poland! You have had your moments.
Posted by: rana | Sunday, 17 April 2005 at 03:42 AM
Are those computer printouts that you are lugging about? (BTW: If the picture doesn't show graceful acceptance of the general's gesture, it certainly fools me!) Did you choose your outfit for wearing that day because it is faintly reminiscent of a Polish ethnic design? (Or do my eyes deceive me?)
Posted by: Cop Car | Sunday, 17 April 2005 at 05:17 AM
Cop Car: We weren't using computers yet, so it's loose papers and undoubtedly a three-ring binder under the top paper. I used binders in those days by the boxful.
The dress was of the lightest fabric I brought with me. Warsaw was having a horrible heat wave that summer and there was no air conditioning, even in the Sehm (parliament building) where we did the interview.
As to any grace - so much was going through my mind: Do I lift my hand, or do I let him lift it? How do I hold my hand - limply, stiffly or something in between? What is the proper response to having one's hand kissed? Is it different for a head of state than an "ordinary" person? And so on...
I still don't know the answers to those questions but, fortunately, no one else has ever kissed my hand.
Posted by: Ronni Bennett | Sunday, 17 April 2005 at 06:44 AM
Oh, look at Ronni blush.
So damn cute!
Take Care
Michael
Posted by: Blogin Idiot | Sunday, 17 April 2005 at 11:46 AM
To me, the look on your face is saying, "What the heck is this guy doing!" You look really cute though!
Melinda
Posted by: Melinda Applegate | Sunday, 17 April 2005 at 01:25 PM
I notice that he hasn't removed his dark glasses for the baise-main! ;)
Ronni, you look like it's the thousandth time someone's kissing your hand!
Posted by: Claude | Sunday, 17 April 2005 at 02:46 PM
Another fabulous photo...
Posted by: ricardo | Friday, 22 April 2005 at 10:20 PM