The turnstile — gate keeper of the Moscow metro which collects your fare — is a welcoming sight devoid of blockading doors. It caters to the invited glance and exposes a path to the atrium of the people’s palace where efficient trains are waiting to transport you to any corner of the city. If you take the bate and proceed, two rusty crutches will emerge from the sides and cap your knees. You can proceed if the controller did not see you. (Rumor has it that the heft of the blow has been tuned down from that of the Soviet times when you’d be lucky to hobble away.) Otherwise, you have probably been warned and head to the ticket booth. When you pass a second time, having paid the 14 ruble fare, you meditate, what have I paid for? It is a painless passage through the turnstile! The absence of pain is what you’ve purchased.
people’s palace – term accompanied dedication of Moscow metro system in early soviet times.